In 2020, the breaking out of the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc in our worlds and disrupted all our lives. The economies and businesses around the globe suffered like never before. Employees started working from their homes, and the top challenge faced by their recruiters was monitoring and measuring their virtual productivity. But, the COVID-19 crisis is persisting and reluctant to go away. Enterprises from all over the world, new or old, are struggling to measure employee productivity.
Where is the Problem?
Before the COVID-19 crisis, remote work was highly unfamiliar to most businesses. People were antipathetic towards the facilitation of virtual workplaces. Working from a physical workspace was considered to be the beau idéal standard. Did anything else change apart from physical to virtual transformation? Hell yes! The companies are now in a dilemma of measuring productivity in a virtual environment.
The companies have no choice but to resort to remote work. COVID has wholly changed the modus operandi and the working mindset. People had to adapt to their new workspace and refashion their surroundings and habits. That’s what changed the standard definition of workplace productivity.
How to Measure Productivity in a Virtual Environment?
Earlier, when people used to work from physical workspaces, productivity was measured by the output of work done in an hour. But now, the measurement of productivity has shifted to the production of work done in an entire day. Here is how businesses can measure productivity in the new-normal scenario.
Inspire to Maintain a Work-Life Balance
The game of measuring productivity has changed to maintaining a work-life balance and staying productive throughout the day. One may take 12-15 hours to produce a work output of 6-7 hours. The ultimate business motive should be driving high-quality outcomes and not the quick and degraded ones.
Consistent Employee Motivation
One of the critical areas that companies are focusing on while measuring productivity in a virtual environment is to motivate their employees to contribute to their enterprise’s success. Businesses should encourage the formation of an outcome-based productivity culture rather than productivity measured by the time devoted to work.
Assign Assessable Jobs
Companies can provide assessable tasks with pinpointed deadlines to the employees. They should be encouraged to self-evaluate their performance. The organizations need to practice a collaborative environment where an entire team regularly reviews performance and measures productivity. They must set routines and support the lagging employees to help them improve their productivity.
Transparent Working
The firms need to practice a transparent work-exchange between the employees and employers by leveraging cutting-edge business intelligence tools. All the team leaders should be fully involved in overpassing the huddles where all brainstorming exercises are digitally managed. A transparent workflow will enhance trust among the employees as well.
The pandemic crisis made everyone realize that maintaining productivity among the workforce is even more necessary than measuring it. Organizations need to hold the back of their employees and encourage them continuously. People are deprived of the human touch during remote working and tend to feel depressed. So, the companies need to provide consistent moral support and consolidation to their workforce and keep their productivity high in all situations.