As more companies transition towards a virtual work environment, team managers must understand how best to manage remote teams. With the appropriate technology and communication tools in place, managing a remote team shouldn’t be an issue!
Employees who work remotely often feel isolated and lonely, so it’s essential to create a warm, inviting environment where they can thrive. Use these best practices to ensure your remote team members feel valued and appreciated!
1. Communicate with your team regularly
Team communication is essential in any organization, especially when working remotely. Whether your team communicates via email, project management tools, messaging services, surveys or meetings, it’s essential that they do so efficiently and effectively.
Communication regularly can reduce the likelihood of miscommunication, leading to lost time, missed deadlines and inefficient processes.
Establishing clear expectations is another essential element of effective communication. It ensures people know their responsibilities, what the company expects of them and how their performance will be assessed.
Communicating expectations clearly and frequently not only makes everyone more at ease with their job duties, but it also fosters a sense of unity and cohesion within the team.
2. Set clear expectations
One of the most essential practices for managing remote teams is setting clear expectations. This helps employees know their responsibilities and holds them accountable for their performance.
Establishing a clear vision for the team’s goals, key results and milestones can help keep everyone motivated to reach those objectives while reducing frustration. Furthermore, communicating regularly on whether or not those targets have been reached is beneficial in this process.
Establishing regular check-ins with your team, especially if you’re in different time zones, can be a great idea. These can be accomplished via email, instant messages or video calls.
3. Give your team a voice
Employee voice is one of the primary factors in employee engagement. When employees feel safe sharing their opinions without fear of reprisal, they’ll be more motivated to do their best work.
To keep employees motivated, it’s essential to offer them regular one-on-ones that encourage employee voice and give them a say in their development. This could take the form of coaching sessions, team meetings, or social chats.
If you can’t physically meet with your employees, video conferencing tools like Zoom and Microsoft Teams or Google Meet can be a great alternative. These platforms are free and provide various features that allow for effective connection between remote teams while encouraging an atmosphere of transparency in the workplace.
4. Encourage collaboration
If you want to build a productive remote team, it is essential to promote collaboration. This is one of the most crucial best practices for managing remote teams and can make all the difference between success and failure.
Employees need to feel valued and have a voice within the company. This encourages them to stay with the business longer, rather than looking elsewhere for a better job.
When your team works together effectively, it becomes simpler for them to trust each other and complete tasks quickly and efficiently. This leads to increased productivity as well as lower turnover rates.
5. Be flexible
Managing remote teams necessitates a unique management style, one that emphasizes autonomy and self-reliance. Additionally, effective communication, access to information, and encouraging attitudes are necessary components for success.
Managers managing remote teams face a unique challenge: creating an atmosphere of flexible work arrangements. Employees need assurance that their schedules will fit around personal commitments.
For instance, if a person has children or a spouse, being on call all day long may prove too taxing.
To avoid this, be transparent with employees about their work schedule and set boundaries for communication. Doing so will help everyone remain focused on meeting goals and deadlines.