The COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in a new normal in more work and living. That’s why firms are getting Remote Worker Monitoring services for their employees.
While remote work is not a new concept, many of us are still in the dark about how working at home or anywhere else works.
Due to the various routines and settings of remote work, managers continue to develop a way of tracking remote workers, projects and assignments. Especially when it’s not really possible to peek and supervise them just a room over.
Many work management apps and other online tools are now making rounds in many companies that run on offshore manpower, and while remote work monitoring services are still spanking new, it’s ready and equipped to take on the hassle of timekeeping and the like.
Remote work monitoring is the act of keeping track of your staff’s activities, productivity and time consumed during hours of work. Since it’s not really a feasible idea to install biometric scanners in every employee’s home base, these services help you keep track of time spent by staff working on a specific assignment, or working for you, in general.
Now that remote work is rapidly growing into normalcy and online tools are changing the landscape in terms of working, many managers are always finding ways to fine tune work. Especially when the workforce is in many different parts of the country, much less in other parts of the world. It’s a challenge to streamline onsite operations, so it’s not hard to see how complex it may be for remote work operations.
Remote employee monitoring helps keep the job more organized. While it gives off the impression of simply making sure remote staff clock in and clock out on time, having a reliable remote worker monitoring service makes sure all remote staff are where they should be.
While a temporary setting for some, many companies operate on remote staff. Considerably cutting down on costs in housing and staffing.
Now that the current social norms are limited, remote work thrives even more, becoming a more attractive option from many burnt out office workers, which in turn, boost the remote work market and the need for remote worker monitoring services.
Remote worker monitoring software not just helps managers and companies. While remote work seems to be a lot simpler, things can get messy really fast, especially when responsibilities at home begin to slowly bleed into responsibilities at work.
It’s easy to get one’s headspace into work mode when surrounded by other co-workers. Alas, not the same can be said for workers inside their bedroom.
Remote tracking software can help remote staff be more organized in their work, guiding them into planning their tasks well into the day through features that not only keep track of time spent working. Having reliable, user-friendly software like this could help remote staff keep track of their time and progress, effectively getting their headspace into productivity in no time.
It’s evident that remote worker monitoring is a solution on its own. Helping managers and companies keep track of time and services rendered. As well as guiding remote staff into a more organized way of working, especially in a comfortably familiar work environment that could very easily make them more complacent than they would appreciate.
While a reliable solution, just like many business functions out there, tracking work from home employees in such fashion also has its own implications.
Employees are fuelled by morale more than many managers and companies expect. In this day and age where the culture of self-sufficiency and mental health awareness is advocated, not many employees are willing to put up with less than conducive work culture.
While remote tracking helps employers keep track of the time employees spend working. It can also create a sense of distrust between employer and staff, as not everybody reacts favorably to being watched.
Another cons would be the costs. Good solutions are almost always costly. Most software companies offer limited features without spending extra cash. Given that this is a relatively new business function as well, managers looking to assemble their own remote worker monitoring team in the enterprise would require instructional manuals and sessions, which are just as costly and time consuming.
Privacy issues are also a looming downside, as many staff don’t take well into the thought of their online activity being looked into – which is inevitable, as remote work is entirely founded online and occasional browser searches are unavoidable, whether work-related or not.
Remote tracking is useful and reliable, but there are many factors to consider. A qualified, thorough check of the company’s working conditions and requirements can help proprietors and managers arrive at the decision of acquiring the service.
Fortunately, living in the digital age makes almost everything smooth and accessible for work.
It comes in many forms. Usually an app or a software that can be easily installed and accessed by both employers and staff. Some of these tracking apps even have features that allow users to access the software across different devices. It’s very helpful to workers that are always on the go.
Many of these software tools are available to the market and are subject to costs based on features and inclusions. Some of the most known are:
Launched as an SaaS (software-as-a-service) in 2012, Timedoctor is one of the most recognized remote worker tracking tools. It’s mostly running on a basic user interface. It initially includes keystroke loggings, internet usage tracking and screenshot encoding, with CRM capabilities.
Timedoctor offers free trial for a period, with its most basic features available during the trial period. Costs usually start at 5$ a month, up to $49 depending on the number of staff covered.
Deskcove is more than just a time tracking app. Mostly it covers the basics of remote work tracking software such as time and activity tracking. But it takes things up a notch and provides features that assist in project management. This keeps both managers and staff updated in the progress of the project. As well as the progress of each member in their assigned tasks.
Boasting of a more user-friendly interface and added features for project management, Deskcove also calculates a ‘focus score’ which pulls out the amount of focus each staff achieves during working hours, based on their time and productivity level encoded by the app, this in turn lets managers know if a staff member needs assistance or coaching in a particular area they struggle to focus on.
Jibble is a handy time tracking app that works on both smartphones and desktops. It is perfect for remote workers that are always on the go, perfect for fast-paced, mobile workers and freelancers.
The app uses GPS tracking to encode both time and location of the staff. The app makes checking much easier for managers and HR, since remote work, after all, happens anywhere.
Managers and companies will find it the best app for them especially in their mobile environment.
Remote work provides many opportunities on both sides. Startups and SMEs are often big consumers of remote and offshore staffing. It is because of the reduced costs and shared oversight in managing staff.
Many employees who are craving for a change of scenery and a more self-designed schedule often dive into remote work.
Working remotely can be both a comfort and a struggle. And remote worker monitoring aims to provide solutions through streamlined work for both the company and the staff. As well as making sure staff are paid fairly and properly based on time and services rendered.
Whether it’s a blessing or a bane for the firm, it is a useful solution, and at the rate that remote work is growing in the market, this solution might just be an industry on its own, any time soon.
With more than a decade in the industry, Magellan Solutions is a prime provider of outsourced business solutions.
We are always on the lookout for the most recent developments in order to provide high quality and timely services.
Due to the recent feasibility of remote work settings, we are keen on exploring and adapting remote worker monitoring. It is to make sure all our remote operations are smooth and productive. And our staff are safe and properly compensated.
We’d love to tell you more about business solutions. Contact us today for more info.
Contact us today for more information.
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
_ga | 2 years | The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors. |
_ga_EL2X6L0QDM | 2 years | This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. |
_gat_gtag_UA_6034499_1 | 1 minute | Set by Google to distinguish users. |
_gcl_au | 3 months | Provided by Google Tag Manager to experiment advertisement efficiency of websites using their services. |
_gid | 1 day | Installed by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
test_cookie | 15 minutes | The test_cookie is set by doubleclick.net and is used to determine if the user's browser supports cookies. |