4 TIPS FOR USING DIGITAL TOOLS TO TRACK WORK FROM HOME PRODUCTIVITY

4 TIPS FOR USING DIGITAL TOOLS TO TRACK WFH PRODUCTIVITY

The number of employees working remotely on a permanent basis is expected to double in 2021. The pandemic has upended how offices have typically worked in the past and driven a shift to a work-from-home (WFH) model.

While this does have benefits, such as cost savings for employees and employers, no commutes, and fewer sick and personal days taken, it also has challenges.

One of the reasons that many Tennessee business owners have shied away from allowing employees to work remotely pre-pandemic, is because they were unsure how to track their productivity.

When you can’t just walk over and see someone typing away at their computer, how do you know they’re working when at home and not watching TV part of the time?

Statistics actually show that when empowered with the right business technology, remote employees are more productive because they have fewer interruptions throughout the day. But it can still be challenging to properly track that productivity remotely.

If you’re still getting used to having a WFH team, here are several tips that can help you keep tabs on productivity in a way that makes everyone’s job easier.

TRACK TASKS INSTEAD OF HOURS

Not all employees work at the same speed, so for many jobs, tracking how long someone works isn’t really the best measure of productivity.

Tracking remote employee productivity by task achievement can actually give you a better measure, plus it can allow an employee more flexibility to work the hours they want if their job allows it.

You can use one of many task tracking applications like TrelloAirtable, or Asana that use a card and board style task and project tracking interface. Features that make this an effective way to track productivity include:

  • ABILITY TO COMMENT AND ATTACH FILES INSIDE A TASK CARD
  • SEE HOW TASKS PROGRESS THROUGH EACH STAGE
  • USE DUE DATES AND ALERTS
  • USE OF @MENTIONS TO GET SOMEONE’S ATTENTION ON A SPECIFIC TASK
  • TASKS ARE ORGANIZED AND DON’T GET LOST IN EMAIL INBOXES

USE AN ONLINE TIME TRACKING TOOL

For some jobs, tracking by the hour may make more sense. For example, if someone mans the website chat or customer service desk, then tracking the hours they work is more applicable than tracking tasks.

Using an online time tracking tool like TogglHarvest, or My Hours makes it easy for employees to click to turn on a timer and click to turn it off. These tools also have multiple helpful features that allow you to see things like percentage of time worked on a specific project.

Time tracking tools can also take screenshots at various intervals that show what an employee is working on and confirm they haven’t just turned on the timer while they’re surfing Facebook.

MAKE THE MOST OF MICROSOFT TEAMS

There are many different ways to message someone online, but tools like Slack or WhatsApp only do one thing. The benefit of using a tool like Microsoft Teams is that it includes multiple ways for your remote team to stay connected.

One of the problems with WFH arrangements is that employees can be confused about what their priorities are. Another is that a supervisor might not know why they can’t immediately get in touch with an employee, and automatically assume the worst, that they’re goofing off rather than on a customer call.

Teams gives you several ways to improve communications and keep tabs on employee productivity. You can use it to:

  • CREATE CUSTOM STATUS MESSAGES SO EVERYONE KNOWS WHEN SOMEONE IS AVAILABLE OR ON A CUSTOMER CALL
  • CONNECT WITH TEAM RESOURCES AND IMPORTANT MESSAGES
  • SHARE TASKS AND FILES
  • MAKE QUICK VIDEO AND VOICE CALLS TO TOUCH BASE
  • HAVE A CENTRAL HUB WHERE YOU CAN REACH EVERYONE IN THE COMPANY

CREATE CLEAR WFH POLICIES

If you send your employees to work remotely from home and just tell them “you know what to do,” most likely they don’t.

For example, they might not know how to let everyone know they’re clocking in and out for the day. They might also wonder if they’re supposed to still take breaks, and who do they tell when they’re going to lunch?

You can set your remote employees up for success and make managing their productivity easier by setting up clear WFH policies in advance and ensuring everyone understands them.

Some things you’ll want to include are:

  • HOURS THEY ARE EXPECTED TO WORK
  • WHETHER HOURS ARE FLEXIBLE OR NOT
  • THE HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE THEY CAN USE FOR BUSINESS DATA
  • HOW TO COMMUNICATE THINGS LIKE “GOING TO LUNCH” OR “CLOCKING OUT FOR THE DAY”
  • DETAILS ON BREAK AND LUNCH TIMES THEY ARE TO TAKE
  • APPROVED COMMUNICATION CHANNELS FOR SPEAKING WITH CUSTOMERS
  • APPROVED COMMUNICATION CHANNELS FOR INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS

GET HELP EMPOWERING YOUR REMOTE TEAM

Unbound Digital can help your Johnson City, Tennessee business with the right productivity tracking and communication tools to empower a smooth WFH experience.

Contact us today to schedule a consultation. Call 423-335-2461 or reach us online.