How Does Teleworking Affect Teamwork?

Teleworking is here to stay. The pandemic has advanced a way of working that was already being implemented in many countries. We may be more or less reluctant to work from home, but the truth is that the trend favors an increase in the number of days that we will work from home shortly.

Among many other challenges that teleworking poses for us is teamwork. Managing a team from a distance is not an easy task.

What Problems Can We Encounter During Teleworking? 

Logically, teleworking brings a series of risks or problems that we may face for our team to function correctly. 

Workers who do not feel particularly committed to our company may take advantage of the teleworking situation to carry out their tasks more slowly or work to affect their productivity.  

They Are Not Responding To Emails or Calls.

It may happen that we urgently need to contact a member of the team and that they do not respond to our calls or emails for several minutes. It isn’t easy to know if the employee was busy doing his job or was not near the device to be able to respond since he was doing something different.  

Use The Time For Other Activities.

The security of not feeling watched, and being in their comfort zone where no one can know what they are doing, can lead workers to perform tasks unrelated to their work.  

They may take five or ten minutes to do housework, talk to the people they live with, or even the less committed, and they may dare to watch their favorite series or movies. 

You Are Not Having Your Own Space to Work.

They may not have an area in their home exclusively for them, where nobody bothers them and where they can concentrate without distractions. Many workers share the workspace where their children play or watch television, which can worsen their productivity or the quality of their work. We cannot control it, but we must consider that not everyone is prepared for this situation or has sufficient resources to adapt in the best possible way.  

How Do We Promote Teamwork During Teleworking?

It is essential to make overexertion so that the equipment continues to have a good connection. We must consider that people who work from home lose contact with their colleagues, which gradually cools their personal and professional relationships. To avoid this, there are a series of guidelines that we can apply: 

Communication

Fundamental, always, much more so in this situation. Dedicate time seeing how the week has gone, the day, what tasks are pending, the difficulties that the team members have encountered, how we can solve them, etc. The team must feel that they are still working together and not working alone, even if they are not physically with their teammates.  

Establish meetings and main communication channels where everyone has access to information and is aware of what is happening within the organization. 

Motivation

We must empathize with the people in our team; for some, teleworking is easy to apply and even much more comfortable than working in the office, but it is not the same for everyone. Reinforce motivation, value the effort they are making, and thank them. Seek solutions for those who cannot adapt to this new situation, offering them greater flexibility. Once again, asking for feedback and listening to them, their proposals for improvement, or their complaints gives us precious information on how we should proceed to improve the quality of teleworking.  

Coordination, Planning, Organization

Necessary that they feel guided without losing their autonomy. We cannot leave the team adrift. Establish goals, delivery times ( feasible), KPIs where we can analyze what we need to improve, what our weaknesses are as a team, what is working well to be able to give them feedback based on data and thus be fully aware of what it’s happening on a general level.  

In conclusion, teleworking can bring us many benefits, and we must know how to adapt and work on the weaknesses that we find in this area. Managing to adapt to changes is something enriching for everyone.  

Also Read: Difference Between Teleworking And Remote Work