Having remote workers on your team can be a game-changer for your business. But it also requires you to change the way you manage people.
While many aspects of your business will become simpler and more streamlined when you hire remote or outsourced workers, you will probably need to tweak a few processes and introduce some new tools to keep things running smoothly.
To help you lead your remote workforce, we have collated our top 10 tips for managing a remote team below.
Read on to make sure you’re set up to get the best from your freelancers, remote workers, and outsourced support team.
10 Practical Tips For Managing A Remote Team
1. Over-communicate
Effective communication is essential for any team, but it becomes even more vital when overseeing remote workers. If you’re not sure if you’re communicating enough, err on the side of overcommunication.
This will look like regular check-ins with workers, emails updating people on the latest news relevant to your business, and an increase in video calls – both one-on-one and team-based to ensure everyone is connected and up to speed.
2. Clarify communication guidelines
An important aspect of communication is clarifying how communication works within your team. People should know how often to expect team check-ins and one-on-ones. It can be useful to provide everyone with communication guidelines covering different scenarios.
For example, “Use Zoom for bi-weekly team check-ins, email for passing along information, and IM for urgent issues.”
Make sure you cover expected working/contactable hours for you and your team (as some team members may be in different time zones or work flexible hours) and clarify expected response times to make sure everyone is on the same page.
3. Set expectations
We’re sticking with the theme of communication, because it really is that important! Setting expectations around company culture, policies and procedures, and standards of behaviour is vital, particularly for new team members.
It can be helpful to create a tick-list of documents that you need to go over when onboarding new staff – including style guides, communication guidelines, company values and health and wellness policies.
4. Utilise technology
One of our best tips for managing a remote team is to embrace technology. Digital tools can level up your communication, enhance collaboration, streamline your organisation and boost productivity for your entire team.
Explore what works best for your business. Here are some of the most popular tech tools for modern businesses:
- Zoom – for video conferencing
- Slack and Google Hangouts – to keep employees in touch and connected
- Trello, Monday, and Teamwork – for task and project management
- Asana – for project management and planning
- Microsoft Teams – for a shared team workspace
- Google Drive – for sharing information and collaborating
- Zapier – for automating work routines
- Miro – for interactive idea creation and collaboration
5.Value outcomes over activity
As a remote team manager, it can be tempting to confuse overcommunication with micromanagement, but this is a big no-no. You must be able to trust the skills and abilities of your team without constantly checking in and trying to control the way the work is being done.
If you have clearly communicated your expectations, delivered a deadline, and let your team know that you’re available if problems arise, then you can safely take a step back and await the outcome.
6. Hire the right people
Want your remote team to be successful? Hire the right people! Not everyone thrives in a remote work environment, so choose mindfully when recruiting new team members.
Remote workers need to be self-directed, self-motivated, and experienced at working independently. Most freelancers and outsourced workers are already comfortable with a remote work environment and highly skilled at using the digital tools mentioned above.
Conflict Management Tips
If you follow our tips above, you’ll be less likely to experience conflict within your remote team. However, even the best teams have their rocky moments, so here are some bonus conflict management tips for managing a remote team:
7. Lead by example
Your team will follow your lead as to how to behave. If you snap, make snarky comments, or are disrespectful towards others, they are likely to mirror that behaviour in their own interactions.
Model the kind of respect and collaboration you’d like to see amongst your team members.
8. Bring issues into the open
Unresolved conflict can snowball, so deal with any issues as soon as possible. Start by talking about what’s going on. Research shows that one-on-one meetings followed by a moderated group discussion are most effective.
9. Celebrate together
Team bonding doesn’t happen as naturally in a remote team, but it’s still vital to encourage connection and camaraderie among remote workers. Take the time to celebrate successes as a team, and make sure it’s not all work and no play.
10. Create a safe space
The danger of remote communication is that people can end up wallowing in their problems instead of speaking up. This might be picked up more rapidly in person but can go unnoticed due to the nature of remote work.
Make sure you create a safe, judgement-free space for your staff to come forward with any issues rather than letting them simmer. Let your team members know they can come to you at any time to air concerns. Provide them with a communication channel and make sure your staff feel validated and heard if they do come to you with a conflict issue.
Adding To Your Remote Team
The beauty of having a remote team is that you can add the skills you need to it at any time. A great way of doing that is by outsourcing the tasks that take too much time or the ones you simply don’t want to do!
Often, those tasks are bookkeeping or admin related ones!
Luckily, those are the tasks that the Admin Army excel at. We work remotely with amazing businesses and would love to join your team too. Connect with us today to find out how we can help you make doing business easier.