Why Overworking is a Serious Issue for Your Remote Workers

As so many businesses have had to close their doors recently, remote work has become a very popular option. Unfortunately, this sudden shift has not been without negative side-effects. One such byproduct of this shift has been a serious overworking problem. This is a big problem, and one that you need to address if it has presented itself in your operations.

Let’s start by reviewing a few trends that have become apparent with so many adopting a remote work strategy.

• Today’s remote-friendly solutions enable workers to meet similar levels of productivity, whereas the solutions of the past once had a much more limited capability.
• Suddenly transitioning from the professional environment to a work-from-home one has created serious issues in many newly remote workers, as feelings of isolation and lost control have settled in and taken root.
• On top of this, remote work can also remove much of the separation between the professional work environment and an employee’s personal life, primarily because there is literally no space between the two. This is exacerbated by the pressure many remote employees feel to perform above and beyond.
• Productivity and security can potentially come at odds with each other, as security protocols interfere with productivity.

As these trends all come to a head, remote work burnout is a considerable and predictable outcome. Combining current events with the day-in and day-out routine can create some significant stress. This leads to a tendency to overwork, a detriment for your team.

Fortunately, there are ways that you can reduce these negative impacts.

Resist the Temptation to Overschedule

Employers will naturally want their employees to accomplish as much as possible during their time, but a remote worker is no more capable at home than they would be in the office. Just because you put more on their schedules, doesn’t mean that they can work any faster.

To make this stressful time less stressful, some businesses are specifically scheduling time for their employees to relax and decompress. However, these efforts aren’t very effective, as the scheduled breaks are commonly triple booked with other activities. Instead, micromanage less, and communicate more.

Set the Pace

Speaking of communicating more, you need to check in with your team members and make their jobs as simple as possible. Cut back on frivolous meetings and other obligations so that they can focus on their productivity.

There is still no sign of how long remote work will be the only option for many, so any business that wants to survive will need to implement the solutions to support it. Horne & Benik can help, but you need to reach out to us first by calling (603) 499-4400.