Right now, it is incredibly popular for people to work from home. If you are a business owner, then throughout the lockdown period it is likely that you had to make the decision to let your employees work from home.
When it was first introduced, nobody quite knew if working from home was going to work and whether not a business would be able to function when all of the employees were at home. Luckily enough, having employees work from home was not too much of a problem and a lot of businesses actually thrived during this time period.
A lot of companies actually saved a lot of money, as they did not have to cover the cost of electricity and other utility bills because nobody was working from the office. Now that we are out of the lockdown period, a lot of businesses have returned to their usual business and they are now operating from their usual premises.
However, a lot of businesses are seriously considering allowing their workers to continue to work from home, as it boosted company morale and cuts costs. If you are reading this article, then it is likely that you have also been considering allowing your workers to work from home. Though working from home has a long list of advantages, something that you have to keep in mind is that it is a lot harder to monitor what your workers are doing and if they are being productive. Though it is harder, it is not impossible and you can in fact keep track of your workers when they are working from home here is how.
Regular Meetings
A great way for you to keep up with your workers and check how they are doing is through having regular meetings. Remote working only fails if you are disconnected from your workers and you do not stay in touch with them. If you ask them to meet for a coffee meeting or to meet in the office, you can talk through what work they have been doing and if they have been contributing to the business. If you find out that they haven’t been doing much work from home, then you can discipline them and even discuss why they have not been doing as well as they should be.
Time Tracking Apps
If people are working from home, then it is likely that they are going to be working from their computer. If they are working from their computer, then you have the chance to check their every minute at work. There are many clock apps that you can use to keep track of all the work they are doing. If you are looking for a reliable clock in-app, I would recommend that you use breezeclock as this employee clock in app allows you to track exactly what your employees are doing when they should be working, so you can regularly check it and see if they are on task.
Set Deadlines
If you want to make sure that people are doing plenty of work, it is very important that you set strict deadlines that they have to follow. If you tell someone that you want a certain job done, but you do not give them a time frame to do the work, then they will just do it whenever they feel like doing it. By setting deadlines that they have to follow, you will ensure that they are keeping on top of all of their tasks and not taking advantage of working from home. Deadlines will also help you keep your work in order so it will be beneficial to the business.
Zoom Meetings
If you are worried about losing touch with your workers while they are working from home, something that you can do is host regular zoom meetings. Zoom meetings have a number of advantages, first of all, you do not have to leave your house and so the meetings can take place while your workers are already working, which means that there is no disruption to your normal working routine and people will be able to inform you of what they are doing while they do it.
Before you implement any clocks or time trackers, make sure that your workers are ok with it. Some people do not like having software on their computers that track what they are doing and if you have workers like that, you could always discuss a solution that works well for them and makes them feel comfortable, so you are not invading their privacy.
If you are still not sure whether or not remote work fits your business, why not give it a trial run for a couple of months and see what productivity is like, if it is not good then you could always just return to the office.
