There has been a significant change in work culture after the pandemic hit. Many companies went remote and hired talents from around the world. Remote teams help cut costs significantly and make the team more agile, and business owners know it very well. But this sudden shift in work style comes with a significant challenge - managing a remote team efficiently is still an uphill battle for many entrepreneurs. Below, we have listed a few simple tips for managing remote teams effectively.
Set Up Effective Communication Channels
The success of any organization depends on effective communication. The same applies to a remote team and is crucial for its success. Choose online communication tools for your remote team, such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Chats for instant messaging. Google Meet, Zoom, and Skype are great for video calls and conferences.
Your employees need a high-speed internet connection to use these programs efficiently. As an employer, you can fund their internet connection to ensure they get an optimal speed. It’ll ensure that they have an uninterrupted communication system with the rest of the team.
Define Goals and Expectations
Members of a remote team usually come dispersed around the globe, and that’s why deadlines and goals can vary based on their time zones. You should clearly define your expectations regarding goals for each project and your estimated turnaround time for each. Communicate them with the entire team to remove any confusion. Don’t forget to explain how attaining these goals can add to their performance evaluation to keep them motivated.
Adopt Digital HR Solutions
HR tasks for a remote job are highly challenging. Hiring from a global pool can be time-consuming and overwhelming. At the same time, managing their payroll can also be difficult, especially if you don’t have a well-structured HR department. In that case, hiring a digital HR solutions agency can minimize the pressure and streamline the process. These agencies have access to hundreds of thousands of professionals through their platforms, giving you easy access to a versatile global pool. Apart from hiring and payroll management, they provide digital onboarding and offboarding, help with administrative support, and arrange online training.
Arrange Training and Support
Your remote team will need training on various digital tools at some point. You can hold a small training session during their onboarding and teach them how to use the most common organizational tools. Keep resources handy in case they want to go back for any information. You can create a video library with this information for everyone’s use. Don’t forget to update the training sessions with more information every year. Take feedback from your team if required.
Establish Work-Life Balance
Managing a global team also entails working around the clock because different team members might belong to different time zones. Encourage your employees to establish a work-life balance because they have a high risk of burnout. It can affect their productivity in the long run and hamper their progress. A balanced work and personal life will allow them to recharge and spend significant time on personal development. And it’ll benefit your company in the long run.
Create a Culture of Accountability and Trust
A culture of accountability and trust gives your employees a place to thrive. Employees in remote teams don’t usually meet face-to-face and can be reluctant to engage in conversation with their peers. It can hinder productivity because it blocks information and idea sharing. Foster a culture of open communication and transparency and encourage them to speak up during online meetings. Ask them to respect each other irrespective of race, age, and color. It'll help instill trust in your employees and make them more inclined to discuss and collaborate with their team members.
Hold Regular Meetings and Updates
Remote teams don’t come with too many opportunities for catch-ups, so managing team updates can be difficult. Hold regular meetings to gather updates from all department heads. Also, hold video calls with each department to address any issues they have or discuss progress. Also, discuss challenges and brainstorm possible outcomes. These meetings can increase team synergy and find great solutions to existing problems. Hold these meetings at a time when most team members can attend them.
Focus More on Outcomes
Many remote companies measure employee performance based on their hours of work. The login and logout timings are good indicators of how many hours your employee was in front of the computer. Still, it can never indicate if their work added to the progress of your project. So, find an alternative way of measuring their performance. Make them outcome-based and tie them with goals and objectives rather than the number of hours worked. Project management software such as Asana, Jira, and Trello can help assign specific tasks with deadlines and sub-tasks.
Learning how to build a fully remote business is only the tip of the iceberg. Your organization might never see success if you don’t know how to manage your remote team. It’s easy to feel disorganized when managing a diverse pool of employees. Still, there are many tools and strategies to streamline the process. You can easily manage a remote team and achieve agility and success by following the above-mentioned tips.
