The experts at whenworkworks.org, whilst researching the work-from-home culture, discovered that 66 per cent of women preferred working from home and 54 per cent of men preferred working from home.
A spokesperson for whenworkworks.org said, "We have found that once people got a taste of working from home, many didn't want to return to their offices and work their usual 9 to 5s. But what many of us still can't understand is that working from home is possible and just as productive, since it saves them time on their daily commutes.
“They also use fewer office resources and can work comfortably. It resulted in more work hours than 40 hours a week. Business owners and HR teams can use and adapt a wide range of creative and effective strategies to increase productivity and efficiency."
Here are some tips to maximise productivity for remote workers:
Building a well-rounded team
Each team should ideally have a leader who delegated and supervised the team. Another thing to consider when making these teams is where the employees will be working from. Ideally, you would want to form teams with individuals from the same time zone; having members from multiple time zones can be severely counterproductive.
Create a workable environment
Workspaces should be open, spacious, and, yes, comfortable. Younger generations especially look for comfortable work environments when deciding to apply anywhere. Some of the things that attract employees are a well-decorated workspace, spacious and designated workstations, entertainment, lounging options, etc. This all results in increased productivity, efficiency, and, more importantly, employee satisfaction.
Ensuring proper work division
Regardless of working conditions, the workload should always be evenly distributed among employees. And in the case of remote workers, it is even more important. Not all employees can work the same hours or perform the same workloads. Some may not have the ability to do so. So, work should always be divided so everyone can quickly complete their share.
Setting goals and objectives
HR professionals and business owners should clearly and precisely set goals and objectives for each team and each member. Often, larger goals are broken down into smaller milestones, which are further broken down into more easily achievable tasks and objectives.
Be transparent
Employees should be given the same amount of work-life balance, meaning they should all have equal amounts of work and personal time. This not only ensures productivity but also ensures that the workers have a healthy work-life balance.
Using AI and automation
AI allows you to do tasks seamlessly and efficiently. There is a plethora of both paid and free software available. However, paid ones are better as they have a lot of functionality. Spending on AI and software to automate the workforce is always worthwhile. It saves time, and resources and, most importantly, drastically increases efficiency and productivity.
Offering flexibility
While this might sound strange, offering employees flexibility often increases their productivity. There's a reason for that when you show them flexibility. They automatically become more productive because they are happy and can focus entirely on work when they decide to work.
Offering resources
Since remote workers do not require office space or resources, they can be offered those resources. Companies and HR can offer them resources that will increase their productivity. It can be as simple as providing an internet allowance or offering them equipment like laptops or headphones.