Nowadays, many teams work in a distributed structure, and many employees who worked from the office before are not familiar with or adjusted to remote arrangements.
Productivity remains one of the main issues for remote employees worldwide. It can be difficult to get into the right mindset and create a boundary between professional and personal life when working remotely.
However, there are many productivity tools that help to keep teams on track, and we’re going to discuss the five main kinds of them in this post. So, keep reading!
5 Major Types of Productivity Tools to Use
1. Electronic planner
Planners are powerful tools that help employees craft a game plan and map out projects. Many digital planners include a variety of different functions like project templates, roadmaps, scheduling, note taking and auto reminder capabilities, just to name a few. They are very versatile and the comprehensive options help employees maintain their productivity.
2. Distraction blocking app
Social media is a common time killer. According to Business Today, employees lose 2.35 hours of time on social media at work every day and can experience a 13% loss of productivity. This time reduction can have damaging impacts on an employee and the team’s success. Workers are going to be even more tempted to access social media when working remotely. Since people often feel comfortable at home, the line between work and leisure can easily become blurred.
In order to break temptation and prevent such access to distracting platforms, encourage employees to download a distraction blocker app on devices. The app can be set to temporarily block social media and other distracting sites during working hours. Therefore, employees won’t be tempted to access social media and be distracted when they should be working.
3. Time tracker
Productivity and time management go hand in hand. The most effective workers understand how to structure the day. Employees can benefit from consciously utilizing a simple time tracking tool. This will help them to be cognisant of how much time they are dedicating to tasks and tailor workflows to maximize productivity. It also makes it convenient for leaders to manage and guide teams to use time wisely and finish projects efficiently.
4. Communication software
Distributed teams may struggle to remain connected. Communication breakdowns cause a loss of productivity. Duplicate work is created when employees cannot easily reach co-workers for clarification and updates. As a result, teams may not be dividing and conquering work as effectively as they once had been when at the office. Thus, it is essential to have communication software, such as chats. These tools foster collaboration. Comradery creates a supportive atmosphere that motivates everyone to conquer projects and stay on top of things.
5. Recognition software
Incentivizing hard work helps to bolster productivity. Employees may be willing to put in extra time to hit deadlines if they are rewarded. Implement an employee recognition program that offers perks for efficient workers that stay on target and meet goals. Perks can include points for gift cards, flights, and hotels, for example. Workers won’t want to go astray and miss out on awesome rewards.
It is crucial that employers support their workforce. Employees can become overwhelmed from juggling all the responsibilities that come from work and home. They need to be provided with the right tools to manage time and prevent burn-out. Healthy and happy employees keep companies not just afloat, but thriving during the most uncertain of times. Employees’ overall productivity and well-being must remain at the forefront of executive leaders’ strategic plan.
Choose Effective Productivity Tools for Your Remote Team
If you want to help your remote workers be efficient and show high-quality performance consistently, using effective software tools is a must. Consider your unique organizational requirements and needs and choose a program that meets them best.
In case progress and time tracking is the major concern of yours, be sure to try out actiTIME. This multifunctional time tracker is all you need to plan your tasks, monitor team productivity and analyze your project results in depth.
Explore how to manage a remote team using actiTIME and sign up for a free 30-day trial to give it a go.
This piece was written for us by Marie Johnson, an Enlightened Digital contributor and tech writer from New York.
