What are remote teams?
A remote team is a group of professionals from different time zones, different skills and culture working together on a particular project.
Why is it important to manage remote teams?
Being a remote manager helps builds a support system for a team, and helps strike a balance to hold them accountable.
Managing remote teams also helps build trust and maintain transparency, frequent and open communication, as well as ensures a safe working environment which are critical skills.
How can you effectively manage a remote team?
Clear communication
Communication is essential while working with a remote team.
As a manager, it’s important to update information about what’s happening individually, in a team, and making sure that in the company, everything is transparent and available for everyone.
Make sure to connect with your team at least once a day. If you can’t keep up with a phone call, send an instant message or an email. Contacting regularly will keep everyone from feeling isolated.
You can use tools like Skype for Business, Slack, and Microsoft Teams to organize regular meetings.
Setting goals
When setting goals, start small and make them measurable and realistic to be able to follow up.
Ensure that the tasks you assign to your team are communicable and actionable in the short-term. This ensures that everyone feels more in control and autonomous.
Give your team a little freedom to figure out their new schedule and find a fix workload and always give deadlines, goals, and due dates.
Through this , you know for sure that everyone is working with a fixed plan and strategy to get their work done effectively.
Assign the responsibilities accordingly
Having a good understanding of what needs to be done is important. Identify the team members as in who is best suited for a particular task.
Use a good task management or project management system so that everyone knows where they are and what they have to do.
Set a schedule for regular conference calls regarding team’s progress or problems.
Pull a system in place where it is easy to generate reports and see analytics on how things are working.
Gather feedback on regular basis
Gathering feedback is very essential to make sure that everything is working well for your team.
Feedback helps you identify weak points that needs adjusting or for the things that aren’t working at all. There are several ways you can do this:
- If you’re already having virtual meetings with individual members, ask if they feel the current processes work well.
- Anonymous polls or surveys can also gather data on different aspects of your working model.
Be understanding and provide emotional support
It’s not enough to hear about any problems, you need to be able to understand them, too.
Remind your remote team members that you’re there to support and inspire them.
Create support networks. This can help to deal with personal issues if you can talk and listen to your peers. You can set up online meeting groups that are only there to specifically talk with each other.
Summing up
- As vast numbers of businesses begin to introduce remote work policies, managing a team from a distance is becoming a norm for many.
- Do not avoid social conversation amongst your team. Whenever you get in touch, be sure to take some time to ask how everyone is doing.
- Check on the mental and physical wellbeing of your team, just as you would in an office setting.
- Let your team discover what they can do with the freedom that comes from remote work.
Frequently asked question on how to manage remote teams?
How do you effectively manage a remote team?
- Set Boundaries with Remote Workers.
- Encourage and Embrace Diversity.
- Set Expectations Early and Clearly.
- Brush Up on Your Online Communication Skills.
How can you manage a remote team without being overburdened?
- Establish and Maintain a Routine.
- Set and Stick to Priorities.
- Create and Keep Boundaries.
- Take Short and Long Breaks.
- Make Time for Human Interaction.
How do you make a remote team feel connected?
- Keep an open line of communication.
- Provide honest, frequent feedback.
- Use collaboration tools.
- Hold weekly video meetings.
- Be clear in your communications.
- Empower employees with flexibility.
- Establish fun company traditions.
Let us know in the comments what steps you have taken to manage remote teams?