Dan Martin
Editor
As a team leader, it can be challenging to maintain the productivity of your team while they are working from home. But the right strategy will help you keep your team on track, despite the difficulties of remote work. The key is knowing where to begin assisting your accounting team.
7 ways to keep your remote accounting team productive. Source: pexels.com
Consider these four elements when working to improve your accounting team’s productivity:
- Tools and technologies
- Workplace culture
- Training and knowledge
- Working remotely
Keep each element in mind to assist your accounting team in conducting their daily tasks. Each one will help you focus on a different aspect of your team’s productivity. Follow these tips and learn how you can help your accounting team stay productive.
1. Set clear expectations
The accounting team of your business deals with a very important area of your business. As such, it’s of equal importance that you make sure they know what expectations you have as their team leader. Strive to be the kind of leader who is always clear about their expectations.
This is not to say that you should hound your accounting team with expectations. But you should help them understand what the goal is for your business. This helps them understand what vision they’re working towards. Make sure you clear up any questions or concerns surrounding team expectations. Your team will be more productive and efficient as a result.
2. Check-in with your team
One of the challenges of working from home is not being able to check-in with your team in person. At the office, you can have regular check-ins and quick conversations to ensure that everything is okay. From home, check-ins don’t come naturally. As a result, leaders might forget to have them as they focus on other responsibilities. This shouldn’t be the case.
Check-ins are a great way to keep your team productive. It reminds them that you’re keeping tabs on their productivity. But it also shows them you’re a leader who cares about your employees. Have regular check-ins with your team to discuss how they are doing and what they need support with.
3. Be flexible
These are trying times. It’s important to remember that working from home is not a challenge only for you and your business. It’s also a challenge for your employees. Between the anxieties that surround the pandemic and the challenges of working from home, things are also difficult for your team.
Strive to have a balance between your productivity expectations and the realities of working from home during a pandemic. Be understanding with your team and they will be understanding with you. When you show your team that you care about their situation, they’ll feel less pressure and more comfortable with their work.
4. Communicate with your team
Communication is one of the most important elements of having a productive team. Managers need to keep their team informed on the latest and most relevant information. Doing this can help your team be more productive.
With all the communication tools currently available to businesses, it’s easy to find a communication tool that works for your team. Pick one that works for your team’s needs and keep your team up to date by communicating with them often. Not only will this help your team feel more connected, but access to important information will help them work better.
5. Be available
While communicating with your team is important, it’s not enough to send emails or daily messages with important information. Your accounting team needs to be able to reach you during work hours. If they can’t reach you for an important task, their productivity suffers.
Always strive to be as available as possible for your team during work hours. Let your team know when and how they can best reach you and stick to your established availability schedule. When your team is able to find you when they need you most, their productivity thrives.
6. Invest in tools
As working from home forces many of your employees to adapt to a new normal, so must your business adapt to the changing needs of your employees. The tools and technologies that were once useful in-office may not work as well as working from home.
As such, you should consider investing in tools that will help your team communicate and work productively. Tools such as Slack, Asana, or Dropbox can make a difference in your accounting team’s performance. Invest in tools that will work for your team’s needs and help them improve their productivity.
7. Invest in training
Take the time to consider investing in more training for your employees. As things change from the switch from in-office to remote work, your team might need some help adjusting to new tools. They might also need to learn to better use the ones that are already available.
This doesn’t have to be a big project. Training your accounting team can be as simple as investing in online classes and training. Even hosting your own tutorials taught by you or someone else on your team. The idea is to make sure your team has the tools available to be productive at work.
Boost your accounting team’s productivity
Working from home isn’t easy. It entails a variety of challenges for both you and your accounting team. Knowing how to work around these challenges is the basis for having a remote team that is efficient and productive. To start improving your remote team’s productivity, you need to know the elements you need to focus on:
- The tools and technologies your team will need.
- How to maintain workplace culture while working from home.
- Extra training your team might need.
- The challenges of working from home.
Start by considering the tools and technologies your team needs. Also, consider the training each tool might need, the workplace culture of your business, and the realities of working from home. As you follow each tip presented, you’ll find your accounting team’s productivity will continue to thrive.
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