The world is changing. And that’s how we work.

Remote work is becoming an increasingly popular option for companies and employees. That’s not just because of the flexibility—although that part doesn’t hurt—but also because of the benefits that come with it: reduced overhead, better employee morale, and an increase in productivity. In fact, 79% of teleworkers said working from home made them more productive and able to focus better.

But with all the benefits come some additional challenges. For example, how do you track the performance of your remote workers? How do you know if they’re checking off everything they’re responsible for? And how do you make sure everyone is productive while working independently on their own projects?

In this post, we examine seven metrics that can help you measure the performance and effectiveness of your remote workers.

Let’s dive in.

1. Total Hours Worked

One of the most important metrics for remote work is the total hours worked per week. This metric is a good indicator of whether you are paying your employees correctly and how efficiently your employees are using their time.

For example, if you have an employee who works 10 hours a week but you pay them 20 hours a week, this could indicate some kind of discrepancy in their pay and performance. On the other hand, it could indicate that they are efficient at their jobs and have the bandwidth to take on more work. But that doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing.

Of course, the opposite could be true if lower workweeks indicate your employees are struggling, slacking off at work, or falling behind with their daily duties. The best way to resolve this is to schedule a meeting to understand the root cause of the problem. For example, if your employees feel overwhelmed, they may miss important tasks or projects. In this case, it might be a good idea to set aside some time for everyone to catch up.

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You can also use this metric to see if your team is getting more done during the week. But again, don’t focus too much on the 30 vs. 40 hours logged weekly. Ideally, you want your employees to get their jobs done in less time.

Recent research shows that remote workers are 20% more likely to complete their daily tasks than those who work in an office. They are also less likely to work a full 8 hours a day. You don’t have to worry if your employees get their work done in a timely manner. The average employee productivity rating is based on several factors, including how much time they devote to each task, how well they prioritize their tasks, and their ability to get things done on time.

However, if you find that your team members are working harder than they were before, it might be time to consider when everyone should be checking out for the day. The last thing you want is for your employees to burn out and lose interest in their work.

Working from home can be great, but it’s easy to fall victim to the hustle and bustle of working from home with everything at your fingertips and forgetting that you have a life outside of work. Therefore, it is important to set limits on your team’s daily working time so that they can enjoy their private lives outside of work.

One of the advantages of remote work is that employees can usually decide for themselves when they want to work. For example, some people prefer to work in the evenings, while others prefer normal office hours. Therefore, it is important to ask employees to set and stick to their working hours so that other colleagues know when they can be reached.

2. Time spent on each task

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The time spent on each task is a good measure of productivity and helps you identify where your employees need help. Unfortunately, we typically spend most of our time doing tedious tasks that aren’t yet automated, or tasks where we lack confidence or skills.

By tracking how long it takes employees to complete specific tasks, you can help them focus on the most important tasks and also teach them new skills. This can be helpful for a variety of reasons, including improving employee morale and efficiency.

Finally, the time spent on each task is a simple and easy-to-track metric that helps identify problems in your workflow. Let’s say you have a remote worker whose time is consistently longer than average. In this case, you could check if your processes are inefficient or if something about this employee’s role makes management more difficult.

3. First reply time

If you and your colleagues don’t react quickly enough, it’s a sign that something is wrong. Quick replies are essential when responding to managers, customers, co-workers, and other remote workers alike.

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Research shows that 69% of employees expect their colleagues to reply to their emails in 4 hours or less. Employees’ quick responses show that they are at their computers and actively participating in work activities. By checking how often they respond to emails, Slack messages, or other communications from other employees, you can tell if they’re reliable employees. If they don’t respond enough or not, it could be a sign that they are unreliable or not a good fit for the position.

You can also measure how many emails they send each day or each week – if someone sends more than ten emails a day and doesn’t reply to anyone for days, then there could be an issue with their workflow or communication skills that are required Addressing.

4. Employee Retention Rate

Employee retention is a measure of employee engagement. It is the number of employees who remain with your company over time and shows how well your organization is doing.

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A high retention rate indicates that you keep your employees happy, involve them in their work, and make them feel like they belong to your company and their position. These things often come together: When people are happy with what they’re doing, they tend to stay put. On the other hand, if you have low levels of employee satisfaction or engagement—or both—you’ll likely see lower retention rates.

5. Employee Satisfaction

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You can use employee satisfaction to measure how satisfied your employees are in their roles and identify areas of improvement that need your attention.

You can measure employee satisfaction through employee engagement surveys that ask about factors such as job satisfaction and career development potential. If you don’t already have an existing survey that measures these things, there are plenty of free or inexpensive online platforms where you can create one yourself – or pay someone else for the service if you’re not comfortable doing it yourself .

There are many ways an employer can increase the morale of their remote workers – for example:

• Offer flexible working hours or annual days off
• Encouraging social activities between teams
• Organization of regular team meetings
• offer training opportunities
• Providing time off for volunteer programs (among others)

6. Average response time for customers

In today’s world, the ability to react quickly is important for any business. In fact, it is essential.

Average customer response time is a metric that can tell you if your remote workers are setting the bar high enough. Customers need to feel like they can always reach out to them with questions or concerns, and when this metric isn’t meeting your expectations, it can be a sign that something needs to be adjusted.

The average response time should be less than 24 hours – more than that, and customers might think they don’t matter enough to get instant answers. Disgruntled customers do not bode well for long-term business success.

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7. Customer Satisfaction

As the saying goes, the customer is always right.

Customer satisfaction is important to any business, but it’s especially important for remote workers. It’s easy for employees to get lost in their work and forget that they’re not just a cog in the works – they’re building something for people or other businesses to consume.

Customer satisfaction is more than just meeting expectations – it’s about exceeding them. When people are happy with your product or service, they’ll come back and buy from you again (and tell their friends and family). This means that the return on investment is higher when you have a happy customer base, so measuring customer satisfaction should be one of your top priorities as a remote business owner.

Customer satisfaction isn’t just about making customers feel valued — it’s also about making them feel heard as individuals. It is all the more important that, for example, in a practice with virtual receptionists, the quality of care is excellent and your patients feel understood. If someone is providing feedback on something that bothers them or they had a bad experience, take the time to listen before deciding on an actionable response.

Wrap up

It’s no secret: one of the biggest benefits of working with a remote team is increased productivity and a better work-life balance. If you’re not wasting hours every day on a monotonous commute, stuck in a cubicle with people constantly coming and going, or just generally distracting you from getting your work done, it’s easier to focus on what matters – and to do more done.

But it’s still important to keep an eye on your remote workers to make sure everything is running smoothly and there aren’t any bottlenecks in your workflow. Of course, since you’re managing remotely, this brings some additional challenges. However, with the help of these seven metrics, you’re well on your way to finding out if your remote team is truly performing at the highest level without sacrificing employee or customer satisfaction.

Kelly Moser is co-founder and editor of Home & Jet, a digital magazine for the modern age. She is also an expert in freelance writing and content marketing for SaaS, fintech and e-commerce startups.