Remote work has been on the rise since 2020. Work-from-home employment had been gaining popularity over the past decade. However,  the COVID pandemic created favorable conditions for its growth.

A Gartner, Inc. survey of 800 global HR executives on March 17 2020 found that 88% of organizations have encouraged or required employees to work from home. It meant that employees would become more dependent on online tools, productivity software, etc. This shows how remote work was impacting the nature of work.

Due to technological advancements, business needs are also changing. As a result, there are some hurdles when working from home. In this article, we shall talk about technology challenges for remote workers and how to address them.

Issues in maintaining coordination

Distributed teams are based on the communication of individuals across the globe. A lack of an organized strategy to remain connected can lead to disorganization in a project’s progress.

This results in decreased speed, and lack of consistency  For instance, if we consider software development businesses, coordination and collaboration are focal when it comes to achieving project goals.

Solution

Certain approaches and methods can bring about a change in the system. Let us discuss some of them.

Mutual adjustment

It involves developing varying conversational techniques to stay connected. A big part of this would be supervision.  For different types of tasks, suitable strategies can be adopted. Supervision to a certain extent is integral when we talk about maintaining team unity. Hence, there should be discussions on video calls twice a week.

Monthly or weekly sessions can be organized. These should promote more conversation among various members of the team. This incurs team spirit and a sense of community. Plus, it encourages a more innovative way of thinking.

Direct supervision

The concept is mainly that there should be one person from the team who keeps a check on other team members. Plus, they report to the leading bodies. This simplifies the process of getting weekly reports. Through this way of working, it becomes easier to receive and give feedback.

According to Gartner, 40% of organizations have set up additional virtual check-ins for employees with managers. This creates a more professional work environment. Plus, workers also begin to understand the importance of meeting specific standards.

Lack of productivity

Work from home opportunities come with their perks. However, life can become pretty dull if a proper schedule is not followed. Working independently can get mundane, especially when an individual stops caring about deadlines.

Some might find themselves distracted at home, unable to concentrate on the tasks at hand. This is because there might be a deterioration in attitudes when it comes to maintaining consistency.

Productivity strategies

To retain team efficiency, some steps can play a positive role.

Quality assurance

There needs to be a set of standards so that there is no confusion. Guidelines can prove to be quite beneficial in preserving team efforts. The manager or team lead can compile a list of specifications and processes to abide by.

Again, we can consider the situation of a software development company. If the software engineers are not aware of regulations that they need to follow, it can affect work progress. Software development can become complicated, and therefore rules are integral. Otherwise, project phases can get disturbed, and results might not be satisfactory.

Productivity tools

Online tools can assist in keeping employees on track. There is no harm in taking assistance from online channels to improve work. Technological tools can fill gaps that are left out by humans.

 

Gaper is a company that utilizes productivity tools so that the efforts of the employees remain effective. Asana is a good example of such software. Gaper is a marketplace for the top 1% of software engineers from around the world. The goal is to assist startups in finding suitable talent.

Conclusion

IoT and its applications are a testament to the fact that technology will only continue to advance. Therefore, businesses must always be ready to adapt. A huge number of organizations are also taking up hybrid modes of working. Even this requires a proper plan so that the company can prosper as a whole.