Schedule a 15-minute appointment with a client advisor today. Start

MarkiTech-Logo-Animation-Alpha-BG-ONCE

Can remote workers become productive?

by | Jan 12, 2015 | remote work

Create a Marketing Strategy and execute your Marketing Plan for your Technology Products


Contributor Nauman Jaffar (Extracts from Forbes Magazine by Mark Murphy)

            Am I wrong or can you make remote workers more productive than those in office? Love to hear your comments.

               I have had a number of discussions with folks who still believe that remote workers are not productive – I beg to disagree. Like anything in life – there are significant advantages for both employer and employee.

                Out of sight, out of mind? Put another way, “if you are remote, the will they forget about you, will stop getting priority initiatives, will lose out on learning and growth opportunities?”

 
                       That bothers you or should I say that these are the kinds of thoughts that often rattle around the minds of remote employees. And if you manage remote employees, one of your big challenges is keeping them feeling like they’re still growing and developing, even though they’re remote. So how do you accomplish that?


                 If your leader does not see you on a regular basis, it’s natural to wonder if they’re actively thinking about you. After all, you might think, they could see lots of employees every day and have all sorts of great lunches and water cooler conversations. And if you were the boss, and had to choose someone for your next wickedly cool assignment with terrific growth opportunities, might not you be more likely to choose the person with whom you share a daily chat or coffee? 

             Simple; every month, you need to have a 4-part conversation with remote employees (you can do it over the phone or video conference). It’s a conversation designed to both keep remote employees growing, and, to help remote employees recognize that they’re still growing and developing. (And yes, ‘actually’ growing and ‘recognizing’ that you’re growing are two distinct issues).

First, you ask the remote employee “what things would you like to get better at this next month?” Of course, this helps you understand the areas where they’d like to grow and develop. But it also tells the remote employee that “you’re important, and I care about seeing you grow and develop.” It sends a clear message that you, as their leader, haven’t forgotten about them; in fact, you’re heavily invested in helping them realize their potential.
 
Second, you ask them “what things are you better at this month than you were last month?” This helps them see that even though they’re remote, there are, in fact, lots of interesting growth opportunities all around them. And it shows them that they’ve been growing and developing (employees always feel more engaged when they feel like they’re growing, and not sitting stagnant).
 

Third, you ask them about their professional highlights this past month, and

Fourth, their professional lowlights. These two issues identify their key motivators and DE motivators, and the answers give you a map of how to harness the remote employee’s full motivational potential.

In summary, these four questions drive a conversation that shows deep caring for remote employees. And it also reveals those employees’ aspirations, achievements, and underlying motivations. Not only does this conversation build a bond between leader and remote employee, it’s reveals more than any employee survey you could undertake.

 
The other bonus with this conversation is that it doesn’t take that long; maybe 15-30 minutes. And the more you establish this conversation as a monthly routine, the easier it becomes.
 
One final note: You don’t have to limit this conversation to your remote employees. Yes, it does address a major concern of remote employees. But let’s face it, during these past few years, many employees (remote or otherwise) have felt stagnant in their professional growth and development. So a simple conversation with all your folks will show you exactly how and where they want to grow.


Here is a video of an American Billionaire on how he manages to keep his employees happy

 
 
Nauman Jaffar
 
MarkiTech
 
 

Awards and Recognitions

footer_image_5_1