Remote team management
Working Remotely: 7 tips to manage your remote team
With the advent of globalization and rapid technological advancement, the world of business has developed enormously. More and more companies are taking the next step and stepping out in the world. With enterprises setting up new offices worldwide, it leads to having a taskforce in a different country. Such an undertaking often benefits the company by cutting costs and providing a different skillset of employees. But it comes with its own sets of drawbacks too, managing your remote team being one of them. It is no simple task and requires a lot of energy and efforts on the manager’s part. Below are some tips to assist you in your role as a manager of a remote team.
1. Communication
One of the most important aspects when managing a remote team is communication. It is imperative that the team knows exactly what is expected of them for utmost productivity. As a manager, leave no room for misunderstandings. Ensure that your remote team is aware of their roles and deadlines. Not being constantly at their disposal should not slow down the work progress. Give them proper guidelines and detailed instructions about the projects. Always be specific; vague directions often leads to confusion which may disrupt the end results. As a manager of a remote team your interactions with your members would be limited, so making certain that these talks are properly designed and purposeful goes a long way towards achieving your goals.
Furthermore, schedule weekly meetings with your team to monitor progress. Mete out specific targets and goals for each member of the team for that week and reconvene next week. Take their questions and clear out any doubts they may have. Such meetings lets you as a manager ensure productivity. While frequent online meetings and scheduled check-ins helps to keep the employees in loop and ensure maximum results, it fails when immediate assistance is required. For a remote team, set up various channels of communication where they can contact you instantly. Having instant messaging or chat tools is one of the better modes of communication at such times. It is one of the surer ways to tackle your employees’ concerns and queries. Let your employees in remote team know that you are available to them and they only need to reach out when in doubt.
2. Appropriate technology and tools
Remote teams have only been made possible as a result of advancement in technology. But more so in the recent years there have been development of tools and applications which has led to managing these remote teams much more convenient. When distance hampers physical interactions with your team, these tools become a major necessity. Video conferencing applications are indispensable means of communication. It becomes your primary communication tool with your remote team through which you relay your projects and check up on them. Further tools that are essential for functioning of your remote team would include file sharing software, instant messaging and chats, screen sharing software, project management software, timesheet tracker to name a few. Such tools helps you as a manager to track your team’s productivity and monitor the projects. For your team, these tools helps them
to better communicate and collaborate with you and helps them feel involved. It builds up the team camaraderie and boosts productivity.
3. Scheduled meetings
One of the major drawbacks of working with a remote team is unable to form a bond with your employees. With an in-house team, the daily interactions and run-ins build up an open relationship with your employees which helps develop respect and trust. This further helps in building a much more comfortable environment for them to work in and keeps them stimulated. But this luxury is denied when managing a remote team. So as an alternative a manager should, on a regular basis, set up meetings with each member of their remote team and use that time to check up on them both personally and professionally. A specific portion of that meeting can be used to catch up on their personal life and interests, to help build a rapport between you both. The rest can be utilized to check up on their professional growth, take a closer look at their career trajectory and act as a mentor to them if needed.While setting up these meetings, keep in mind the different time zones of your employees. Allocate a time slot which works in favor of you both and inform them about it well in advance.
4. Team Motivation
It is easy for your remote team to feel left out and consequently lose motivation. They may get distracted at times which brings down the productivity of your company. While one of the ways to keep them not lose sight of their targets is through frequent communication, another helpful practice would be boosting their morale. Whenever deserved, applaud the work and efforts of the members of your team. A little praise from their manager helps boost their confidence and facilitates in overall growth of the team. Offer them positive feedbacks when you can, maybe even rewards if possible. Giving a public shout out to them lets them know they are seen and their work is appreciated.
5. Cultural Awareness
More often than not the remote team being managed might be in a completely different country. While a team in a different country helps out the company to cut costs and acquire different, maybe better, skillsets, it comes with a little challenge of its own. Often times the work ethic might be different there. Getting yourself acquainted with their style avoids conflicts and helps to navigate through work better. Furthermore, familiarize yourself with their holidays so as to avoid scheduling conflicts. It is important to respect their culture; they might have unavoidable religious obligations and as a manager it is your duty to be mindful of such events. Such considerate behaviour helps to foster positive relationships with your employees.
6. Proper Hiring
While the above mentioned tips really helps improve the management of a remote team, it would be considerably less endeavoring if one hires the right employees from the get go. An in-house team and a remote team are quite different. A remote team does not have the continuous guidance of their manager and as a result tend to operate differently. Therefore, you need to hire your remote team accordingly. It works well for the company when the members of your remote team are independent, reliable, self-motivated and adaptable.
7. On Site Visit
The remote team mainly interacts with their manager through online communication channels. While it may get the work done, such interactions lack familiarity. Which is why it helps if the manager is able to visit their remote team once or twice a year. Maybe, if budget permits, you can organize an annual team retreat. It is a great opportunity to personally meet your team and get to know them better. This further helps to keep the remote team’s spirits high.
Hopefully these tips are of use to you and helps in establishing a productive remote team for you and your company.