We’ve prepared this comprehensive guide that outlines eight essential strategies that not only would help you manage your remote team effectively but even let it become more productive.

Remote team management is a challenge for most leaders, but it doesn’t have to be a source of stress. Remote work can foster stronger relationships and help teams work more efficiently. But only if you manage your team effectively. In this blog post, you will learn 8 key strategies to manage a remote team effectively as well as tips on how to do so practically in your organization. Organizations that operate with a remote workforce often find it challenging to make it work smoothly. Global companies like Amazon, Google and Microsoft are famous for their telework programs that allow employees to work from home or other locations without having to relocate permanently. Telework has numerous benefits including lower real estate costs, reduced commuting times and carbon emissions, and the ability for employees to live in places where the cost of living is cheaper or job opportunities are more plentiful.

1. Holdy Weekly Meetings

Face-to-face communication is more effective than remote communication because it involves more than just words. It also involves expressions, gestures, and nonverbal cues that help people feel more connected and understand each other better. To that end, one of the best ways to keep your team connected, inspired and aligned is by holding regular team meetings Next to “work”, the word “meetings” is probably the single most reviled word in the corporate lexicon. But all joking aside, regular team meetings can help managers maintain a pulse on their team’s health and productivity, and provide a forum for discussing goals, working through issues and giving praise. Remote team meetings, like all team meetings, should have a clear agenda and follow a regular schedule that is convenient for all team members, whether they’re in the same time zone or not.

2. Maintain effective communication

When communicating with your remote team members, be mindful of their cultural background, their preferred modes of communication, and the way they like to receive feedback. You should also encourage team members to speak up when they have questions or concerns. People are often loath to interrupt someone who’s talking or writing, so they wait silently until the appropriate time arrives to ask a question or voice a concern. This is especially true when team members are communicating with someone senior to them, or with an external stakeholder.

3. Set Clear Expectations

Remote teams are often spread across different geographies, time zones, and cultures. This can create an environment where people feel pressure to work longer hours. To combat this, you should set clear expectations for the minimum amount of work hours expected from each team member. There are a few ways to do this.

4. Offer Flexibility In Scheduling

Since you have an understanding of the challenges of remote work, you can offer flexibility in scheduling to accommodate the different needs of your team members. For example, you can allow employees to choose when they’d like to take a vacation or complete their work, as long as they meet their deadlines and produce high-quality work.

5. Install Collaboration Apps For Remote Workers

When hiring remote workers, you want to make sure they know they are part of a team, but are also autonomous. To do this, you can create collaboration apps that allow team members to get together to share ideas, experiences, and best practices. Some collaboration apps for remote workers include Trello, Asana, Google Docs, Zoom, and Slack.

7. Be supportive and patient

When managing a remote team, you want to be approachable and patient. This is because many of the challenges that come with managing a remote team are out of your control. Nature can disrupt your employees’ lives in ways that wouldn’t be possible if your team members were in the same office. For example, natural disasters, pandemics, or even excessive heat or cold can disrupt the work of remote employees. You should be as supportive and patient as possible.

8. Don’t neglect professional development

When an employee is new to a certain skill or function, it’s easy for them to feel like the only person struggling. Everyone on a team feels this way, especially when they’re just starting out. At the same time, it’s easy for team members who feel like they’re not “getting it” to feel like they’re bringing down the team. To combat this, make sure that you are offering regular training and professional development to all of your team members.

Wrapping Up

Remote team management is challenging, but there are many strategies that managers can use to ease the process and facilitate successful outcomes. Start by holding weekly meetings, making sure all team members are clear on expectations and the process of workflow and providing regular professional development and training. With these strategies in place, you will be better equipped to manage a remote team effectively and sustainably.