Managing remote teams: start doing 5 key activities

The amount of companies and organizations building or managing remote teams It’s been increasing a lot the last few years, and something is clear, with pandemics or without it, remote work is going to be present in companies that have physical offices as well.

To lead a remote team managers may discover they need to loosen their reins a little while in order to find ways to continue to hold employees accountable.

Without the ability to continuously monitor employees in a shared office space, they may find success by focusing more on what gets done and whether it meets well-defined quality standards. It’s helpful, too, to be willing to experiment a little with technology and how meetings are conducted.

Managing remote teams: start doing 5 key activities

1 | A guide for good communication

When everyone is working remotely, a lot of activities and operations are made independently and sometimes you neglect communication, however this is exactly what you should not do, because communication is key. If directors or managers don’t create good and open communication channels or instances, the remote worker will feel forgotten.

This is something that is not easy for larger organizations, so it is important to keep the flow of information about what every colaborator is doing. It’s going to be transparent for companies and workers to know and see everyone’s activities throughout the day. 

2 | Understanding and education about remote work

If you’re managing remote or hybrid work it would be good for you to know the potential challenges you have to face. The thing is you need to know how to maintain employee engagement, and it doesn’t matter where people are located. 

3 | Look for talents that manage themselves

Leading a remote team is not easy, and when a team member is not a good fit it is harder. If the last one is your current situation, think twice about keeping or not that person as part of your team, because maybe they are not following company values, do not have the right work ethic, whatever it might be it could lead to something negative for the whole team.  

One solution is that you should figure out what traits are most important, and develop a way to let your candidate show you who they are when hiring processes are running. Consider some aspects like: Self-motivation – Positive attitude – Team player. 

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4 | What channels are you using?

There are a lot of ways to communicate nowadays, so how you communicate with other team members should not slow down the conversation. Make sure you establish the right channel for each purpose. Ask your team’s preferences and be flexible. Video conferencing for regular reunions could work, chat for quick doubts, text if there’s an urgent need, so whatever works, just go for it.

5 | Resources for all the team

One important aspect is that you need to guarantee access to resources in order to help workers to grow and handle activities efficiently, for instance: books or e-books, courses, certifications, templates, softwares and other tools. Your team needs to be equipped, this is going to help improve productivity and commitment. 

The truth is today managing a remote team is less about strict procedures and more about flexibility and working for the whole team in order to be successful.

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