How to Measure & Track Remote Workers’ Productivity Without Monitoring
When you work from the office, it’s easy to keep an eye on your team. You just take a quick walk past their desks, see them typing away, and conclude that they are being productive. But what about your remote workers? How do you measure remote work productivity?
Well, first of all, you need to understand that just because someone is sitting quietly at their desk doesn’t always mean they’re working efficiently.
Being productive ≠ staying busy and typing.
Second, you can’t let the physical distance fool you: just because you can’t see your remote team doesn’t mean they aren’t giving their best. In fact, many remote employees work smarter AND harder, benefiting from the flexibility and quiet environment that working from home provides. They are often more focused than in-office employees and have a more fulfilling work life.
So, on the surface, managing in-house and remote workers seems so different. In reality, you can apply the same core management principles to both groups.
In this article, we discuss remote work, exploring what it means to ethically monitor your remote work teams. We also provide you with actual KPIs on how to measure their productivity. Without invading their privacy. Without surveillance or moral-slipping software that causes side eyes and undermines trust.
Let’s dive in.
A few words on remote work in 2024
Remote work in 2024 is far from remote work in 2020.
Hybrid work is more prevalent than ever, as workers nowadays get to enjoy the benefits of both worlds: they can work from home and stop by the office when they crave social interactions with their teammates.
However, remote work still reigns supreme when it comes to workers’ mental health, their ability to find balance in their professional and personal lives, and overall satisfaction with their lives.
Here are some U.S. Career Institute statistics about remote workers in America that highlight the benefits of working from home:
- 93% of the surveyed working professionals agreed that working from home was good for their mental health, and 90% said that it has positively impacted their physical health.
- 71% of remote workers believe that working from home helps them balance their work and personal lives, reducing stress.
- 65% of surveyed employees would prefer to work remotely 100% of the time, 32% would like to work a hybrid role, and 3% would prefer not to work from home at all.
- Companies can save up to $10,600 per employee who works remotely by not paying office rent, utilities, coffee, or office spplies.
So, it’s safe to say that remote work benefits both sides: employers and employees.
But what are we going to do about the seemingly contradictory statistics surrounding remote work?
The one that says that 72% of remote workers enjoy a nap or exercise during the work day.
Compared to the one that says that, somehow, 79% of managers feel their team is more productive when working remotely. And what about the one that suggests that 56% of hiring managers believe that working remotely has gone better than expected?
How could this be?
Are remote workers working less while being more productive? Are they the definition of “work smarter, not harder”?
Remote workers’ productivity & how it should be tracked
Let’s first answer the question regarding remote workers’ productivity and their ability to work smarter, not harder.
We at Memtime believe productivity is deeply personal—measured not by the hours spent at a desk but by the impact of one’s efforts.
Trust in the workplace should be built on accountability for results, not rigid schedules. The way we see it, employees are the most productive when they have the freedom to work in ways that best align with individual rhythms.
What matters is the ability to deliver on time and contribute meaningfully. True productivity thrives when there is a balance of trust and autonomy.
Which brings me to my next point.
Tracking remote workers’ productivity should be based on trust.
But, ultimately, it’s up to you to decide how you are going to approach this matter: from a point of fear or faith.
You can dictate how your employees should behave while working from home, including when to clock in and out and when their lunch should start and end. You can be a tyrant masked as a disciplined maven who enjoys and promotes (self-)control and structure.
Or you could be a proper leader with trust and confidence in your team. You can choose to behave like a confidence catalyst, whose trust inspires employees to perform at their best. As long as remote workers deliver on time and contribute to projects, there should be no muss or fuss on either side.
Such a leader doesn’t promote employee monitoring through surveillance and tracking every move but knows the benefits of establishing proper KPIs that will successfully track remote workers’ productivity.
So, if you focus on the goals your remote teams should meet, instead of what they’re doing every minute of the work day, you’ll see impressive results.
How to measure remote work productivity
When measuring productivity, the focus should be on employee engagement and performance, not their whereabouts or time zone.
To ensure your team meets deadlines and keeps projects on track, you must have insight into how much time they’re spending on tasks and whether they’re facing any challenges or need assistance.
Relying on an employee monitoring tool could be your first choice, but it may not be the best approach. Such tools should be your last resort, as they can lower productivity by breaking trust, prioritizing quantity over quality, and compromising your employees’ autonomy.
Instead, find solutions that empower remote workers to track their time and performance without invading their privacy. And we’ve got just the solution for that.
But first, let’s go over some key steps to measure and track remote workers’ productivity effectively.
#1 Set proper productivity goals and KPIs
Setting concrete goals that should be reached weekly, monthly, quarterly, or even yearly is the first step to properly measuring the performance of remote workers.
When setting goals, you should keep the SMART acronym in mind.
And you probably know the drill:
- “S” stands for specific. To set a pragmatic performance goal, you need to know what you want.
- “M” suggests the measurability of a goal. You need to quantify performance goals so employees know when they’ve reached their destination.
- “A” stands for achievable. You need to make the goals reasonable to accomplish.
- “R” suggests relevancy. This should allow you to see the bigger picture when setting a goal.
- “T” stands for time-bound. Meaning, you must add a time aspect, like time-related parameters.
Once the goals are set, you can move on to defining KPIs. Here are examples of some KPIs you can set:
- Task completion rate
- Output volume
- Time management
- Responsiveness
- Employee engagement, etc.
Employee utilization, revenue per employee, planned-to-done ratio, average time per task, and other factors are also important. Our article on productivity reporting explains how to calculate each of these.
When you start tracking KPIs, you’ll be able to see how remote workers are performing against their goals.
#2 Pair your project management software with time management app
Project management software is excellent for remote teams as it allows you, the manager, to measure productivity across teams without appearing “noisy” or “intrusive”.
As you probably know, such a tool allows you to assign tasks to team members, ensuring visibility for task deadlines and goals. It also gives you an overview of your employees’ workloads so you can ensure the work is distributed evenly, according to employees' personalities and affinities.
But what can supercharge your team management is the option to assign tasks to remote employees according to their working habits and productivity peaks.
And that’s where Memtime comes into play.
Memtime + project software of your choice makes the winning combination for remote employees and yourself.
Your remote workers will be able to get the job done without feeling watched or like you are breathing down their necks.
You will be able to measure their productivity and know whether or not the job is being done.
How’s that possible with Memtime?
Here’s how:
- Memtime runs quietly in the background (without sending annoying notifications every 15 minutes or so), capturing all computer activity without the need for any manual input. Your remote employees will be able to juggle work on multiple platforms and programs, simultaneously capturing accurate working time.
- Remote employees can turn those capture activities into time entries and sync them with tasks in project management software. Then, you’ll be able to see how their time is allocated without asking or micromanaging them.
- Memtime’s 2-way sync with project management tools also ensures that teams are aligned along goals and deadlines, promoting smooth collaboration despite physical or time zone differences.
At its core, Memtime is a memory assistant that also allows users to review their workdays and determine their peak productivity hours. Memtime’s Reporting section really comes in handy, showing Captured time, Work time, and Time of absence, as seen in the image below.
If you wonder about the privacy of your employees’ time tracking data, Memtime stores data locally on their devices, giving them control of captured activities and time entries. You have no authority over their data and cannot see it at all.
As you can see, Memtime is fully pro-remote. It is designed to help remote teams time track ethically, guaranteeing their privacy.
But that doesn’t mean all remote employees will be eager to give Memtime a shot.
That’s why the best option is to introduce time tracking with our team trial period so employees can see first-hand how it impacts their time management and helps them manage their workload. All you need to do is schedule a call with us to start your two-week (or longer, depending on your teams’ needs) team trial, and we’ll run custom onboarding for your staff.
#3 Encourage open and frequent communication
Since you will not introduce any monitoring tools or methods, you need to trust your remote workers with their responsibilities.
It's your job to encourage them to update you and the rest of the team on what they’re working on, whether they have any issues with the deadlines, whether they have changed their approach to tasks, etc.
You can do so by suggesting more frequent check-ins via Slack. Or email. Whatever you choose, just be sure to set clear standards for communication. If your remote employees know the proper channels to turn to and when to use them, it will eliminate potential vagueness or ambiguity regarding communication.
#4 Introduce mini-milestones
To motivate remote workers to track their performance, you should introduce mini-milestones.
Mini-milestones are great motivators because they highlight the importance of tasks and task progress. Remote workers will feel good knowing they scratched off tasks on their to-do lists, and won’t feel micromanaged or like you are putting pressure on them to finish larger tasks ASAP.
This also works for you: you’ll be able to track project progress by skimming through opened and completed tasks.
Remote-friendly company culture is essential for remote workers
At the very end of this article, I want to remind you about the connection between remote employee engagement and productivity.
According to Gallup, engaged employees are more productive, which leads to better organizational performance. Engaged employees who feel a sense of belonging are emotionally invested in their work and, therefore, more creative and open to finding innovative solutions.
But what does a remote-friendly company culture look like?
Well, in theory, a remote-friendly company culture prioritizes flexibility, trust, and communication, ensuring that remote teams feel as connected as in-office employees.
Here are some ways you can establish a remote-friendly company culture:
Conclusion
Measuring the productivity of remote workers requires a systematic approach.
It all begins with your trust and willingness to establish strong connections with remote employees. This allows you to create realistic performance metrics. By nurturing trust, remote employees will be engaged, productive, and not afraid to ask questions and openly communicate their concerns.
But please remember that measuring and tracking productivity is just the first step. Once you determine the baseline for it, you should create a sustainable remote work culture that promotes work-life balance and efficiency.
This is where Memtime becomes a key player. Memtime automatically tracks the time spent on tasks and activities, helping remote employees effortlessly remember their work and accurately report on work hours. With these insights, you can make better decisions, relying on productivity trends and peaks, and spotting potential concerns that might impact performance.
So, use project and time management tools together to improve remote workers' productivity, reduce stress, and see your remote teams thrive.
And remember: a well-managed team should be like a clock; when everyone’s in sync, time flies and productivity comes right along.
Aleksandra Doknic
Aleksandra Doknic is a copywriter and content writer with six years of experience in B2B SaaS and e-commerce marketing. She's a startup enthusiast specializing in topics ranging from technology and gaming to business and finance. Outside of work, Aleksandra can be found walking barefoot in nature, baking muffins, or jotting down poems.