Keeping An Eye on Your Remote Workers is Important, But It’s Not Because You Don’t Trust Them
As the world increasingly digitizes, remote work has become a common practice for many businesses. While remote work offers many benefits, such as increased flexibility and reduced overhead costs, it presents unique challenges for managers. One of these challenges is ensuring that remote workers stay on task and maintain productivity levels. However, keeping an eye on your remote workers is important, but it’s not because you don’t trust them.
Why should you monitor your remote workers?
Ensuring productivity
Monitoring your remote workers can help you ensure that they are working efficiently and completing their tasks on time. New York Times reports that eight of the ten largest private US employers track their employees’ home and office productivity using software and other technologies.
Building trust
Regular check-ins and communication with remote workers can help managers build trust and ensure everyone is on the same page. This can help prevent misunderstandings and ensure that work is completed to the satisfaction of the manager and the remote worker.
Identifying potential issues
Monitoring your remote workers can help you identify potential issues before they become bigger problems. For example, suppose a remote worker consistently misses deadlines or fails to communicate effectively. In that case, a manager can intervene early and offer support or additional training to help that worker improve. Additionally, it helps the company’s management identify and resolve problems without affecting its continuous working process.
Maintaining accountability
Monitoring your remote workers can help you maintain accountability and ensure that everyone is doing their part. This can be especially important for businesses that rely on teamwork or collaboration to produce results.
In fact, a study conducted by Owl Labs found that remote workers are actually more productive than their in-office counterparts. The study found that remote workers reported focusing better, and avoiding distractions such as office chatter and meetings. They also reported taking fewer sick days and having a better work-life balance, which can lead to increased motivation and engagement with their work.
But remember that too much surveillance or monitoring can backfire, according to Harvard Business Review. Many companies place a high priority on measuring how much time employees spend at work. So should you be monitoring your employees too? Yes, you should. Don’t interfere with their work and treat them as adults. Whether something takes a long time or is done on time, as long as it is done properly and on time, you should not care. In order to ensure they’re meeting the specific, quantifiable deliverables you’ve given them, you need the right metrics in place.
To accomplish this, managers can use various tools. Choosing the right business internet monitoring software is crucial to monitoring remote workers’ productivity effectively.
Final Words
Keeping an eye on remote workers is important, but not because you don’t trust them. Rather, it’s necessary to ensure that work is completed on time and to a high standard. Using a combination of tools and communication, managers can balance monitoring productivity and trusting their remote workers.
