Struck by Monday Blues? If you’ve never dreaded waking up and going to work on a Monday, there might be something wrong with you. It’s definitely not a personal opinion. Astudyshows that 11:17 a.m. on a Monday morning is the time we feel most unhappy. While on the other side, according to a study of 2,000 people by British broadband and telephone provider Plusnet, 2:35 p.m. is the happiest time of the day.
In order to get a clear picture, we used a surprising power of asking our co-workers about how they feel about Mondays? The answer was surprising. We found that at least 25% of people still feel miserable on Monday morning and less productive for a variety of reasons: one being ‘Sunday night blues’. Even if they are using time tracking tools to enhance their day, a voice in their head keeps telling them to hate Mondays.
Here we have mapped out a few reasons why Mondays are universally hated at work, and what can you do to boost your productivity. So, let’s jump in:
Some ways to make your Mondays more productive:
Get a solid 7-8 hours of sleep ‘every’ night
Avoid sleeping excess over the weekend, take short naps instead
Get us much sun as possible in the morning. Go for a Monday morning jog, open-up your windows and eat well
Work can be extremely stressful. Don’t let intrusive thoughts bother you and your sleep patterns
Drink coffee
Take five-minute breaks after every two hours to clear your mind
Make a list of everything you want to get done on Monday and work on it, accordingly
Know your prime time during the day when you’re the most productive
Use a time tracker to boost your day
Dodge distractions and increase your productivity by turning off mobile devices and signing out of social media
Plan for a fun-tivity on Monday with your work buddies
With rapid globalization, and immigration, both inter and intrastate, transfusions of cultures was a natural outcome. The economy is a primary affectee of this emerging trend, and companies are an integral part of it. Therefore cultural diversity has become a serious challenge for many employers. Not only in the developed world but also in a developing one.
A community of global workforce
There are numerous companies in western countries that are filled with employees from across the globe. They are from every ethnic, racial and religious affiliation that exists in the world, ready to blend in a melting pot of developed economies. Besides many of these firms have transnational and regional offices.
A Newyork based setup might have an operational branch in Dubai. So maintaining tolerance and assimilating opportunities for various cultures sits at the crux of its future success.
The developing world is no exception!
Maintaining and managing cultural diversity is not only limited to progressive countries alone. Many developing countries from the third world face the same issue, but why? Because there is an ever-growing internal migration going-on within these states. Poverty-stricken masses moving from rural and neglected areas towards large, urban centers have become a norm.
In every country, there is a variety of languages and culturally diverse communities. When they arrive to be a part of the workforce in larger cities, managing cultural diversity becomes a challenge.
How cultural diversity can impact the workplace?
In order to build a solid team network, all of its members need to understand each other. But social behaviors are always constructed by one’s culture. So at times, it becomes difficult to understand a variety of attitudes.
Modern companies often strive for and promote greater diversity among their employees. They are likely to hire workers of different races, castes, creeds, genders, and ages to bring more diversified experience in their job roles.
Having said that, we all know cultural sensitivity is crucial for businesses to succeed. And in order to do that, it is important to realize, recognize and acknowledge the difference other cultures hold.
1. Re-define work schedules!
People of different cultural, ethnic or religious origins often have a varied range of festivals, sacred days or holidays. No firm can afford to give these many holidays. But you still need to accommodate them. For that, you can provide paid leave for their individual national holidays while others come to work like usual.
This way they will feel valued and respected; delivering work more productively. You can even organize small scale events in break timings or after working hours for their cultural or religious festivities. This way co-workers can develop a better understanding of their colleagues from various cultural backgrounds. And that is essential to keep the work running successfully.
2. Be informed, not judgemental.
You need to be aware of cultural differences in order to cultivate cultural diversity in your business setup. Develop workshops to raise awareness among your employees regarding respecting the beliefs of others.
Many of them might carry preconceived notions or prejudices regarding different cultures. They might not favorably view other racial or religious orientations. It’s an employer’s duty to develop a culture of tolerance. With a mixture of both imparting knowledge and strict penalties for racially, ethnically, or religiously offensive remarks.
3. Every culture has its own language!
Don’t get confused, it doesn’t imply verbal language but behavioral one. Communication methods between cultures vary. In western cultures, people tend to be more straightforward and direct. Whereas in various Asian and Middle Eastern countries, being indirect is a norm.
It can be confusing but an adaptation of both employer and employee is necessary. An employer should be flexible enough to understand the different forms of communication. And employees should be able to make an effort to adapt themselves to their new environment.
4. Respect the dress!
Even though most of the companies require formal or at least suitable dressing. There are some cultures that demand a particular dress code mostly in a religious context. Like some women from Muslim cultures wear hijab or men from Sikh tradition wear a turban. It’s highly unethical to restrict someone from practicing their religion.
In some countries, it’s argued that religion should remain out of the workplace, following the rule of separation between religion and state. But the argument is flawed. Employees aren’t converting the secular nature of an organization with their dress code. Rather they are making use of their right to practice their religion freely, even if it demands adherence at both personal and professional levels.
Secularism demands non-interference of religion into professional practices. But it doesn’t seek to eradicate the religion itself, in fact, upholds the individual’s right to practice it freely. As long as it doesn’t become a nuisance for others.
5. Don’t just say ‘we are equal EOE’, act on it.
It might be possible you are an open-minded employer, but somehow happened to have a biased HR team of professionals. You need to make sure, your hiring staff is there to judge skills and talents not color of skin or passports. Especially in the contemporary world, there is a pressing demand for skills that can’t be fulfilled by hiring local talent alone.
6. Make your actions known.
If you have developed a healthy and culturally diverse work environment, try to make it known so others may take an inspiration. Create motivational videos; show your office environment as culturally friendly. Develop short presentations, and post on social media.
In case an employee misleads against his co-worker, triggered by their covet cultural or racial biases. You can always verify the performance of your colleague in question through a good time tracking software to see whether the accused is really guilty or just a victim of workplace bullying and discrimination. Therefore, you can hold the instigator accountable. Thus, making your actions known in eliminating biases.
7. Stay connected!
You need to build a connection of trust with your workforce through some chain of connections. For that, not only HR is effective but also hire cultural supervisors who can offer on-site professional counseling for employees. They can assist them while they are adjusting to a new environment or cultural norms.
Conclusion
Managing cultural diversity might be challenging, but eventually, it’s in greater benefit of any business setup. It will broaden the cultural horizons and awareness by bringing in experiences and perspectives of a diverse workforce. It’s especially true for companies with an international presence. As their foreign employees can help them understand the norms of different cultures, definitions, and values.
Mental health is becoming one of the most talked-about topics these days. The reason is more and more people are suffering from mental health issues like depression, and chronic stress in the workplace. Both can be different but interrelated, where one can lead to another.
With the rising of the corporate sector and unnecessary expectations or workload have made the workplaces vulnerable. Stress is the major setback for employee’s productibility.
Whenever a person lacks control over the situation with more expectations to meet, it causes them to panic. Unrealistic expectations can add a great deal to our stress levels, too. One can’t expect to find a remedy for the problem without identifying the problem first.
We need to grapple with stress stimulators first in order to rectify it. Although some stress is natural to the workplace, being over-stressed hinders productivity in a really detrimental way. How to know when one is suffering from excessive stress.
Signs of Stress may include
Aggressive behavior
Negativity
Feeling lackluster
Low self-esteem
Alienation, and sense of worthlessness
Feeling ill
Mood swings
Insomnia
Lack of focus
Nervousness
Everyone’s symptoms and defense mechanisms are different. It can be either fight or flight response, depending on the individual. Some are born warriors they would cope with stressful situations, whereas some will give up the struggle.
Stress is inevitable with work overload, time management, or difficulty of the task. Its a great hindrance in employee’s productivity. It’s not possible to design one’s work requirements completely in accordance with their desires, preferences, and aptitudes. Still one can find ways to make it as enjoyable and comfortable as possible.
Choose what you love most
The most basic recipe for staying happy at work is to choose a profession and career path that you enjoy most. If you adopted for certain professions because of family’s desires, social status or monetary gains, you are bound to stay unhappy.
So if you are feeling agitated at work then first ask yourself is that what you wanted? It’s very common that a stressed individual will get to hear that ‘why are you so depressed’ whereas many others are part of the same profession as yours, yet happy?
They fail to identify somebody who chose a medical or legal profession out of passion would be different from someone who joined it for social prestige. So the primary key to workplace satisfaction is to opt for what you love. You will still make money, in fact, financial factors can get disturbed more when you do what you abhor.
Stay away from negativity suppliers
Man is a social animal, and humans rely on other humans for emotional support. But sometimes the very same humans become a source of mental torture for others. They are the bastions of negativity in their surroundings. If politics start infiltrating any workplace, it might become an emotional burden rather than relief. Maintaining a distance from trouble makers is the only way out. Since the beginning, one shouldn’t be too open to developing new connections or friendships.
Especially one needs to be cautious of ones who open up immediately after knowing you. There is a peach vs. coconut theory. According to which, there are people who are like peach, soft when you first bite but if you do it imprudently your teeth might hit its hard surface.
These are the ones looking cordial at first but terrible inside. They are more harmful than beneficial. Then there are coconut types. These are the ones who appear rude to many or might be reserved. They are the ones who will give you access after knowing and observing you.
Hard like coconuts from the surface but soft at core. So choose wisely who you befriend at the workplace. Everyone might not be well-wishers. One strategy to reduce stress is building healthy and positive relations.
Being overworked!
Humans are prone to maintain short term attention span, and they might seek diversity while doing the same thing for a long time. Sometimes work expectations exceed human capacity, and they start lagging behind. Besides at times, the workload is not compensated well so many feel disoriented from putting more effort.
One can always strive to maintain temperament without being too stressed. Taking short breaks in a while can help reduce stress in the workplace. Also, some background music or healthy humor with colleagues can help. It’s more fruitful if employers begin to consider that work quality is damaged with being overworked.
Tasks should be assigned realistically, and whenever there is a compelling need for an increased workload, it should be compensated well. Stressed workforce won’t be able to provide productive output.
Work/Life balance
With prolonged work hours, and excessive workload some can’t manage to strike a balance between their work and family or social life. As a result disturbances in personal life can lead to a lack of productivity in the workforce.
Its more relevant for working mothers, who are unable to take part in their children’s activities, or join them for their school events causing them distress at work. There should be the provision of daycare at the workplace, and relaxation to take breaks between work schedules. Not to forget generous maternity leave is a must. A happy employee is the most productive employee.
Some preventive measures to counter stress in the workplace in Scandinavia
Employees are given control over their routine to enhance productivity. Timings, and work conditions that can alter as per their preferences.
Tasks are assigned according to the different mental and physical capabilities of employees.
The controlled working environment is avoided.
Work routine, organization, technology and distribution of hours are designed in a way not to cause strain to staff’s mental or physical health to affect their performance.
Workplace encourages variety in work content and social exposure.
Work has to build personal and professional development in an individual.
Work models in welfare states like that of Scandinavia and Canada can be an ideal model for other states to follow.
Adopt healthy life routine
Take nutritious and vitamins rich diet to stay energetic. Avoid junk.
Sleep well. One major cause of feeling listless at work is lack of sleep.
Don’t over commit. Planning too many tasks ahead of time can cause a rush.
Take small breaks from work and watch some funny memes and videos to feel refresh.
When totally exhausted, take a vacation. Save your leave days for that purpose.
An efficient and healthy workforce is crucial for the stability and progress of any organization. Consequently, it plays part in constructing society as a whole and furthers the development of the state.
Moreover, work-related stress can be caused by poor work organization, poor management, unsatisfactory working conditions, and lack of support from employers. It is the responsibility of the organizations to help reduce stress in the workplace.
Adult life is tough. From performing your best in the workplace to taking care of your family, from maintaining a social life outside the office to set aside some me-time – That’s a lot on your plate. It’s often argued that maintaining a work-life balance is super cool when you are a single professional or working from home.
That we have a magic wand, and we have it all covered. In fact, it is not always the case. Married or not, working remotely or not? We always struggle to strike a perfect balance between work and life.
Either personal or professional...
… everyone deserves a chance to a happy and fulfilling life. Good companies are actively promoting work-life balance. But they still struggle with finding the right opportunities to make it happen. It is hard to reconcile but good leaders are getting there.
To help managers, and employees we have gathered some of the best tips out there. There is no one size fits all, but hopefully, these tips will help you out.
Communicate your needs
The first thing that employees should do is to be open to their needs. Be able to openly communicate about what matters to them in order to feel balanced and fulfilled, is encouraged. Do you need to leave work early, so you can spend some time with your family? Do you need an hour’s escape to pick up your children from school or attend a music class? Whatever it is, identify your need, be transparent about it.
Employees should have an open and honest conversation with their managers about what they want. In return, employers should understand what balance means, what works and whatnot.
Spend time on things that really matter
Many people spend time on things that don’t really matter. We are continuously bombarded with endless choices, stuffing our schedules and minds with endless tasks and try to do it all. At times we surrender to the distractions and eventually burn ourselves out just to leave our best lives behind.
We fail to realize the very essence of time and its value. Time is the one thing, that’s never enough and something that you can’t either buy. So, know your priorities at work and otherwise, scrutinize your day, dedicate time to them and act accordingly. Make time for hobbies, passions, and relationships outside of work, at this very moment.
Elongate your time and try not to fall in the trap of
‘I’ll see or I am going with the flow, or let life take me in the direction it wants’.
The notion is flawed.
Getting work done from Miami
We understand sometimes, employees are too ambitious that they refrain from taking a day off. Ambition is a success but if you feel like you haven’t been able to maintain a good work-life balance in a long time, then we suggest give your mind a rest and work in the comfort of your home for a day.
Nowadays, many digital devices and AI powered softwares are helping employers to stay connected with their remote employees. Time-tracking tools are helping not only track employee’s productivity but also regularly keeps employers informed about the status of the project. So working from home, while maintaining work progress has become a whole lot easier.
Know your ‘tech’ limits
Getting hooked on these tech devices disturbs the work-life balance. Sometimes, it’s good to hit the snooze button on your gadget that’s always vibrating. We know it’s the hardest thing to do, EVER! But there’s a first time of everything. Try not to bring your cellphones where not needed.
Let’s say the dinner table, for example. Baby steps, remember? Set the boundaries, and keep on repeating the process until you reach a point where bringing a laptop to the beach seems super weird.
Once you have unplugged, you will see life for what it is. Spend quality time with your friends and family, engage with things that make you happy.
Making the most out of weekends and vacations
Instead of saving office work to finish over the week-ends, get them out of the way in normal working hours so that you can unwind, Netflix and chill while on Sundays.
Carve out a few hours to stay away from your screens. Put your digital devices away and do something creative that you really love. Go on a vacation with your family or friends, maybe. This way you’ll be able to fill in your days with something fun and relaxing and also, your mind will be more refreshed and renewed to start the next working day.
Track your time to make time
Missing out on your tonight’s cello lesson? Our advice: Invest in time-tracking tools. Use a trusted time-tracking tool to track everything from the time spent on each task to overall productivity gain.
Time-tracking tools give you an understanding of how long a particular task takes. You can easily estimate how long your next work will take and keeps your focus. It will maximize your productivity and work will be done before the deadline. Meaning no spending extra time on projects outside working hours or on holidays. Your family commitments stay intact. A win-win situation!
Enjoy your social life
Take a break, for a moment and give your social life a boost. Remember to take time out for yourself. Manage your mind, do meditation or read a book. Go out and spend time with intellectuals. Meet up with your friends over a coffee. Even at work, in your lunch breaks, talk about life instead of babbling about work at work.
Keeping your social relationships alive is extremely important for your health and well-being.
Our special advice to your HR
Even though many companies have sound HR policies directed towards work-life balance. Yet, we urge employers to examine or update existing work-life balance policies.
Carefully cater to employee’s work-life balance needs and address any issues that may arise in order to have a healthy and more productive work environment. Flexible working would be one step in this direction. Such policies should be embedded within the culture of organizations!
What are your best tips for work-life balance? Share with us in the comments section below!
Do you know good and powerful communication in the workplace is very important for maintaining healthy working relationships and achieving productivity?
Yes, it’s true!
Good communication is an important skill for day to day work collaboration. If you are a leader, understanding, workplace communication is the key. As it allows businesses to operate efficiently.
Employees can experience high morale and commitment to work when communicated effectively. Not only does it eliminate conflicts and misunderstandings but also encourages a peaceful work environment.
While on the other hand…
… Poor communication in the workplace can lead to unmotivated employees that may begin to question their own abilities.
Now let’s look at some of the ways powerful communication is benefiting companies:
A happy workplace with no conflicts
Conflicts can erupt from minute actions and can give rise to never-ending brawls and growls. Poorly managed conflict can destroy long built relationships. However, conflict does not always have to be ruinous.
Successfully resolved conflict can contribute to deeper relationships when handled effectively, in the workplace. And for that, you need effective communication skills.
Our advice
Try resolving one problem at a time and then move to the next one. Map out your concerns, and isolate the primary issue in order to address it better. Avoid making unwanted accusations and blame game, as it only worsens the situation. Make sure you listen and understand what the other person is trying to say.
Additionally, strong communication is important in expressing your concern about the issue at hand and can stop an argument from escalating. As, conflict escalation can result in false assumptions, which further complicates the condition.
Gives ‘Employee Engagement’ a kick
Communicating is not just talking, talking and talking. It’s about connecting with people while talking. It’s a known fact that companies with highly engaged employees can improve operating income by 19.2 percent over a 12-month period. And that engagement comes from better communication in the workplace.
When an environment of powerful communication is developed in the company, only then an employee can feel more engaged and aligned with the overall company’s goals.
Not only does it make companies, understand the needs of their workers but also help them better understand their skills. It also promotes and strengthens manager-employee relationships.
New besties: Client – Employee!
One perfect way to establishing long-term client relationships is to become great communicators. It is a key that binds employees and clients together from the initial stages of the project until the end. It builds a culture of trust, which is always significant. As well as, can help solve project issues a lot easier, which may arise during the project cycle.
In order to have stronger client relationships, we suggest you stay transparent so as to overcome any client uncertainty. Also, try to be personable and friendly in your speech and say hi to longlasting relationships.
Communicating in diverse environments
Workplace diversity is something that every company is promoting nowadays. They are coming up with strategies for workplace inclusion.
Managers and employees must know how to effectively communicate with the employees since different people come together to make up an organization, from diverse cultures. At the workplace, we often say things that we are not supposed to, which might offend others. Even when said unintentionally.
The ability to communicate effectively with diverse people is extremely important. It portrays your company’s values. While on the other hand employees feel welcomed and understood. They get a feeling that their voices and ideas are heard and respected and in return increases their morale.
More strategic team building
Teamwork is always very important for achieving the company’s goals. In order for the team to work together, effective communication is a must. It reduces unwanted competition within the team and among departments.
Each individual member of the team knows their roles and know what they are expected of. It promotes and fosters positive relationships that are benefitting for the company as a whole as well as for individuals.
Few tips & techniques
We can help you improve communication at the workplace with just a few simple tips!
Ensure that the communication lines are always open to your employees.
Communication is a two-way process. Listen carefully, and encourage a healthy argument.
Have clear objectives and expectations, provide clear and smart goals.
Send your message clearly within the team and among the department to avoid any ambiguities. speak clearly and politely, avoid offending anyone.
Encourage face-to-face communication rather than adopting other channels, gets the message across in the best way.
The bottom line is…
… The bottom line is that good communication is about so much more than initially mentioned. It’s about the content you use to communicate, it’s about consistency, it’s about context and how the other person has perceived your message. Was it clear? Was it not? So it’s important to keep each and every factor in mind and make powerful communication in our work even stronger. What are you doing to bring good communication in your workplace?
Wondering what is the key to enhancing teamwork? The usual answer is pretty obvious; ‘be a team player’.
Undeniably, teamwork is crucial for the success of all businesses, worldwide. Companies don’t work well without proper teamwork. No matter the industry, field or job title, effective coordination skills are essential for a high functioning workplace.
It’s a given that in order to move forward in your professional life, you have to play well with others. Only then you will be able to succeed in achieving goals. And in order to succeed, you need to build teamwork skills, to collaborate with others. In short, working with colleagues and clients while creating a healthy work environment can do wonders for companies.
What skills are we talking about? Here it is!
Be a part of Solutions; not Problems
There are different kinds of individuals who make up a team. They have different mindsets, different values, and beliefs. With this, come different ideas and ways of doing things. We all agree that expecting individuals to just get along is an unrealistic expectation. But with the just-right touch of strategies, team leaders can build a truly remarkable team of problem solvers.
Yes. Teamwork can help solve difficult problems. Collaborating with the team for brainstorming enables you to come up with creative ways of eliminating conflicts. Not only this, it gives you an opportunity to exchange ideas, and find solutions that work best.
There will always be opposing views but if you learn to find common ground and learn good problem-solving skills only then a group can be considered an effective team.
Communicate clearly, listen carefully
Effective communication that is respectful and honest, makes teams succeed.
Feel free to express your idea, thoughts, and opinions clearly. Ask questions frequently as it determines the effectiveness of the team. Moreover, it makes you deeply understand your team member’s point of view.
It’s important to emphasize communication skills when working in a team since it makes team members more comfortable in sharing insights. While communicating with your team members, it’s essential you listen actively too. It’s an important part of communication The ability to listen carefully allows team members to better understand the tasks they are given, better understand your ideas and concerns.
Have a sense of Responsibility
Teamwork is more of personal responsibility rather than just a group process. Nowadays, it acts as fuel for companies. Teamwork is all about responsibility. You have to accept responsibility as individuals and as a team. The blame game and lame personal justifications are a big turn off. You fail as a team and you succeed as a team. Any success or failure should be celebrated or grieved together.
It’s important that teams understand their work responsibilities and work together to reach the expected outcome.
T for teamwork, T for trust
Managing people who don’t trust one another can be quite challenging and draining.
A team without trust cannot be categorized as a team. They are simply a group of people. They may be working together but may not cooperate or share information with anyone else. No matter how talented everyone is, but without trust, a team can never reach its full potential.
However, it’s essential that trust is in place within the team. It makes the team stronger and more cohesive. The team as a whole can achieve meaningful results and flourish in the long run when each and every member of the team trusts each other.
Promote shared Decision Making
As mentioned earlier, different members of the team bring different ideas, values, and perspectives. It’s important you learn to be inclusive. Include everyone in decision making.
Shared decision making is the process through which a team chooses an alternative together. Team performance largely depends on decisions. On the other hand, Team members may help each other improve the team’s overall performance and abilities to make team decisions.
In the end, you agree with the decision or not? It’s important you stand together and support it.
Be Reliable, Supportive & Respectful
It’s important that team members support each other, demonstrate mutual respect and show reliability so that your coworker can trust you. You should exemplify loyalty and motivate your group members in the time of need.
Often, team members start competing with one another, ignoring the fact that they are not competitors, rather collaborators, working together for a mutual goal.
Another important skill for working in a team is to be respectful, always. Communicate your opinions that respect others, give constructive feedback and make sure you stick to your words and deadlines.
Always be Accountable
Accountability is critical to teamwork. In a team setting, not only an individual is accountable but also his team members. So, for the team to function properly and improve accountability, it’s important you set clear expectations, consistently ask and share updates, to avoid any ambiguities.
Remember the Ultimate Goal in Mind
At the end of the day, teamwork is all about reaching your ultimate goal for which you and your team have been striving for days. The end result could literally make or break a team, a department or even the entire business. So, you should learn to appreciate your team and demonstrate positive teamwork skills.
Can you think of any other effective teamwork skills? Let us know in the comment section below.
Generally speaking, many employees misunderstand the concept of Real-time Monitoring. When it comes up, we start imagining spy technology, cameras, deep surveillance, and secret data agents, keeping an eye on an individual’s every move.
Like it or not, it might be true in many cases. But we do like to believe that employees over-exaggerate the very idea of real-time monitoring more often than not.
Companies are always able to monitor employees to ensure the productivity that whether the employees are making the best use of their resources. And surprisingly the emergence of new technologies is specifically designed for providing exactly that; tracking employee time, productivity, online browsing data, screen monitoring and what not.
Evidently…
… Real-time monitoring is raising concern among teams. But it doesn’t sound so bad. Look at the bright side; how it is helping employers to understand the trends and state of an employee’s progress and productivity.
You don’t believe us?
Let’s look at some of the ways in which real-time employee monitoring is revolutionizing global businesses:
Insight into Employee’s Productivity
Perhaps the most common argument for real-time monitoring, deployed by companies is that it can make employees more productive. Pioneers of monitoring software claim they are helping managers to ensure that employees make better use of time. Also, to minimize the number of wasted hours.
Keeping in view, that often employees are expected to do more in less time, in order to catch up with the world of business. Real-time monitoring is providing companies with a new and innovative way to scale their businesses, preventing a drop in efficiency. With so many challenges it can be difficult for employers to measure individual productivity that’s why having real-time employee monitoring tools is a great deal.
Acting as a ‘Big brother’
By monitoring employee screens, companies can easily see what workers are doing, on the spot, it also prevents employees from deviating from their set working schedule.
Real-time employee monitoring works as a ‘Big brother’ to the corporate world. It can see into everything on employee’s computer screens from the URLS that employee has opened to which project are they working on. It will instantly let employees know when they violate the company’s internet policy, which also automatically makes them more productive.
Employee Feedback in Real-time
Customizable employee screen recording lets employers give feedback in real-time. Which in return can improve employee productivity and they can easily correct course. Real-time feedback not only motivates team members but also reinforces positive contributions towards the end goal.
Moreover, it reduces bias and supports fair decision making during formal performance reviews, solely based on individual talents & progress, since all performance data can be collected through employee work logs.
Supports Smarter decisions
Real-time monitoring provides constant information for making informed and smart decisions. How? By seeing trends in employee’s progress as they develop.
All the information gathered through real-time monitoring can then be used to coach and train employees who might not be performing up to the mark while rewarding those who are. It helps employers more effectively point areas where employees may be lagging behind and suggest appropriate improvements accordingly.
It greatly helps in retaining top talent by keeping them motivated by recognizing their best work and constant appreciation.
Ensures a smooth workflow
One of the most important aspects of employee screen monitoring software is to see how much time has the employee spent on each project from start till finish. It’s a common knowledge that monitored data can prevent bottlenecks in the workflow.
Real-time monitoring helps employers with effective workflow about how things should work and, who should be responsible and of which task. For example: with workflow automation, the task that was supposed to take 15 minutes will be completed in 45 seconds.
Convenient for Managing Remote teams
Real-time employee monitoring allows companies to track their distributed team’s work activities and monitor their engagement. Making it easier for them to measure productivity, and collect proof of actual working hours from afar.
Productivity monitoring in real time ensures that your company is delivering peak performance in today’s competitive business landscape and helping them stay ahead of the curve.
Having said that…
… Real time Employee monitoring tools are providing you an easy way to ensure whether your staff is spending too much time binge-watching Netflix at work rather than actually working. They’re also an important part of scheduling tasks and generating accurate invoices.
Since we are talking about tools, Stafftimer App is an employee monitoring tool that can provide huge benefits to your business including comprehensive insights into employees, data gathering, time-tracking, smart reporting, and automation.
Our advice, choose the tool that’s right for your team, we bet it will be worth it.
The entire universe is a blend of different, and contradictory personas. In other words, everyone has got a personality of their own! We are all different, and that what makes it more interesting. Out of 24 hours a day, we spend half of the time at the office with our colleagues.
During that time, we are exposed to different thoughts, ideas, and responses. Some like rock n’ roll, some are introverts while others pour milk before cereal. Either reluctantly or enthusiastically, we must adjust ourselves to the people around us. We might like spending time with some, while others would just drive us insane and find us bumping heads into walls.
Humans as ‘Social Animals’
Aside from just aimlessly scrolling through the internet, tirelessly working, pointlessly staring at the ceiling, humans, tend to converse and socialize with their work buddies. It’s only natural, my friends! The reason, why humans are categorized as ‘Social animals’. With this in mind, it is safe to say, during your professional journey, you’ll come across a few recurring personalities, repeatedly.
Here are the 14 most common people you will find in every workplace that you can most probably relate to. So, let’s dig in:
1. The Know-it-all
Every workplace has a colleague who thinks they know everything! Who likes to believe, that without their knowledge and expertise, the company will not survive. Someone, who thinks they have the answer to all your questions, and solutions to all your problems.
One who has strong opinions, and make decisions on their own without your input. They talk more and listen less!. Well, we can go on and on about their stupendously beautiful innate qualities but our goal here is not to offend anyone.
2. The Creative Genius
It’s quite common to meet creative geniuses at the workplace. Their only aim is to ‘show creative, be creative’. Their definition of success starts with creativity and ends with creativity. Additionally, they are all about adding colors, sunshine, and rainbows to everything they are responsible for.
They believe there is only one way of doing things, the creative way. No alternative ways! Above all, they always urge others to ‘think outside the box’ no matter how small the task is. Therefore, they are the ‘unicorns’ of every organization.
These types of coworkers love to crack work jokes and funny puns. Think they are very good at it and they actually are! Here, we said it and we simply love their company. Right? Their sense of humor is absolutely appreciable. They always have several fun tricks up their sleeves and do know their way around making the group laugh.
They can turn a blue Monday to a happening Friday. Truly, spending time with such people at work is a blessing in disguise and a good way to unwind. They warm our hearts with harmless humor. Cheers to them!
At any job, you’re bound to have that one co-worker who always complains about things. They just want to be heard all the time and want to do things their way because their way is always the right way.
These kinds of people grumble all the time at work. They always need something or someone to whine about or else it’s the end of the world. Complainers are said to be the pioneers of negative work-talk.
Our advice: Avoid being an office complainer. It’s important if you deal with them, professionally and handle the unpleasantries in an appropriate way.
‘I am Carmelita Spats and I am an adorable, beautiful, cute, dainty, eye-pleasing, flawless girl’
Yeah, you got us! Prepare the red carpet, because these people love to be in the spotlight. While you slip and trip in your sneakers, they will walk around in cut crease make-up looks and tailored suits.
No matter whom you are talking with, they always manage to draw your attention. Believe it or not, we do end up loving them. Surprise!
6. The Professional Sleeper
You are right. They snooze for a living! They find it extremely hard getting out of bed every morning. And literally, crawl to work dreaming about climbing back into bed.
You will find them sleeping here and there, even with their eyes open. They believe there is no such thing as too much sleep. They also possess an amazing ability to nap anywhere, anytime!
7. The Chatterbox
There is always that one person in the workplace, who simply loves to talk! They are the socializers! Always keeping people engaged with their endless chatter.
They are the ultimate masters of water cooler chats and gossips! Sometimes you adore them, sometimes you don’t, but you do know, that your life without them is gloomy.
They are said to be the mentors. Need any career guidance and help with challenging problems? They are your go-to guys. Ms. or Mr. Diligent would give you a perspective on how to handle your life problems. Additionally, they keep you connected with the team.
They are hard workers and they consider work their life, always glued to their laptops and instantly give email replies. Who doesn’t like super fast replies? This person possesses a never-ending enthusiasm towards work. They are admired by everyone and inspire everyone.
9. The Tech Junkie
It’s clearly not easy being a tech junkie and every workplace has one in their stock. They always make use of cutting edge technologies to solve all life’s problems.
A new product launch? You’ll probably find them cramped out and in front of their computer screens, waiting in line for pre-orders! They can not survive without their tangled earplugs because they tend to be more productive with the rhythm of the music. Being the one everyone always calls when they have tech or software problems. But often, misunderstood for someone who fixes bikes!
‘Hey Luke, my bicycle breaks are not working, can you please have a look at it?’ ‘Hey Adam, I am a tech guy, not a freaking mechanic’
10. The ‘Look busy, do nothing’
You know that coworker who’s always in his cabin, working, as he has so much to do like he has carried all the weigh of the world on his shoulders? Yes, we are talking about the one who looks busy and does the least productive every day.
They’re always looking for ways to wiggle out of work. And no one knows, what they really do!
They are habitually late and never shows up on time. Always have excuses for why were they late. Sometimes, it’s the kids, sometimes, commute problems. This breed of people is the last to arrive and the first to leave.
You’ll often find them judging those who don’t drink coffee: ‘Do you not like coffee? How do you live?’ For them, every day is a global coffee day. It’s in their DNA that simply makes them crave coffee. They can’t get through the day without a legal caffeine hit! There best argument: I need focus, to be more productive, simply put, I need coffee.
If they are feeling tired, give them a small cup of latte or espresso and then see them winging it at work.
13. The Aggressive Eater
People who love food, are always the best people, we couldn’t agree more!
There will be one coworker, who you will find always eating at all hours of the day. They’re always hungry, and always need something to munch on. All you’ll ever hear from them is how hungry they are. ‘For God’s Sake, Annie, You just had lunch’.
They basically live to eat and repeat! And they don’t like sharing.
Now, we all agree every workplace has one sarcastic kind. They are constantly coming up with perfect one-liners to comment every single time with utmost perfection. They are often underappreciated for their talents but trust us, its a special skill, not many people have.
You can see them rolling their eyes on their work buddies, many times.
We are sure, you have seen at least some of these coworkers at your workplace. which one are you?
Do you know with great leadership comes great responsibility? Well, of course, you do!
And one of these responsibilities is giving your employees the autonomy to work, to take initiatives and encouraging them to be the best versions of themselves. We admit, being a leader is not easy, but it is your duty to help your employees without constant micromanagement. Looking beyond employee benefits, there’s a lot that the organizations can do to best support their employees at the workplace.
In rather fancier terms, Empower them! By employee empowerment, you are giving them a chance to make certain decisions on their own, giving them a chance to work independently and most of all giving them a chance to learn and grow! Bottom line is, empowering employees can have ginormous benefits not only to the team but to the company as a whole; it improves accountability, job satisfaction and helps you in finding the solution to all your problems, collectively.
Harvard Business Review conducted a meta-analysis of all available field experiments on leaders empowering subordinates – examining the results of 105 studies, which included data from more than 30,000 employees from 30 countries.
Their study showed that empowering leadership can motivate employees and also, fuels workplace creativity. Empowered employees are happy employees and happy employees are more productive.
Are you interested in the empowerment of your employees? Follow these 5 simple tips and transform your work culture:
Must Believe in Your Employees
According to Steve Jobs – a force behind leading Apple to corporate success:
“It’s not the tools you have faith in–tools are just tools–they work, or they don’t work. It’s the people you have faith in or not.”
Building trust in your workforce is one of the key factors. Successful business relationships are founded on the sacred principles of trust, and respect.
Without this, the ability to overcome challenges and workplace issues is greatly compromised. There are many reasons why you can not afford to not trust your employees. Trust inspires confidence and confidence leads to success, which helps employees to further their own career and growth. It will make employees more inclined towards taking on new challenges and pushing themselves beyond limits to achieve the best, not only for them but for their organization.
In short, believe in your employees and encourage them to do the same, others will follow.
Inspire Creativity
Do you feel that your employees are not creative enough at work? What are you doing wrong? Business creativity starts with employee creativity! Well, that’s a given. There are many reasons why employees lose their creativity for example not enough resources, lack of autonomy, lack of recognition, so on and so forth. Now, what you can do to stop that?
Start by accepting their ideas and inputs. Make them a part of an active decision making or even goal-setting. At first, they might face difficulty and hesitation while making a decision on behalf of your team but you learn as you live.
Additionally, it’s not just about decision making, its’ also about finding better ways to accomplishing a task and solving problems, rather than using the same age-old techniques. Encourage your employees to bring creative ideas to the table. Not only, will it help empower your employees, it can also open up doors for many new and innovative ideas that might have the power to lead your company to greatness.
Makes sense, right?
A little appreciation can go a long way!
You have to admit, that we all crave appreciation and recognition in one way or the other. Either it’s work, or not, it’s always helpful to receive some applaud.
Have you ever noticed that we human beings have a tendency to repeat behaviors, good or bad? Similarly, positive feedback reinforces a spark in employees. Showing employees the appreciation for their work well done makes it even more likely that they will continue to be creative, and innovative.
It ensures continued high-quality work in the future as well.
Whether it’s a goal they have achieved before time or a report that was presented flawlessly, let them know when they have done a good job! It doesn’t cost anything.
Autonomy, give your Employees Autonomy!
Do not let your employees view their jobs as simply ‘work for pay’, and nothing more, nothing less.
Employee autonomy is crucial for learning. As a leader, yes it is your job to manage your employees, but instead of worrying about the small details, direct your focus on the goals and strategic objectives of each individual team member. Let them exercise choice and take care of the minute details. Rather than micromanaging, communicate the end-result and then help them build on that.
Bonus: Granting autonomy to employees improves workplace retention!
Have an Open-door Policy
Well-defined open door policy is what every workplace should have and need. No, it doesn’t mean it gives employees an opportunity for continuous complaining and nagging, No.
Maintaining an open line of positive communication with your team is an important aspect of running a successful business venture. It leads to higher job satisfaction and shows employees that you care about what they think. In order to truly empower your employees, carefully listen to their opinions and let them know that they are valued. It will enable them to play an active part in your company.
The success of organizations depends on the success of its’ employees.
Managers need to understand that empowering employees in the workplace is crucial for companies to thrive.
The bottom line is, empowering employees at the workplace is about accountability and trust. However, if you follow the ways outlined above, you’ll be able to achieve a healthy workplace.
What have you done in your workplace to empower your employees?
![[Infographic] A curious case of ‘Monday Blues’](https://stafftimerapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/monday-feature-image-.jpg)
