How to Avoid Backlogs While Working from Home
This pandemic forced business owners to give the employees a chance to work from home instead of going to a physical office. It’s the safest way to prevent an outbreak. The only problem is that not everyone feels comfortable with the setup. Instead of working, other employees tend to drag their heels. As a result, there are more backlogs. If you don’t want to face that problem, these are some tips.
Make sure your instructions are clear
Employees should be responsible in doing their jobs. When given a task, they will do it. It only becomes a problem if it wasn’t clear to them what they should do. It falls on you to inform them what they need to do, and when to finish it. If you’re unclear, there’s a good chance that these employees won’t do their job well. You might feel frustrated that work starts to pile up, but you also failed to do the right thing.
Don’t disrupt people with too many meetings
Virtual meetings became a norm when people started working from home. While it’s a good way to keep everyone on the same page, it can also be distracting. There’s nothing wrong if you decide to host meetings once a week or every other week. If you do it all the time, it can be disruptive. Instead of focusing on their work, employees have to spend time attending meetings. You can host smaller meetings involving only the people who have to be there. You don’t need to have meetings involving all your employees. Give them time to focus on the assigned tasks.
Send reminders
Sending soft reminders is also useful. Some people have too many things on their plate, and they forget some. While working from home, they also continue their roles as parents and partners. Sending a reminder will ensure that the tasks get done on time. As long as you stay polite and diplomatic, there’s nothing wrong with sending reminders.
Hire more employees
Several companies laid off their employees due to this new setup. They thought that there’s no need to have more human resources. The truth is that working from home is just as challenging as working in a regular office. It can even be more difficult. If the team has a lot to do, it helps to have more employees doing the job. You can get things done quickly when more people are helping out. Hence, it’s an excellent investment.
Be patient
You have to understand that we’re in a different situation right now. Everyone goes through a tough time coping up with the challenges around the world. Working from home might also seem like an easier setup, but it’s not. Recognize that some of your employees might take time to finish tasks.
Hopefully, you can keep up with the demands and inspire your employees to avoid backlogs. When team spirit is up, everyone will work hard.
Photo Attribution:
1st and featured image from https://cdn.lifehack.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/procrastination-at-work-1024×768.jpg
2nd image from https://blog.hubstaff.com/measuring-remote-employee-productivity/
