For the last year or so, workers in the UK have had to get
used to the reality of working from home. For many, this new way of working has
conferred significant benefits. There’s greater flexibility, less time and
money spent on commuting, and a superior balance between work life and home
life.
But at the same time, it can be difficult for many to maintain productivity and motivation without the structure and incentives provided by a fixed workplace. A recent poll found that around two thirds of British workers are having their productivity negatively impacted by the virus. Another poll of UK businesses reflects this, with two thirds reporting that the motivation and enthusiasm of their employees has suffered in the wake of the pandemic.it can be difficult for many to maintain productivity and motivation without the structure and incentives providedBut at the same time, it can be difficult for many to maintain productivity and motivation without the structure and incentives provided by a fixed workplace. A recent poll found that around two thirds of British workers are having their productivity negatively impacted by the virus. Another poll of UK businesses reflects this, with two thirds reporting that the motivation and enthusiasm of their employees has suffered in the wake of the pandemic.
Given that home-working is likely to be a fixture in many of
our lives well beyond the end of the pandemic, it’s worth thinking about how we
can tackle the problem, and stay motivated while telecommuting.
Taking time for team-play
Parcel2Go’s Phil Woodbridge is the operations manager at international courier
comparison company. He is quick to point to the importance of using fun
activities to motivate teams. He says that the monotony can be broken up by “taking
time out to do something different such as Pictionary, ice breakers, and fun
facts. Making sure that people know we are there but to also give them time to
themselves – we are all in this together.”
By doing recreation as a group, you’ll help to stave off
cabin fever for housebound workers. What’s more, you’ll help to remind everyone
that there are human beings on the other end of those emails!
Using a routine to enforce motivation
If you don’t break your day down into chunks of time, and
then assign particular tasks to them, then you can be fairly sure that you
won’t make good use of the hours that you have available. You might have
noticed that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. In
fact, this observation, first made by Cyril Northcote Parkinson in an essay for
The Economist, is known today as ‘Parkinson’s
Law’.
By assigning certain hours to certain tasks, you’ll be able
to focus, thanks to the gentle pressure of the ticking clock. So, you might get
up at seven, write in your diary, and then answer emails before breakfast,
before addressing a particular task in the hours before lunch. Keeping this
routine fixed will make it easier to stick to.
Setting Goals
Diarising and to-do lists are tried-and-tested methods for
driving up productivity. Workplaces might extend the principle to entire remote
workforces, using work management apps like Trello and Monday. While there’s a
learning curve to getting behind apps of this sort, they can help workers to
focus on the task in front of them, without becoming overwhelmed by the big
picture.
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