6 Tips For Managing A Remote Team Effectively

Working remotely has quickly gained a foothold in a wide variety of American industries, allowing significantly more flexibility that can be a positive for both employers and employees. Not only do many employees now work occasionally out of the office but about a third of the workforce spends at least four days working at home or on the go.

While there can be a variety of benefits attached to the remote revolution, it also brings a series of challenges that team managers have to be prepared for. From learning how to run an effective and engaging remote meeting to finding a balance between micromanagement and freedom, the best managers of today know how to handle the complexity as the remote trend intensifies.

Here are 6 tips for managing a remote team effectively:

1. Use The Right Remote Work Tools

Technology is important in a remote workplace because they enable you to better organize the team and keep everyone on the same page. A truly effective remote work team will have all of the vital remote work tools: email accounts, file sharing software, an instant messaging platform, screen sharing software, time tracking software, project management software and any tools or resources specific to your industry.

2. Take The Time To Build Relationships

Teams with unconnected workers are much more prone to a lack of engagement along with raised levels of turnover and the potential for lowered profitability, which can be avoided by a manager who is even mildly tech-savvy. As a manager or an owner, you still have to build relationships with your employees even if they are out of the country.

3. Implement Systems

Without systems, your business can fall apart rapidly. A business ran in an office can compensate to some degree for not having systems and processes simply by the fact that people can talk in person and look over each other’s shoulders. In a virtual team, each person is literally in their own world. They may develop their own processes and procedures that don’t mesh with the way other team members are working. It’s best to have a documented, standardized way of working that you’re constantly refining.

4. Don’t Leave Staff Members Behind

For younger generations, telecommuting is the most natural thing in the world. To other generations, it can be an awkward fit that doesn’t suit an employee’s lifestyle. If your company has started offering the opportunity to telecommute, it can be important to determine which employees are ready to go and which team members might need a few tips and a little push. Ensuring that everyone on your team knows exactly how to use any new software can be key to keeping employees from feeling alienated from more tech-savvy team members.

5. Articulate Project Goals And Objectives Clearly

You must engage remote workers and help them understand what they are working towards by setting the correct priorities and goals. You must help remote workers understand what they are working towards by setting the correct priorities and goals. In a virtual work setting, the importance of having clear project goals and objectives cannot be overstated. These goals should be clearly communicated during meetings, regular check-ins and performance reviews as well.

6. Organize A System Of Overlapping Times For Communicating In Different Time Zones

Timezones can kill communication in a remote team. If members of your team work in different time zones, then make sure that you have an overlapping period where everyone is working and organizing your virtual meetings during these times. However, this might not be enough. Depending on the type of work you are doing, you may want to consider only hiring people in the same timezone or where the time is only a few hours apart.

Conclusion

Managing remote employees is hard, but it’s doable. However, there are tricks on how to effectively manage remote teams and still be more productive. In this post, I shared with you 6 tips for managing a remote team effectively.