The coronavirus pandemic has changed the business landscape from the ground up. Nearly 50% of the U.S. employees now work remotely, as opposed to 17% pre-pandemic.

While some people enjoy remote working, others are struggling to stay motivated and productive, especially if they used to work from the office. There can be many distractions, and a lack of structure can lead to burnout.

Luckily, as a business owner, manager, or superintendent, you can do a lot to help your remote employees be productive.

Here are some coaching tips to boost their productivity.

Encourage Suggestions

Keeping your team involved in the decision-making process is one of the best ways to keep them engaged. This is especially true when it comes to the things that concern them directly. As a leader, you need to hear everyone out and respect their opinion.

Working from home can feel a bit disconnected because you’re not in the same room as your colleagues. That’s why it’s vital to find ways to connect and make sure everyone feels like part of the team and appreciated.

If people have a say in what they’re doing instead of just following orders, they’ll be much more motivated to do it well. What’s more, you may get valuable suggestions that will help you improve your processes, which will boost productivity.

Don’t Micromanage

The worst thing you can do for your remote team is micromanaging their every move. Not only is this annoying and stressful, but it also shows your team you don’t trust their abilities and time-management skills.

First of all — forget about tracking software! Mouse movements, screenshots, and the number of clicks will not tell you anything about your employees’ productivity — their results will. Time trackers will only induce anxiety-driven progress and not genuine motivation. Before you know it, your people will suffer a major burnout.

Instead, make sure you have a team of people you trust to do their job right and let them handle it on their own terms. Of course, you need to provide structure for your team, but you don’t have to prescribe every single detail.

Provide Productivity Tips

If your employees are not used to remote work, you could help them out by providing some productivity guidelines. You can upload these to the cloud and provide access to everyone so that they can refer to them if need be.

For example, you can give them tips on how to arrange their workstation for the best results. You may also list various work methods and time-management ideas. Suggest an array of tools to help them stay organized.

While time-management software can be harmful if you use it to monitor their behavior, they might benefit from using it themselves. This kind of software can help them better understand their habits and how to improve them, without putting any pressure on them.

Be Flexible

One of the best things about work from home is flexibility, so embrace it. You never know what someone’s home life looks like, so it’s best to let everyone work their own schedule if possible. Of course, this is not always a possibility as some jobs, such as customer support, require employees to cover certain shifts.

However, if you don’t need to have a strict schedule, don’t have it. As many as 76% of employees would be more willing to stay with their employer if they allowed flexible work hours. You might argue that some people prefer structure, but if they do, they can structure their day in a way that suits them.

If possible, you can also allow your team to take days off whenever they want if they can finish their work in advance.

Reduce Video Meetings to a Minimum

Zoom fatigue is all too real, and if you want to combat it, don’t have that many virtual meetings. Video conferencing in the middle of a workday can be extremely disruptive and tiring. Before you schedule any meeting, ask yourself if it is necessary. Maybe you need to talk only to a couple of people, and the rest will get bored. Alternatively, an email notification may be enough.

So consult your team and work out a plan for video conferencing. Are they truly essential? If they are, how often do you need to have them? If they’re not, how often would people want to have them, and at what times of the day?

Take the Time to Praise Good Work

As a great manager of your team, you need to acknowledge the success of your people. Never treat a job well done as a given and don’t take it for granted. Instead, track the progress of your employees, praise their work, and cheer them on.

There’s no better motivation than knowing we’ve done a great job and getting due recognition for it.

Of course, constructive criticism is equally as important, but you need to balance it out with some praise. Furthermore, if you commend your employees for a great job publicly, you’ll inspire a healthy competition that will motivate others to do just as well.

Check In With Each of Them Regularly

If your team is not too large, it’s a great idea to check in with all of them individually from time to time. Unlike in the office environment, you cannot walk from desk to desk or invite them to your office for a quick chat. However, it’s important to build strong relationships with everyone and make sure their needs are met.

Be careful not to be suffocating and too intrusive while doing this. Simply offer your assistance and ask if you could help them out in any way. See if they are satisfied with their job and if they could use some changes.

If your team is huge and this is not possible to do, it might be a great idea to break it down into smaller groups, each with its own superintendent. This way, your employees won’t feel detached and unappreciated within your company. They’ll have someone to turn to who knows them well.