What Wikipedia Can’t Tell You About Solving Work From Home Problems

1.Not communicating

Communication is the foundation of any successful working relationship. Employees who work from home are much less likely to communicate with their colleagues than employees who work in the office.

In another case study, one of the employees said, “I’m too tired to be social,” when asked why she didn’t interact with her co-workers. In the same study, employees said they found it difficult to initiate conversation with colleagues because of the lack of face-to-face interaction. This type of employee may lack social awareness. 

The solution is simple: Make sure that your employees have the right tools & ability to communicate. Many of the companies we have worked with have done this by providing a dedicated phone number that employees can call at any time to speak with a colleague or supervisor. Sometimes even after providing all the tools needed, the employee lacks social skills. At this point of time, he seriously needs to be designated for a social awareness coaching program by a professional trainer/coach.

2.Lack of feedback

In the workplace, employees typically communicate with their colleagues in the form of feedback. For example, an employee who has worked for you for a few months may provide you with feedback such as “I like working for you because you give me feedback on my work.” However, when an employee works from home, they are not receiving any feedback from their colleagues. This is not a good situation because feedback is essential to the development of any employee.

Previously, employees were given feedback by their supervisors and/or colleagues on a daily basis, but now that employees are working from home, they need to receive feedback in the form of a written or electronic document.

However, as more and more employees work from home, it becomes increasingly difficult to provide feedback to these employees. It is important to note that feedback is not just limited to supervisors. Employees need to be able to provide feedback to their colleagues as well.

The lack of feedback can lead to employee disengagement and eventually to the loss of valuable employees.

Solution: The best way to get a sense of how you’re doing is to keep a detailed record of your work. You can do this in a notebook, on an electronic spreadsheet, or in a plain old word document that you can just stick in your binder (or, if you prefer, on your computer). Here are some simple suggestions for keeping a daily log of your work: Keep track of the following information at the start of every day.

3. Lack of collaboration

Employees who work from home may be less likely to collaborate with their colleagues because they are unable to see their colleagues’ working hours. Besides, remote employees may not be able to tell if colleagues are busy or have finished their work for the day. With that situation, they may have a harder time establishing rapport and trust with colleagues. As a result, they may miss out on valuable work.

One solution is to encourage employees to collaborate with each other via instant messaging. This allows colleagues to discuss their work progress in real-time. On the contrary, if the employee has an urgent issue, he can simply jump into a live chat with his colleague and resolve the issue. In addition to that, new ways are being created. Employees can now use their smartphones to access the network and communicate with their colleagues. Some companies set up a virtual private network (VPN) to connect to the office network and share sync files.

4. Uncertainty about work schedules

You may have noticed that employees end up working longer hours when they work from home. This is due to the struggle employees find in juggling between work and family affairs. On this occasion, you may find yourself working from home for long hours. Perhaps the employee has not been communicating enough about the issue to his superior that caused him to overwork and eventually become burnout while working from home. The lack of control over your work time is one of the major problems that cause a lack of productivity among employees.

The best solution to this problem is to have a formal work schedule. If you have no formal work schedule, you will end up working longer hours. You may also feel tired and unwell. This will result in work not getting done on time. If your superior wants you to get work done after working hours, you must voice your concerns in a kind and respectful way. In your discussion with him, highlight how working on uncertain work affects your productivity and work quality. 

An Emotionally Intelligent employer will listen to you, try to understand you and help you to find solutions. If you work with an employer who is not understanding, you must make sure that you discuss the problem with your boss and take his/her feedback on board. If your superior has not addressed the problem, you should speak to your HR manager and raise the issue with them.

Once again, it is not just the matter of communication skills, it involves the application of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) on both parties to resolve differences. A person with EQ is able to have self awareness, and able to put oneself into another person’s shoes and try to visualise the problem without bias. This suits best for both employers/employees to empathize and build good relationship by communicating their concerns and ready to accept feedback.