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5 Practical Tips to Manage Remote Teams

Published on:
July 26, 2022
By:
TransForm Solutions

Remote work is a new concept for many organizations around the world. During the pandemic, it seemed to be the only solution in that vulnerable situation. However, things changed when organizations began to experience its benefits. Many of them transitioned to remote work companies within a year or two, permanently.

Since then, this remote work revolution doesn’t seem to take a pause. It has come to be an attractive choice for organizations as well as employees. Despite that, adopting a remote work culture is an obvious challenge. When moving the complete staff to a remote setting, there are numerous considerations to be made.

Since we understand the hustle involved in this transition, we are here to share some insider secrets for remote work companies on how to manage their teams and ensure a smooth workflow.

But, first, let’s get acquainted with the common challenges faced during remote project management by organizations.

Challenges faced while managing remote workers

1. Lack of trust

In a remote setting, organizations often display mistrust towards their employees unintentionally.

There are times when this may be true, but it has a bad impact on team members who are dedicated to their work.

2. Burnout

While attending the office for work, there are clear boundaries between work and the personal life of an employee. Since the remote setting's introduction, this boundary has shrunk or even vanished in some cases.

Many people end up working longer than the actual working hours in such a case. It has emerged as a major challenge in remote work culture and has eventually led to lower productivity or burnout among the employees.

3. Not setting boundaries

While working from the office, every employee is well aware of their roles, responsibilities and task deadlines. However, while working remotely, every person takes a different amount of time to respond to communication.

It often extends beyond working hours in a remote job, which indicates an undefined boundary that creates frustration among employees. This issue often occurs in the absence of remote workforce management software that comes as a great platform to manage it all.

4. Communication

In an office setting, it's easy to carry out discussions and meetings in person. However, in a remote setting, several issues come up when you plan a meeting.

You need to take care of everyone’s schedule for a common time to sync. Often, poor internet connections often make it difficult to interact in virtual meetings. If you are planning a meeting with a huge number of team members, you need to look for a space that is capable of hosting tons of people.

5. Different time zones

While working with team members from different time zones, it becomes a hassle to coordinate meeting schedules.

The question of who would adjust often creates an awkward silence with no solution on the table.

6. Difficult collaboration

In an office, it's easy to go back and forth or stop by a colleague’s desk for a quick conversation on a related task. But while connecting online, it is not possible to get answers back to back from the other person. It often wastes a lot of time for both parties.

Now that you are well aware of the challenges you may face while managing remote workers, here’s how you can make sure to eliminate them from the very start.

Apply these best practices of remote team building

1. Start by providing remote-specific training

Both the organization and the employees are unfamiliar with the concept of remote work culture. Thus, it is better to start with dedicated trainings on how things will work across the organization in a remote setting.

It will help in clearing up all the second thoughts in everyone’s minds and will clarify the rules on behalf of the organization. You can even record the training session and distribute it among your employees for better remote project management. A simple document with all the FAQs, do's and don’ts will also come in handy while introducing your employees to the remote work culture at your organization.

2. Assign a dedicated space for daily communication 

Communication gaps are one of the biggest challenges that organizations face during remote team building. You can ensure high productivity and job satisfaction among your employees by creating platforms for daily social interaction and communication.

It also resolves the problems of isolation and burnout for virtual workers. You can even schedule regular meetings to keep your remote teams engaged and connected.

3. Track your team's performance

To determine the level of output of each team member, it’s important to measure and track employee performance. The data collected during this process will help you determine if you are on the right track or if any improvements are required from your end.

However, there is something that should be kept in mind while tracking the performance of team members. Ensure that while monitoring your employees, you don’t let them feel overwhelmed. Apart from that, following this one of all the remote team best practices will help you improve project management and budget planning.

4. Create clear goals and recognize employee achievement

Clear goals help the employees focus on what is required on their end. Hence, the remote work companies must collaborate with their members of the team frequently in meetings to discuss the progress and obstacles during the journey of achieving the goal. 

To motivate the team members, include incentives to team goals, create a proper plan of tasks, set milestones, and instructions, and track the team’s progress to guide them in the right direction.

Once done, boost your team members' morale by recognizing their achievements and do not take them for granted. Celebrate their success by giving them awards, offering gift cards, field trips, lunch breaks, or inviting their loved ones to company events. This tactic works like magic in enhancing productivity along with the dedication to work among the employees.

5. Organise team building activities

While working with the remote team, you may not be able to plan a get-together for dinner or a field trip. In such a case, organising remote team-building activities like celebrating wins meetings, yoga sessions, chill meets, and others will help you learn more about your team members. 

In a year or two, you can even incentivize your teams that hit their target with a trip to a central location. It will have a lasting impression on your relationships with your team members.

Get started by hiring the best remote team

It takes time to become accustomed to a specific workplace setup. The same goes with establishing a remote work culture at your organization. But with a general understanding of how you can get your team members acquainted with their roles, responsibilities, challenges, and your expectations of them, you can become proficient in managing remote teams flawlessly. 

If you are looking to hire a remote team right away at the best investment, we have a top-notch recommendation for you. Connect now, and you will find yourself in the right place.

Let’s begin a fruitful partnership

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