3 Most Prominent Productivity Saboteurs for a Remote IT Professional

Dmitry Yakimchuk

Hiring a remote IT professional is a solution that many business owners choose. This choice brings a lot of benefits to a company, as there is not a single person that is on the payroll, but you get someone who is paid per project and the invested work hours. In the long run, this saves money, as numerous expenses are reduced, without sacrificing the workflow.

However, establishing good collaboration with a remote IT professional can be challenging at times, as there are many problems that should be solved from the mere start. Let’s take a look at the most prominent problems you might experience when working with a remote IT professional, and how you could resolve them.

Communication

When you are working with an in-house employee, understanding each other is quite easy. You can simply chat with one another and communicate the project related information in person. However, when you are working with a remote employee, communication can become much harder. Delivering all project instructions via email might not be the best option because there might be some things that remain unclear for the developer. There a couple of ways in which this issue can be resolved.

• Video call – Video chatting is easy to do nowadays. You are only a click away from talking to a person who is in a different country, or on a different continent. However, many business owners forget how effective this approach is. The fact that you can see a person’s face is going to make it seem like you are talking in person.It is through this medium that you can deliver all the details about a particular project, how you want it to be done, what are the expectations, and any other information that is important. Additionally, the remote IT professional will see that he is talking to a real person, not some guy from another country who needs something finished and pays good money for it. A good approach you could pick should include weekly Skype calls, where you and the remote employee could catch up with the project’s progress.
• Flawless project management tools – Video calls are a great way to communicate with a person as if he is sitting next to you. But, it is not going to help him get the task done. This is why a project management software tool is so useful. Pick a software tool that will let your managers add all the necessary information in different formats, such as audio, text, or video. Providing these materials to your remote employee will greatly reduce any possibility of miscommunication.
• Chat – No matter how detailed the instructions are, there are always some tiny things that should be discussed before the execution. This is why you should always have an open line of communication with the remote employee. You can use Skype, as he or she will always be able to reach out to you or your managers. Taking this step will further improve the workflow in the company, allowing you to achieve better results within a given time frame.

Communication can sometimes be an issue even if the person you are talking to is next to you. You can imagine what can happen when the worker is thousands of miles away from you. Communicate as many details about the project as you can; it will greatly save you time in the long run.

Various possible distractions

Freedom is great, and this is why many people love working from home. However, this is a double-edged sword, as the person is going to feel more relaxed, and there are going to be so many little things that can easily distract him or her from getting the work done. This rarely occurs, but there are workers who are distracted by their surroundings.

Luckily, like any other challenge, this can be taken care of as well. It is important to talk with your project manager from the start. Notify him or her to split up the project in smaller milestones that take a day or two to finish. This will make it easier for the remote employee to focus on finishing smaller tasks regularly.

Besides taking this step, make sure that your remote IT professional is going to use some kind of time monitoring software. This will make him or her focus more on the task at hand, thus removing the effect of any distraction that can come their way. It is simply the best way of helping your remote employees create a set of priorities.

Tackling productivity

Productivity is affected by a series of factors for every single person. No matter where the worker is located, he or she is going to struggle to always keep his or her productivity up all the time. For remote workers, the situation is the same, but it is can be more challenging.

When an in-house employee is struggling with productivity, you can talk with him or her in person. There are is a list of things you could do to get them back on track.

But, with a remote worker, it can be a bit more challenging. This is because, most of the time, the person is always alone. Also, his or her main motivation is money. While money is a great motivator, it does not work at all times. So, how can you better motivate your remote IT professionals?

Well, one of the best solutions is to include him or her in your team building activities. Every year, you could organize activities where these remote employees would get a chance to meet with everyone in person and exchange experiences. This will allow them to feel like they are a part of the team of people who are headed in a common direction. Furthermore, the business owner can paint the picture of the company and its goals clearly, giving the same perspective to all employees. The next time he or she sits down to work, their motivation is going to be much higher, as feeling like a part of the team can be more motivating, as other people depend on you as much as you depend on them.
Dealing with these three main productivity saboteurs can be challenging at times, but with the help of the latest technology, tackling them is not going to be that big of a problem. Therefore, next time you are hiring an employee, you will know how to build a strong foundation in your relationship, helping him or her be as productive as possible, no matter where they are in the world.

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