There are a bunch of ways to monitor your team to enhance their productivity, including open and honest communication, figuring out your team’s style, and fostering trust.

With the world in disarray over the last year, many of us have had to adjust to new ways of doing things. What seemed unprecedented has now become the norm. Almost everyone has experienced some kind of remote work, with many realizing that they prefer this set-up to office life. Many companies and organizations have taken note of it and witnessed an increase in productivity. This is probably because people are less stressed, restful, and have more money. They are much more motivated to perform well and remote working seems to have given them a much-needed boost as opposed to being dragged into the office day in, day out.

Communication

As you lead a team remotely, one of your first concerns might be to ensure that no one is slacking. After all, how can you monitor them if they’re all sitting in their homes? It’s easy enough to do subpar work and fall into laziness. Before going for the worst-case scenario, open up increased communication with your team. You might want to have regular check-ins with them just to gently see where they are at. Do this to foster open and honest communication that goes both ways. This way, they will be able to feel comfortable coming to you if something is wrong or they need assistance.

You will be able to monitor their productivity based on the quality of the work they are producing. If a certain individual seems to be producing low-quality work, have a discussion with them. Maybe it’s something in their personal life or they are struggling to work without the social aspect. It could be for a variety of different reasons, so ensure you keep these lines of communication open. By regularly checking in with them, you gently remind them that you are watching and still around, should they feel the need to get lazy here and there.

Identify their Working Style

Everyone is different, which is why team dynamics are important. Figuring out your team’s style of working together can increase productivity. Perhaps your team prefers a hands-on approach where you are always on-call to help them through whatever. They might rely on you or other team members for help and assistance, or they might prefer daily meetings when everyone can touch base and discuss the day, wins, or losses. Some teams might want this just for the social aspect, others might want it because it helps them with their work and their productivity level.

Other teams might prefer a hands-off approach, they may want to just get on with their workload and only touch base when they need to. They may not enjoy having to check in regularly and would prefer to focus without interruptions. These kinds of teams might not enjoy or see the point of daily meetings, even when everyone is working remotely.

You might have a mix of these people in each team, so you need to find a way to work with everyone individually and as a team. Figure out everyone’s preferences and start from there, see how you can design the workday so that everyone is able to be as productive as they can be. You might use a time tracking app, to be able to monitor how long it takes individuals to complete a task or project. This way, you can see how productive they are and if there are any issues, you can try and work with the person to overcome them. Perhaps they need more support or less interference to get on with their day. Make the adjustments and see if that makes a difference.

Cultivating Trust

A big part of monitoring your team is to cultivate a culture of trust. Everyone in your team is their own person and treating them like so will probably make them feel a lot better about being in your team and working under you. Making them feel like their own empowered individual is important for them to be more motivated to create amazing work and be productive. Try and avoid micromanaging or making them feel pressured or stressed out when checking on them. If your team feels stressed out or pressured, their productivity levels will probably plummet and they are more likely to produce high-quality work.

Use these tips to successfully monitor your team in a way that will motivate them instead of stressing them out. A key to establishing an amazing team is to empower them and instill confidence in them. Adapting to each team and building a culture of open and honest communication and trust will help establish a productive and high-quality team.

We are continuously putting out relevant content. If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact us!

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube