Hi friend! Have your newly remote teams got you feeling like you‘ve lost control? As companies embrace flexible work to stay competitive, managers need help governing distributed teams scattered across cities…or continents!
Fear not – I‘ve got your back. As an experienced tech leader managing far-flung direct reports for over a decade, I‘ll share battle-tested tips to effortlessly track productivity. With some guidance, you‘ll steer dispersed teams to success.
We‘ll unpack the latest techniques to target key performance indicators, automate monitoring, and balance oversight with autonomy. So grab your favorite brew, put your feet up, and let‘s get crafting!
Why Measure Productivity Anyway?
First, let‘s get aligned on why visibility matters in the virtual age. For starters, remote work has hit warp speed thanks to the pandemic. 70% of white-collar employees now work from home substantial time, per Bloomberg, with 90% wanting flexibility to continue.
The benefits abound too – beyond dodging commutes, distributed teams report higher job satisfaction, stronger work-life balance, and improved focus. They tend to put in longer hours and churn out more output. According to an Oxford study, productivity climbs by 4.4% on average.
The challenge? Despite being more engaged, workers feel more isolated and stressed trying to prove effort from afar. This risks burnout and turnover which 74% of leaders say is their top concern today.
This is where management comes in. Thoughtful tracking through the right metrics, policies and tools curbs ambiguity and keeps staff aligned, empowered and thriving across locations. Let‘s explore the key ingredients for making remote productivity measurement work.
Know What You‘re Measuring
Getting started means defining what productive means for different roles, tying that to concrete metrics and targets. But productivity is slippery – it‘s not just about sheer output.
Robertson Cooper‘s productivity model highlights how multifaceted it really is, spanning:
- Achievement – goals met, projects shipped
- Wellbeing – morale, work-life balance
- Capability – skills growth
- Workflow – reduced complexity
For knowledge workers especially, assessing productivity demands a nuanced, rounded approach across all four areas long-term.
That said, start simple by focusing on key results for individuals and teams. For engineers, that might be code commits or defects fixed. Content creators could track articles authored and social media traction.
Overall though, optimize to measure outcomes over presenteeism – what matters is that the work gets done, not long hours toiling away!
Tools to Automate Tracking
Once clear on success metrics, today‘s project management systems make tracking outputs easy while remote. Platforms like Asana, Smartsheet, Airtable, Notion and Trello allow managers to:
- Build project boards with tasks, subtasks and deadlines
- Align tasks to individuals and track progress
- Set reminders, priorities and dependencies
- Comment and collaborate across teams
- Pull cross-project reporting dashboards
This gives visibility into individual and team achievement flows at a glance. Metrics like on-time delivery, lead response rates, asset utilization all roll up.
Asana even quantifies focus time for creative roles. Trello has a Plumber automation collecting key data points without manual oversight. Smart integrations like Mavenlink‘s time tracker capture granular productivity data.
Leading remote organizations like InVision and GitLab also gauge output through daily public standups and checkins using Slack or Google Meet. This builds trust and keeps teams marching to shared near-term goals.
The key is choosing platforms aligning to how your employees work and the metrics motivating them. Over time, build custom reports, leaderboards and notifications to extract just the insights you need.
Policies That Help, Not Hinder Productivity
But productivity isn‘t just about oversight tech. To sustain engagement over the long run, employees need space to thrive.
With no commutes tethering teams to desks, embrace output-focused cultures allowing flexibility in how and when work happens. Studies show workers are far happier and almost 80% more productive away from offices.
Forward-thinking employers like Salesforce, Adobe and Unilever now give staff full liberty to work anytime from anywhere – no questions asked! Trust pays dividends.
Tactically, support variety in solo and team work modes through:
- Comfortable home office stipends
- Coworking spaces for flexible interaction
- Designated deep work blocks without meetings
- Async communication norms vs always-on urgency
Explicit "No Meeting Fridays" policies establish sacrosanct focus time. Calendar-free buffer blocks give minds room for creativity between jam-packed days.
Small nudges establishing autonomy compound into big productivity lifts over years for distributed teams. Give your people wings to soar!
Balancing Metrics With Subjective Assessment
Now even with automation, metrics only reveal part of the puzzle when appraising productivity remotely.
Mavenlink suggests augmenting tracked outputs with periodic qualitative assessments across skills like:
- Initiative – proactively solving problems
- Reliability – work accuracy, minimal mistakes
- Attitude – staying positive under pressure
- Work ethic – enthusiasm and dedication
- Teamwork – spirit of collaboration
Simple Likert scale surveys capture peer, manager and self-ratings across these competencies. Sources converge into Well Rounded Worker scores highlighting strengths and gaps to address.
Add short retrospectives to review wins, find process improvements and realign strategy based on what the team needs next. Opening feedback channels pays dividends long run.
Top insights then flow back to individuals through supportive one-on-one coaching aligned to growth goals for the upcoming quarter.
The Art of Nudging Productivity with Coaching
Speaking of coaching, master managers don‘t just monitor metrics – they motivate! Your job leading distributed teams is striking that balance between guidance and independence.
Here are a few fundamentals to coach remote workers through tricky spots:
- Set clear expectations early, then check-in regularly 1-on-1
- Train self-management skills like time boxing, activity logging
- Spot energy/engagement lulls, dig into reasons non-judgmentally
- Reaffirm strengths often; critique outcomes, not people
- Ask curiosity questions vs interrogating
- Discuss challenges openly, brainstorm solutions together
- Redirect fixer tendencies into coaching opportunities
- Review progress weekly; revise workload/priorities if overwhelmed
- Notice growth vs just achievement; reward milestones
Sometimes output temporarily dips when employees stretch into new competencies. Grace pays dividends though. With compassion driving conversations, people feel safe to course-correct and unlock fuller potential over time.
Key Takeaways
With remote productivity, strike a nuanced balance between accountability and autonomy. Clarify expected outputs, then automate tracking using online project dashboards. Blend quantified metrics with engagement surveys and retrospectives to get the full picture. Motivate staff through supportive coaching vs micromanaging activity. Give people guardrails to own work, but freedom to direct their days.
Stick with these fundamentals for managing distributed teams, and you‘ll be rated a rockstar people manager in no time! Now off you go to put these tips into play. Wishing you flawless execution and maxed out metrics in the weeks ahead!
