Best KPI Solutions That Will Upend Your Remote Work Game

The term remote worker refers to outsourcers, freelancers, and teleworkers. These professionals work from home or outside the conventional office system. For example, a freelancer who writes content for websites and blogs will fall under the 'remote work' category. They could be writing Quora answers for a company or maybe dealing with web content for big names.

The Advantages of Hiring Remote Teams

●       You gain access to multiple talents on a global level. These professionals belong to different countries. 

●       The team works independently. You do not have to guide continually. 

●       You do not have to pay a hefty monthly salary to the remote workers. The work is project-based! 

●       You will also save on office costs. You do not have to invest in a physical office as all the job gets done within your home's comfort. 

In a nutshell, remote work is the newest trend that’s proven to be better than traditional office settings in multiple ways. People across the globe finally understand the benefit of working from home. 

Now that you are aware of what remote work looks like, there is an important concept you need to understand: Key Performance Indicators that help in measuring employee performance. The goal is to align the performance with the goals of a particular organization. 

The million-dollar question is: What are the best KPI solutions that will take remote work to an all-new level? Keep reading to find out all you should know about this subject.

Creating An Effective KPI

The biggest mistake a team makes while creating the KPI is that they are full of enthusiasm, but there is a lack of planning. They did not give it a deep thought before jotting down their KPI. 

Once they create the KPI after the burst of enthusiasm, they look forward to the coming quarter changes. A quarter passes by, the employees get demoralized, and they wait for another quarter expectantly. 

The question is not 'How should I create the KPI?' The real questions you need to ask are the following:

●       Pick a problem that is bothering you about the company. What is the problem that you need to solve? 

●       How am I supposed to measure progress?

●       What does the Red Yellow Green success criteria mean? 

●       What are the actions I need to take to get it to Green? 

It all boils down to being solution-focused. If there is a problem in the company, you need to take your inspiration from there. 

Please remember that creating KPIs is not a sure-shot way to success. It is all about actions! Actions will take your KPI towards the end-goals. Focus on one or two KPIs for now. Moving forward, let's understand the best KPI solutions that will take remote work to the next level. 

Effective KPIs for Remote Work 

Hiring and managing remote workers is a grueling task. The majority of qualified professionals prefer to work with companies remotely. The question is: how do you handle these remote teams? What is the process of finding the right employees? What are the KPIs that you need to work on to track the performance of the employees? 

The first stage is to find the right candidates for your business. In finding the right candidate, you have to look at the delivery time, communication index, and the learning capability of the employee. 

Stage two consists of evaluating how the employee handles critical situations. Did they solve the problem or crumbled under pressure? It is a no-brainer that you would seek an employee who can work flawlessly under pressure. 

Stage three is about keeping the remote team satisfied/happy. We will elaborate on this in the next section. 

Please remember that for remote workers, text communication is far more superior as compared to calls. Effective communication is not being 'in touch' with remote workers 24 hours a day. Some companies invest in video conferencing on Skype, Zoom, and other methods. But, for remote work, a simple email exchange might do. 

Keeping the Employees Happy

If the employees are not happy, forget about achieving productivity and efficiency. It applies to everyone running a business! You must have an employee satisfaction survey. Also, the managers should be available to discuss any matter during business hours. 

Keeping the remote workers happy with a gentle push to provide feedback can be a good starter. 

Ben Geller, a psychologist and HR manager at BestWritingAdvisor, says, “Keeping remote employees happy can be quite more complicated than office workers. Mostly, this is because of the fact that you don’t have feedback as clear as usual, and it’s harder to notice when employees are dissatisfied. Luckily, there is still much that you can do to make sure that never happens.”

It's Not Just About The Team

The managers have to improve too. Setting clear and doable tasks for the team is not an easy job. If the requirements are not clearly put-forward, the team will not get a proper briefing. And, the end result would be shoddy work from the team. 

As a manager, you need to be clear about how you are finding a new employee. 

Are they following the instructions? Are they learning? How creative is the person? Are they communicating well with you and the clients?

To understand whether the person has learned something or not, you need to put the skill to practice. This can be challenging if you’re leading a large team, but you should always set aside enough time for evaluation of your new remote workers.

Self Evaluation For Remote Workers

Remote workers can also feel like they can’t track their KPI’s properly. Here are some questions that can get you started with the analysis of your remote work:

●       Are you available during office hours?

●       Do you have the necessary tools to have a stress-free workspace? It includes fast internet, a telephone, webcam, etc. 

●       Is your manager keeping you in the loop of the recent happenings in the office? 

Conclusion

Remote work is excellent in today's time. Work-from-home employees are the happiest workers as they can balance work and personal life. The most significant advantage is that you are embracing diversity recruiting strategy by hiring remote teams/workers. It minimizes bias and allows companies to work with talents from across the globe. 

To manage a remote team's work can be a daunting task for some. But, with effective KPIs and putting your noble thoughts to action can give a much-needed push to your business. Always remember - KPIs will not work unless YOU do. Plan effectively, but also believe in the power of actions. 

Bio

Dorian Martian is a writer and editor at some of the world’s top online writing services. He is experienced in remote work and distance learning and frequently hosts dissertation discussion sessions via video conferencing tools.