5 Qualities of an Effective Remote Employee – The Employer’s Opinion
Although work from home has become a norm in the corporate world, not everyone is cut out for this lifestyle.
Unlike in a traditional office where you have a boss or manager sitting nearby, you have to practice self-discipline when working remotely. There are some traits and skills that are essential for remote employees.
We spoke to some employers and human resource managers to find the most desired qualities of an effective remote worker. It is valuable to know if your remote teams possess these traits, so you can effectively manage them.
Here’re the five topmost personality traits of successful remote workers:
Highly Driven Personality
A person with a driven personality is ambitious, persistent, and focused on success. They put the work at priority to achieve their goals. Here, driven means the employee is driven to his/her potential. S/he is aware of how much they could do, what changes they could bring, and what powers they possess.
These extraordinarily self-motivated employees do not let anyone or anything control your potential, except your conscious choices and habits. They believe in their own inner power. They see others’ achievements as a reminder of what is possible, not as a threat.
Some common traits of an employee with a driven personality include:
- Workaholic
- Leadership
- Persistence
These remote employees are also willing to try almost everything and often avoid those who lack the same personality.
Remote workers with driven personalities are self-motivated people always beneficial to companies. They stay focused on their work and turn out to be productive in any circumstances.
Strong Written Communication Skills
While speaking is one of the most demanded skills in the workplace, text-based communication still dominates the workplace.
Remote workers spend fewer hours on phone calls or video-conferences than they do on written communication. In fact, written communication is considered to be highly beneficial because it enables us to express messages in an improved manner. On top of that, it makes conversations searchable. That is why remote workers with written communication skills are effective.
When it comes to meeting deadlines and maintaining KPIs, writing communication helps to avoid breakdowns and encourage faster recovery.
Some of the best tools for written communication are:
- Slack
- SkyPe
- HipChat
- Dropbox
- Trello
Being good at written communication decreases the chances of misinterpretations and conflicts. You can pick the right words and choose a specific tone that makes a huge difference.
It is especially true for remote employees who are involved mostly in the written form of communication. Fortunately, there are countless ways to build and improve your writing skills.
Flexible
Efficient remote workers are flexible enough to work at the pace of the company they are working with. These days, the corporate world has been disrupted, and clients seek flexibility when working with companies. As a result, companies need their employees are available flexibly.
A good remote employee remains available as per the business’ requirements. Though they are working from home or anywhere, they become available at offices or on-site as per the needs.
While respecting their company’s flexibility policies, they know how to maintain their work-life balance. It helps develop employee trust and attracts and retains key talent.
In fact, being flexible is a win-win for both the company and its employees. It boosts employee morale and reduces stress levels. As mentioned above, employees become available as per the client’s needs. It also encourages diversification at the workplace in terms of cultures, religions, and needs.
Independent Decision-Making Capacity
Shifting from a traditional office to a home office can cause a huge disruption. This is true, especially for leadership roles. Thus, we can say that the unmatched capacity to make an informed decision is a great trait for remote workers.
When employees are engaged in decision-making, they acquire a professional stake in the company’s success. This leads to improved productivity levels because employees are actively participating in different aspects of their organization’s growth.
Increased responsibilities expand employees’ skill sets, making them ready for additional and higher-level responsibilities.
In addition to this, their participation in decision making gives employees a chance to voice their suggestions and opinions. They can share their knowledge with peers, even while working remotely. This leads to better relationships between employees and managers. It also encourages a sense of teamwork while bringing the strength of individuals to the project.
Self Motivation
To companies, self-motivated employees are extremely valuable. And, this is the single smartest thing employers expect from their remote workers.
This is because self-motivated workers want to fulfill their contractual obligations. Besides this, they work harder to meet deadlines while delivering the highest quality outputs possible.
They are punctual, loyal to the company, and also inspire their colleagues. They don’t need incentives or bonuses to stay motivated, although it is good to reward them; they are well-performer at motivating themselves.
Remote workers who are self-motivated deliver excellent results no matter what. They know how to maintain the balance between work and personal life.
No matter whether you are responsible individually for yourself or handling a team, personal motivation remains important. Self-motivation keeps us from giving up and keeps us productive all the time. Enhancing our personal level of self-motivation is important to stay excellent at the workplace as well as in our lives.
Wrapping up
So, evaluate your remote workers on the basis of these top five factors. You can train your employees on having these traits. Also, make sure you always reward your team members for their outstanding performance. This will keep them as well as other employees engaged, motivated, and productive at their work.
Another way to improve the productivity of your team is to use an effective remote worker tool. And, Monitask is one such great tool for serving this purpose. Using this advanced time tracker, you can monitor hours your employees give for an individual task or the whole project while maintaining transparency.
Sign up for Monitask free trial today!
