Remote teams offer many benefits over traditional, co-located teams. Some of these include the ability to hire from a wider talent pool, expand your team without geographic limitations, and increase productivity for employees who work remotely. 

However, managing remote teams also comes with its own set of challenges that need to be addressed to ensure success. In this article, I’ll cover 10 tips for leading and managing successful remote teams.

But before we speak about these tips, managers must first understand some of the factors that might make remote work more challenging. Otherwise, when high-performing workers begin working remotely, particularly without preparation and instruction, they may see a dip in job performance and engagement.

That said, here are some of the challenges that come with managing a remote team:

• Culture of the company: Employee engagement is an essential component of company culture. It takes time to develop, and it necessitates hiring suitable individuals, fostering healthy communication, and instilling that culture throughout the company. Whether you’re building a professional corporate culture or a team known for being fun and energetic, developing in a remote team takes more concentrated work than in an office

• Communication: When dealing with remote workers, communication is crucial. It’s critical to get input from all team members and understand what each one is working on. When teams work remotely, fostering open communication isn’t always simple. Traditional email marketing has the look and feel of a formal tool that doesn’t encourage quick discussions.

• Tracking work and productivity: Do you have an accurate picture of how much work your remote team completes every day and at what pace? For many bosses, the answers to these questions are unclear. It’s difficult to tell whether someone is being underutilized or not pulling their weight when working remotely without a clear understanding of their output.

• Timezones difficulties: Scheduling a phone call or a video meeting for worldwide teams is one of the most difficult since multiple time zones must be taken into account. This may be exacerbated by independent contractors who have shifting work schedules. Knowing your participants’ locations and their typical routines is crucial to schedule an appointment that works for everyone.

• Building trust: It’s tough for remote leaders and team members to trust each other. Managers are concerned that employees aren’t completing their tasks, while workers have several issues, including whether they will be paid on time (or at all, in some cases). Being transparent can help build trust among all parties, especially if you’re working remotely.

10 Tips For Leading And Managing Remote Teams

Now that you understand the challenges that come with managing remote teams, let’s discuss 10 tips to help combat these challenges.

1. Create The Foundation Before anything else: 

You need to create the remote team’s foundation. For example, if there is a new member on the team who lives in another country, give this person a sounding board before they start working with your remote team. This way they’ll know what to expect and how everyone operates together when needed most.

2. Be Flexible With Your Time: 

Remote team leaders and managers must be flexible with their time, as some of your team members might be located across the world. For example, if you live in New York (EST) and your worker lives in California (PST) it’s hard to coordinate a meeting in the same time zone. So it’s important that you’re flexible with your time and accommodate this difference.

3. Lead By Example: 

When working with remote team members, lead by example whenever possible instead of only communicating via other means (i.e Skype, email). For example, always be prompt about responding to emails or messages because if you expect them to be prompt, you should also be prompt.

4. Be Organized & Prepared: 

Before you have any sort of meeting with your team members, make sure that everyone knows what to expect beforehand. If appropriate, schedule a pre-meeting to cover the agenda and outline the goals/purpose of the meeting so there are no surprises or confusion when you get in a conference room together.

5. Don’t Micromanage:

Everyone works differently, so avoid micromanaging your remote team members if they do something different than what you’d normally expect from them. For example, if someone needs to leave the office early for personal reasons or misses a deadline, don’t immediately assume there’s something wrong. They might just need a little flexibility with their work schedule, so accommodate for this difference and give them the benefit of the doubt when necessary.

“A boss who micromanages is like a coach who wants to get in the game. Leaders guide and support and then sit back to cheer from the sidelines.” – Simon Sinek

6. Respect Privacy: 

Everyone needs some alone time to get things done, so don’t be too quick to call or message your remote workers if they aren’t answering right away. If you’re like most people, you like your privacy, so give others the same respect when they need to get something done.

7. Have Regular Meetings With Your Team

Having regular meetings with your team helps increase work productivity and efficiency while building better relationships within the team. Plus, it makes it easier for everyone on the team to stay updated about what everyone else is working on.

8. Make Time For You:

While you must make time for your remote team, don’t forget to take some time off for yourself sometimes! Go out to lunch with friends or do something fun during the weekend. Taking care of yourself is an important part of taking care of your team, so make sure you’re doing what it takes to reduce stress and stay refreshed.

9. Reward & Recognize Your Team:

Regularly give your team members recognition for their hard work or when they do something great! For example, if someone on the team gets a new client that’s worth $10K, let them know you appreciate all of their hard work. This is a quick way to get everyone motivated to keep doing great work throughout your business.

10. Be Open To Feedback:

Lastly, don’t be afraid to ask your team members what they think about something or if you can do things differently for them! For example, if you notice that someone on the team isn’t as productive as they could be, you can ask them if there’s anything that you can do to help.

Conclusion:

If you’re a remote team leader or manager, use these tips to help manage and lead your employees. Remember that every person is different and requires some flexibility with their work schedule, so be sure to give them the benefit of the doubt when they need it. This will not only increase workplace productivity but also create better relationships within the company as well!

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