What are the ways you can improve your work performance in your virtual office space in Manila?
- Focus on your goals
- Manage your time wisely
- Make use of communication tools
- Have a little friendly competition
The modern workplace is changing in a huge way. More and more employees nowadays are starting to work remotely. While it might be appealing for some people to do their work at home, other people might find that they aren’t so productive when they work laying on their beds in their pajamas. For these kinds of people, working in a virtual office in Manila and other major cities can serve as the perfect compromise.
Eliminating the need to commute for a long time is just one of the many benefits a virtual office can provide many workers. There are other countless advantages to working this way, but whether it is located within a rented space separate from your corporate headquarters or located just within your home, a virtual office can be a way for you to be productive and focused while still being flexible.
Virtual offices that are not designed correctly, however, can cause employees more harm than good. Choosing the wrong kind of virtual office space can even lead to decreased happiness and reduced communication. If you are trying to maximize your productivity while when working away from the office, here are four ways you can improve your work performance in your virtual office space.
Focus on Your Goals
Setting achievable goals can be a very powerful tool for motivation. Make a simple to-do list and set some goals you need to achieve every day, week, month, or even for the year. Share these goals with your co-workers and so that everybody knows what you should be working on and what your deadlines are. Encourage others to do the same so that you can keep each other accountable and help everybody stay on track.
Make it clear not just to your team, but to your leaders as well, about what they expect from you as well as what you expect from them. Reach out to others if you are having a hard time meeting your goals and let your team know that they can do the same with you.
Manage Your Time Wisely
Set some reasonable expectations for the amount of time you need to work. Lay out your own set of rules for time management that shows how many hours you are expected to work every day or when you should be working on a particular task. Minimize all of the distractions around in order to ensure that you meet all of your working hours.
Just as you would when working in a traditional office, let your employers know beforehand if the number of hours you will be working for the day will be reduced. Inform your boss or supervisors if you are going to miss a few days due to an illness or an emergency within the family.
Make Use of Communication Tools
Proper communication is key to keep yourself engaged with your work. It can be hard for your employers to know if you are working or not, so it is important that you constantly communicate with them in order to earn their trust.
Make use of communication and collaboration tools that can help you keep connected with your team such as:
- Basecamp – a tool for project management that allows you to keep all of your communication and work in one place
- Slack – provides workplaces with real-time communication with the option to organize chat into different channels
- Microsoft Office 365 – offers several office productivity applications for your computers and mobile devices including Skype, file sharing or storage, and email.
Find the right tool that works for you and make a schedule for updating your employers regularly, both through chat and face-to-face. Not only will you be able to keep track of your progress, you will also encourage a culture of loyalty and trust within your team.
Have a Little Friendly Competition
Sometimes, all it takes to encourage productivity and engagement is a little friendly competition among your teammates. “Gamification”, or the application of game-playing elements to non-gaming environments, is a popular strategy to push individual employees to increase their productivity.
Engaging in friendly competition can even build a sense of cooperation and teamwork, so try to encourage a few individuals or team-based competitions that reward your day-to-day activities.
Competition can also be a good way to measure your performance because it creates a more standardized way to evaluate your productivity. Finally, it can even help employees that are working out of a virtual office in Manila like yourself feel more included in your team.
Key Takeaway
Putting together a productive, efficient, and happy remote workplace is the key to improving your performance at work. Just remember, finding new ways to improve your productivity can take a long time. Don’t hesitate to change your strategy or try out new things.
Every day is an opportunity to improve and learn so when you prioritize your performance, you are going to thrive in your work, regardless of your location.