Tips for Keeping Your Remote Developer Productive

Writing code demands distinct abilities. Paying close attention to detail is crucial, as is the capacity to think creatively when solving issues. Remote work has benefits for fostering creativity but can also cause burnout. Thus, it’s crucial to ensure that your development team maintains their productivity in a remote work setup.

To achieve success, it’s crucial to work in an environment that fosters productivity. Unfortunately, current office spaces are impeding creativity from flowing freely.

In the past, I worked as a Content Developer for the Marketing Team of a private clinic. My role involved writing tasks, while my colleague was responsible for the artwork.

Our primary challenge was having personnel around all the time. The clinic’s head would often do his rounds and demand reports. It wasn’t uncommon to hear him repeatedly ask, “Where’s my Art?”

It was highly frustrating to observe that the other clinic personnel did not acknowledge our presence. From doctors to administrative staff, everyone remained occupied with their work, and we were merely seen as “those men who sat at their desks scrolling through Facebook all day”. Their hard work could be witnessed and yielded results regularly – even hourly. Meanwhile, the creative process was highly unpredictable with its own set of peaks and lows.

The environment made it difficult for us to concentrate fully, leading to subpar work quality. Surprisingly, the director was satisfied with the outcome, which remains somewhat of a mystery!

Hence, remote work is an ideal choice for developers who possess both creative and analytical skills.

Although there may be some exceptions, working remotely without any support can be a challenge for most individuals. Our nature as humans is not attuned to functioning in such a manner. However, receiving guidance from superiors can make a significant difference. Keep reading to learn how to enable your developers to work from home more efficiently.

Two Approaches to Ensure Your Developer Meets Deadlines and Sustains Productivity

Establish a Work Schedule

When working remotely, employees may find it beneficial to have a more flexible schedule, such as taking extended lunch breaks, sleeping in on weekends, or taking an afternoon nap. This could lead to greater productivity when dealing with complex tasks, even if it falls outside the regular business hours.

In this scenario, two aspects must be taken into account. Firstly, people typically overestimate their own productivity and efficiency. It’s common to be overly optimistic about our ability to complete challenging tasks before the given deadline.

The second aspect to consider is that having the freedom to manage one’s own schedule may make it challenging to stay in touch with colleagues. This factor plays a crucial role in working remotely and must be carefully considered for success.

So, what is the solution?

Employees are required to follow the schedule set by the company. While remote workers can work at non-conventional hours, they must be aware of when they are expected to be accessible.

This may seem to contradict the concept of remote working, but that is not the case. Remote workers are still accountable for their workspace; they only adhere to a predetermined schedule that satisfies the needs of the company.

Setting a groundwork can enable you and your programmer to work together towards enhancing innovation and efficiency. Evaluate the amount of flexibility you can offer with regards to scheduling, and communicate this to your team.

Effectively utilizing milestones can also be advantageous.

It is crucial to establish measurable objectives that are more precise than the project’s final product. Breaking down larger tasks into smaller, more manageable chunks can make remote work more efficient. Instead of fixating on the ultimate goal, it’s advantageous to focus on the current task. This guarantees that decisions are based on the present situation and can be seen as creating a timeline of practical deadlines.

Preventing Isolation and Burnout: Effective Strategies

Programming is generally done independently and requires ongoing concentration, which is why it’s helpful to not have colleagues present to cause any distractions. However, it can feel lonely at times.

Additionally, the situation exacerbates over time. Workers in this scenario aren’t constantly supervised. Our research reveals that instead of slacking off, they often worry about appearing to be productive. This is why they might try to overcompensate at times.

Tech blogger Scott Hanselman puts it this way:

We frequently work for extended hours, including weekends and past our children’s bedtime.

As per his observation, emotions of guilt are very real and can lead to burnout when working remotely.

Complying with the set work schedule can significantly assist in preventing this.

However, that alone isn’t enough.

If you’re experiencing isolation or guilt while working remotely, there’s excellent support accessible. Collaborative programming should be promoted.

This technique, which is linked to our article on the best team collaboration and communication tools for 2023, allows software development teams to work together on projects, whether in a shared physical space or virtually via screen sharing software. This provides an added layer of responsibility, as the work is visible to an external observer. Furthermore, it promotes a pleasant work environment since colleagues can socialize with one another.

Hire Competent Coders with Demonstrable Achievements

Engaging a remote programmer is an excellent approach to constructing a dynamic team. You can benefit from the worldwide talent pool and recruit highly skilled experts at competitive rates. Nonetheless, it’s crucial to bear in mind that not everyone performs best when working remotely. Therefore, it’s imperative to ensure that candidates are prepared and know what to anticipate when working from home before accepting the position.

Our candidate assessment method guarantees that all applicants are ready to work remotely. Moreover, our recruiters possess extensive expertise in sourcing committed coders who align well with your company’s ethos.

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