How to increase remote worker productivity

Organizations can increase remote worker productivity by ensuring remote is the best option, making document sharing easy, collaborating online, staying organized, creating visibility, and gamifying achievements. Remote workers are more productive when set up for success.

For years remote work had a stigma attached to it; many workers believe it still does. Managers were concerned that being out-of-sight would lead to increased distractions, fewer hours worked than on-site employees, and diminished productivity. 

However the pandemic brought about a permanent shift in remote work, and industries have not only adopted the practice, but also rely on it. During this time, productivity of remote workers actually increased.

So, are remote workers really more productive? And if so, how do you go about measuring productivity of remote workers? Let’s dive in.

How do you increase remote workers productivity?

There are a number of best practices to follow to increase productivity of remote employees. You have to create an environment that excites employees, makes their jobs easier, and rewards employee engagement. 

Here is a list of ideas to increase productivity among remote workers: 

1. Determine if remote is the best option

The first step is determining if the job and role is the right fit for remote work. Not every job is suited for remote work—some jobs cannot be performed remotely at all. Employers should also consider employee health and safety and monitor federal and regional health guidelines. 

2. Make document and file sharing easy

If you want to increase productivity among remote workers, you need to ensure they have access to everything they would have had access to in the office. Using an intranet to upload and share documents makes it easy for anyone on the team to access every document and file they need at any time from anywhere. 

3. Collaborate online

Without face to face contact, remote employees may find it challenging to collaborate and brainstorm as seamlessly as they once did. Ensure you have a seamless platform where communication can occur in real time, or asynchronously. An intranet, for example, can make it easy for employees to update the status of their projects in real time, without wasting time in unnecessary meetings. 

For example, Hachette Publishing turned to their intranet when the pandemic forced all their employees to work remotely. Their intranet helped employees quickly surface documents and expertise.

4. Stay organized

It’s easy for online collaboration tools to get cluttered. The last thing you want is your intranet to become a dumping ground. Boost remote worker productivity by keeping your intranet organized. Here’s how:

• Delete outdated information and old documents
• Organize employees into groups for departments, projects and other subsets that make sense
• Keep intranet content logically organized, so employees won’t get tempted to rely on email or other communication tools.

5. Create Visibility 

Remote teams face visibility challenges, like:

• Isolation from company culture
• Fewer informal networking opportunities
• Technological hurdles all play a part in disrupting the opportunities for remote team members to maintain visibility. 

An intranet provides many opportunities for increasing visibility. Since every employee has access, it’s easy to share updates from company leadership. Meanwhile, project collaboration capabilities within an intranet ensure  employees can see who is doing what and how things are going. 

6. Gamify achievement

Gamification is a process that incorporates gaming elements, like badges, scores, trophies, into work and business contexts. It is powerful for remote workers because it promotes greater enthusiasm and energy towards work. It is reported that gamification can improve worker engagement by nearly 50%. 

On ThoughtFarmer, Gamification is a widget-like card added to a user’s profile. It works by gamifying actions (editing your profile, commenting on a news post) and activities (following, commenting, and searching for pages) and allots medals, badges, and points to the user. 

With this exciting extension, employees can collect points and earn badges that will appear on their profile! Gamification is an awesome way to get your users engaged on the intranet platform, and is easy to measure in your intranet analytics.

FAQ

How do you measure remote worker productivity?

Remote worker productivity is best measured by outcomes, not activity. Focus on clear goals, deliverables, and deadlines rather than hours online. Common methods include:

• Tracking project completion
• Quality of work
• Meeting milestones
• Using KPIs aligned to the role. 

Regular check-ins, transparent communication, and tools like project management software can help provide visibility without micromanaging.

Are remote workers more productive? 

A study by Stanford of 16,000 workers over 9 months found that working from home increased productivity by 13%. This performance increase was as a result of more calls per minute attributed to a quieter, more convenient working environment and working more minutes per shift because of fewer breaks and sick days. In this same study workers also reported improved work satisfaction, and attrition rates were cut by 50%. 

Additionally, research by Great Place to Work compared employee productivity from March to August of 2020, the first six months of stay-at-home orders, to the same six-month stretch in 2019. Remote work productivity was stable or increased when working remotely from home, according to a 2-year study of 800,000 employees. Workers in a home environment report they are less distracted by co-workers, spending 30 minutes less talking about non-work topics, and spend 7% less time talking to management.

Is there a connection between employee satisfaction and productivity?

There is no shortage of data linking employee satisfaction with productivity. One study showed that satisfied and happier employees were 12% more productive, while unsatisfied employees were less by 10%. The study reported that if the employees were undervalued or not happy with the environment, the performance was impacted. 

The study also showed that the increase in an incentive at Google raised the satisfaction of employees by 37%. It is proven that if the employees are happier, they will put in their whole effort to deliver top-quality work. 

Another study from Harvard business review stated that positive work culture results in more productivity of the employees. In other words, satisfied workers are productive workers.

Final thoughts on remote workers productivity

There’s no doubt that managing remote workers creates a layer of complexity, but adopting an intranet helps to keep remote workers engaged, informed and productive, which translates directly into a positive bottom line. Just don’t forget to measure your success, so you can report back on the benefits of your intranet. 

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This article was originally authored by Kelly Batke and has since been significantly updated by the ThoughtFarmer team.