Remote teams are on the rise. But while working from home is easier than ever thanks to advancing digitisation and the prevalent gig culture, managing a remote team brings a broad range of challenges to any HR professional.
Here are our top tips to successfully manage your remote teams:
1. Recruit right
Remote working is not for everyone. When you are interviewing a potential employee, ask if they are prepared to work remotely. Also, find out if they have experience working in remote teams.
The key is to look for candidates who are driven and have the self-motivation to work away from a traditional office.
2. Get guidelines
Your remote teams should understand and adhere to some basic ground rules. For example, some businesses insist workers log on for a specified time every day to make sure everyone is online together. You may also want to ask your staff to log their hours and breaks using time tracking software.
Whatever approach you use, be clear about your expectations.
3. Encourage communication
Effective communication is vital when managing remote teams. Not only does this help managers keep track of work and progress on a day-to-day basis but it also allows your team to build a level of rapport with one another and your business.
Make sure your remote workers take part in all regular meetings to boost their levels of engagement and productivity to boost communication.
4. Check-in
When you see your staff every day, it’s easy to catch up and monitor their wellness. With a remote team, it’s harder to see if someone is struggling or not feeling well. So, try to develop a personal connection with individual employees and check in with your staff regularly just to say ‘hi’.
5. Consider coworking
Coworking spaces can provide your remote teams with a semi-permanent base to meet face-to-face for certain projects. What’s more, coworking spaces are a cost-effective option without the restriction of a long-term lease.
Coworking spaces can help give some members a sense of professionalism and reduce the isolation that’s often felt by remote workers. If your business is in the early stages, a coworking space can also help you make a more positive impression on potential clients.
6. Use digital tools
If you can’t get your teams together in the real world, don’t discard the digital domain. From Slack to the Google Suite of shared tools, a range of online options is available to keep your remote teams in contact and collaborating.
When your team is working to a deadline, you may also want to use online project management or task management tools like ProofHub, Trello or Jira.
7. Trust your remote team
When it comes to managing a remote team, trust is a key challenge. You need to trust your workers to do their job but also embrace a certain level of transparency. This is no easy balancing act, but if you manage them correctly, you will be rewarded with a loyal and hard-working remote team.
