Remote work has become increasingly popular since the COVID-19 pandemic, and although it can offer huge benefits, it can also be challenging if you are responsible for managing a remote team. With remote work, the employee works from home or another location besides the workplace. When you have different personalities within a team and can't converse with them directly, ensuring everyone is content and happy can be challenging. These are some tips for managing a remote team.
Regular Communication
One of the most significant challenges of managing a remote team is ensuring that the individuals in your team don’t feel lonely or excluded. The first step is to ensure you have means of communicating with them, for example, using Teams for calls and messaging. Setting up a group on Teams is worthwhile so everyone can share information and ask questions. There is no need for daily meetings, but a meeting once a week where everyone gets together can help ensure the team stays engaged. You may also want to drop them a message every few days to ensure they are ok. Giving your team autonomy is essential while ensuring they feel included.
Working Hours
Setting your guidelines for working hours is crucial to ensure the smooth running of the team. Do they need to work 9-5? Or are you flexible as long as they meet specific objectives? Make your expectations clear to avoid any confusion.
Set Expectations
Ensure you define employee expectations, whether daily, weekly, or monthly. For instance, do they need to make a certain number of calls or sales? It would help if you defined what you expect from them, especially when they are working on their initiative.
No Micromanaging
The reason employees enjoy remote working is that it offers greater flexibility. There is no point in providing this if you don’t trust your employees. While it might be tempting to keep checking that everyone is working and not lying in bed, this will be counterproductive. As long as you set your expectations clearly, there should be no reason to keep checking in. Micromanagement is one of the biggest red flags in the workplace, with 73% considering it a red flag and 46% stating it as a reason they would leave a job.
Encourage Collaboration
You can also encourage your team to collaborate without getting involved so they can foster their relationships with their team. The best way to do this is by giving individuals projects or tasks to work on together rather than forcing video team meetings, which can feel awkward and contrived. The relationships should be formed more naturally.
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