Letting employees work from home brings about benefits that go beyond employee retention. It increases work productivity, streamlines your workflow, and eliminates the need to rent office space. The only downside is that managing a remote team can turn out to be difficult. It may be difficult, but it certainly isn’t impossible. Be willing to invest in the necessary technology and think about changing management practices.
Traditional methods of organization don’t work when it comes to telework. If you’re not quite sure how you’re supposed to approach remote management, here are some helpful suggestions. You can stay relevant while overseeing a remote team.
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Set Expectations And Trust Your Team
It’s important to establish and communicate verbally, as well as in writing clear, well-defined expectations to the staff. Don’t assume that everyone knows what’s expected of them when working from home. Set performance expectations for each person and be specific regarding what you want.
For instance, you might want to look at issues that arise when attending virtual meetings. Making expectations crystal clear eliminates confusion and improves the probability of employees being successful in achieving their goals. Your actions should set up employees to succeed. So, discuss the new standards and enable employees to come with their own feedback.
Trust is at the heart of daily interactions and it’s central to the machine that fuels business growth. Hard as it may be, build trust in your remote team – in other words, build a culture of high trust. Your employees will get the job done, even if they’re not under your direct supervision. Everyone is working physically alone, but that doesn’t mean that people will withhold information or avoid providing context for their teammates.
Reward and recognize your team when they do a great job and keep employees accountable, should they make mistakes. People are going to make mistakes and learning from them doesn’t require humiliation.
Make Time For Small Talk
When managing a remote team, don’t succumb to the mistake of talking exclusively about your needs and wants. You have to build rapport with every member of the team. If the connections you have with your workers are strong, this will improve everyone’s experience. What you need to understand is that you’re not just a business owner. You’re also a company leader. This means that you have to motivate employees towards achieving the common goal.
You should be able to inspire others. Let the members of your team know that you value them as individuals if you want them to be more reliable or take on more responsibilities. Here are some tools to get started:
- Live chat – Live chat ensures fast and immediate support. You can get instant feedback and notifications. Products such as LiveChat, Zoho Desk, and Birdseye can help companies of all sizes.
- Social media – Social media facilitates communication if team members aren’t in the same place and it’s necessary to share information. Have a friendly chat with your employees and see how things are going. Don’t be afraid to make small talk.
- Email – Email is the go-to communication channel when it comes to reaching out to employees. If you think that an email is too cold, take advantage of the chat feature. Gmail has a chat feature that lets you talk in real-time.
Run one on ones with your remote team and everything will be just fine. If you have the right skills, it won’t be an arduous task. Even if it might feel time-consuming, the investment is worthwhile. Practice active listening and offer your complete support.
Manage Time With A Project In Mind
Remote employees need to track their time spent on projects so as to be able to bill clients accurately. Therefore, the amount of time spent working on these projects can be correctly charged to a client according to the agreed-upon hourly rate.
Clients, as far as they’re concerned, can have peace of mind knowing that they’re not in any for surprises. So, you have an impending due date, a list of requirements, a group of people, and very few time on your hands. Using timesheets can turn out to be useful. Timesheets give the remote team a means to log in the worked hours recording both the date and time.
All the timesheets are online these days, in case you didn’t know. The great thing about online timesheets is that they eliminate paperwork and guesswork. To be more precise, they capture the exact start and end time. Since you’ll know all the hours worked by the employees, you’ll be able to run a successful business. Timesheet software shouldn’t be viewed as a business expense. It’s a necessary investment.
Relying on web-based timesheets significantly reduces errors, not to mention that you can optimize payroll. Your remote team will be paid correctly and on time. Do the right thing and offer employees fair compensation.
Don’t Overload Employees
Rather than being productive, your remote team is barely achieving anything. But why? Well, the explanation lies in the fact that you’re overloading your employees. Everything was undertaken with best intentions – to elicit accurate results. Nonetheless, the outcome is completely different. Don’t attempt to increase production even if you’re falling behind schedule. If you need to send an urgent task, ask your staff if they can handle it. Give employees the time they need to respect their obligations. The last thing you want is for other projects to be affected.
Given that you can’t see each other face-to-face, it’s tough to determine whether or not your remote team is overworked. To promote wellness and avoid overwork in your organization, be on the lookout for the following signs:
- Too much overtime
- Unusual working hours
- An increased number of sick days
- Overall teamwork is suffering
- Increasing turnover
If you spot the warning signs on time, you can take much-needed measures. It’s paramount to practice proactive leadership during these tough times. If you don’t follow the workplace culture yourself, it’s unreasonable to expect others to do it. Create an environment of trust, transparency, and open communication.
If you are interested in even more business-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels, then we have a lot to choose from.
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