Consider the whole planet as a talent pool from which to assemble your software engineering and web developer squad. Doesn’t it sound fantastic? Although you don’t have to believe it—this is the truth for thousands of businesses of all sizes and sectors that hire remote employees.
Shiny workplaces and on-site perks don’t entice remote staff to nourish their bodies and minds. Their ideals vary, and it’s been shown that remote employees are more likely to stick with an organization longer than their on-site peers when it comes to commitment.
Why Is Remote Working Good for Productivity?
To begin, it’s critical to emphasize why remote work is beneficial to productivity. Over all, knowing that you can do things makes it possible to see ways to change it.
There’s no reason that working together needs to mean literally working in the same workplace with all of the technologies available today. Remote working, according to studies, produces better outcomes and increases efficiency.
However, remote working does not mean literally relocating your company office to your spare bedroom. Remote workers can work from the pool, the park, the cafe, or somewhere else they choose on the particular day, depending on regional lockdowns. Inspiration and imagination are sparked by a change in scenery.
Sure, remote working has drawbacks, and working from home has its own set of distractions. Your favorite sitcom has just begun a new season and you’re itching to watch it—as in, right now, not later—or the kids keep running in to show you something so important/funny/disgusting that it can’t wait. However, these are all distractions that the remote employees would deal with on their own. After all, they’re adults, and they’ll know how to perform at their best.
So, with the above in mind, let’s look at ways to improve the effectiveness of your remote tech engineers. You’ll want to know how to get the best results if the remote team is already formed or you’re all just getting started in the remote environment.
Trust Your Team
So, trust the staff to work hard—but not too hard—is number one on the list of tasks managers must do to effectively run a remote software engineering team.
It doesn’t mean the staff is slacking off because you can’t stroll by them every five minutes and make sure they’re at their desks. It’s more likely that they’re overworking rather than underworking, particularly if they’re in different time zones.
If your living room doubles as your office, it’s all too easy to update your inbox on your phone as you get up at 7 a.m., or to finish something fast as a thought occurs to you when you stroll past your home office on the way to the toilet.
When you think one of the remote teams isn’t doing their work, set up a face-to-face or remote conference with them to sort out what’s going on. Perhaps the new project doesn’t excite them, they’re dealing with personal issues, or they’re overworked and burned out. You should then inquire if there’s something you can do to make the project more fun, give them some time off to help them overcome their problems, or give them some downtime, as necessary.
Fewer Interruptions and Meetings
Tech engineers must be able to concentrate and focus. This ensures that you should not disturb them every five minutes to ask them a question.
According to a report, it takes a programmer about 10-15 minutes to restart work after an interruption, and they are likely to get only one two-hour uninterrupted session per day—recall what I said earlier about people not getting any work done in the office.
Managers must learn that not every question demands an immediate response. Consider if it should wait and make a mental note of it. It’s difficult to resist the temptation to inquire about their activities or inquire about their whereabouts, but the silence is crucial to their efficiency.
However, there is one thing to consider about meetings: don’t absolutely forget them.
Yes, I just said leave the tech team to their jobs, but don’t handle them as though they’re not an integral part of the business just because they work from home.
Treat them as equals by avoiding meetings without them. Keep them informed of what’s going on, and if they’re attending meetings by conference call, make sure the equipment is up to the task and they’re not hearing nothing but crackling and interruption on the other end of the line. When you’re making a talk, use a shared screen so that everybody can see what you’re doing. In the end, a remote team must be treated with just as much respect as their office-bound colleagues.
A Happy Employee Is a Motivated Employee
There’s a school of thought that claims software engineering is an art, not a science, and that it can’t be calculated. However, by deliberately selecting and measuring the appropriate metrics, you can keep your programs on track and your remote software engineering team active.
We like to use efficiency triggers as metrics. Rather than counting lines of code or hours spent at a desk, this approach is used. We inquire about our engineers’ satisfaction, inspiration, personal development, and relationships with their co-workers.
There’s no reason why having a remote software engineering team should have any detrimental effect on your team’s success, if your software engineers have always been remote or COVID-19 has forced you into this way of handling your team.
In reality, it can only serve to strengthen it.