Remote working has been increasing in popularity for many businesses today to increase employee productivity and savings on operating costs. And because of the current health crisis, companies are encouraged to let their employees work from home to avoid the virus’s spread.
To effectively look over employees, the right leadership must be placed. For instance, Kuba Jewgieniew is the CEO and Founder of Realty ONE Group and one of the strong and dedicated leaders critical of a business’s success when managed remotely. Using himself as an example, Jewgieniew manages his businesses in California and Arizona while living in Las Vegas. He believes in treating people well and working hard in establishing a good business.
The Challenge of Managing Remote Teams
Managing your people remotely provides many benefits to your employees and the business itself, but it also comes with challenges. Like what Jewgieniew advises, treating people well is essential in being an effective leader. But how can you have interpersonal relationships with your team members if you only see each other from the screen of your computer? This is one of the major challenges of managing remote teams.
Telecommuting is more challenging for managers to build trust and identify the team’s morale problems for managers. Unlike physical meetings in the office, managers cannot gauge their team’s emotions while working remotely. Face-to-face interactions in a shared space also help build interpersonal relationships between peers and their team leaders.
How to Manage Your Remote Employees
Despite the challenges remote management brings, it’s still possible to cultivate a positive culture in your organization. Here are some ways to help you manage your team effectively:
1. Have a Clear Remote Working Policy
Before you organize a remote work setup for your team, you need to have a remote work checklist to prepare for all the necessary tools and plans you need to manage them effectively. Establishing a remote work policy should be on top of your list to establish what’s expected from each employee and how their tasks will be tracked. Your policy should also include rules during remote working schedules.
2. Continue to Build Relationships with Team Members
Always make an effort to get to know each team member on a personal level. First, ask them to place their most recent picture in their communications accounts. You must humanize each person to have an idea of how they look.
Aside from that, it also helps to conduct a video conference with the team from time to time. You can even schedule a video meeting with your team once a day, even if it’s only for 15 minutes. This exercise will help you and your team interact with each other on a deeper level rather than just reading emails or chats.
3. Build a Strategic Roadmap and Share It with the Team
You should build a strategic roadmap for each of your teams and discuss what they should accomplish in a given time frame. The roadmap is critical because it serves as their guide and empowers them to achieve positive results. You can conduct timely video meetings discussing how your team will complete its KPIs or key performance indicators.
4. Empower Teams with Tools
Managers should provide their team members with apps and tools to help them increase their productivity. Having the right tools to conduct work helps empower team members, and it also organizes the tasks they’re assigned to do. Always make sure that these apps are secure and that your team understands how to use them. Presentations play a predominant role in remote business communications. Equipping your team with a tool like visually engaging PowerPoint templates can help them create highly effective and impactful remote presentations.
5. Continue Career Planning and Development of Each Member
Managers have a critical role in supporting an employee’s career development, even if they work remotely. Make an effort to present individual KPIs for each team member and discuss any issues they may have while working remotely. It helps when you create a spreadsheet of all your team members and note which of them needs more training or guidance to perform better. The spreadsheet should also help you track your team’s performance and updates on your established roadmap.
6. Conduct Fun Virtual Team-building Activities
Even when you and your team are meeting remotely, this is not a reason why you can’t conduct team building activities. Remote working can also take a toll on your team’s mental health because there’s no clear division between work and home. Organizing fun activities from time to time will provide a break from work stresses and improve teamwork.
Summary
There are many things you can do to have a successful remote working team. Even when you’re only meeting virtually, this should not stop you from building relationships and establishing a positive workplace culture. Make an effort to reach out to them individually to discuss their career and meet with them as a group to work on your roadmap. Lastly, don’t forget to make remote working enjoyable by conducting fun virtual activities from time to time.
