The shift to working from home created a lot of opportunities for people because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up allowing them to maintain their careers and also have a better work life balance. In spite of the fact that this is the case, many middle managers and corporate executives have been skeptical about their employees truly being Productive whilst staying away from the office.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that 87% of employees reported that they are being productive according to a new analysis that was performed by Microsoft. This index was based off of data collected through Microsoft’s various work related platforms, and it should be mentioned that this statement is not just self reported. Rather, it is backed up by productivity signals that Microsoft collects through the same platforms with all things having been considered and taken into account.

However, 85% of managers said that it is difficult for them to confirm whether or not employees are truly being as productive as they say they are. 81% of employees agreed that they needed guidance to help them optimize their work flows, but only 31% said that they received this kind of assistance from their managers.

This wide gap between actual productivity and what managers are concerned about highlights the need for improved synergy among all members of an organization. Managers have no other role to play other than to ensure that people are productive, and their job is quickly getting automated. It turns out that employees don’t need someone cracking a whip to make them work harder.

Rather, they need to be given the freedom to complete their work on their own time, and they should only be penalized if their work ends up getting delayed. Remote work is showing that people can be perfectly responsible for their own work flows, and it is not surprising that managers would be fearful of that since it puts their jobs in peril and senior leadership could become aware of that.

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