8 Tips for Managing Your Remote Team

When the pandemic hit, management teams were left trying to figure out how to manage teams remotely without things falling into chaos. Without good communication and clear organization, working remotely can quickly increase anxiety in employers and cause confusion among employees. Teams that adapted quickly to the new, no-physical-office environment were able to keep their employees motivated while keeping their bottom line intact.

Today, I want to share some of the things that worked well for us at CorpStrat when our team went remote:

1. 𝐒𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤. Employees getting their work done to your satisfaction is more important to the bottom line than whether they’re always at their work station. 

2. 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐛𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐲. This can include their phone, computer, an extra monitor, video conferencing software, instant messaging apps, printers, and fast internet speeds.

3. 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.

4. 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲. 

5. 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. Encourage them to reach out if remote work is causing difficulties or challenges. 

6. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤/𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞.  Make sure remote employees know when their work day ends. It’s very easy for employees working at home to spend time working when they should be with their families.

7. 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞.  Make sure you all are spending time to get together or connect. Do something that promotes your company’s culture and make your employees feel like they’re part of something.

8. 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧.  New hire applications, onboarding paperwork, employee benefit enrollments, PTO—Human Capital Management Systems can help streamline your systems; they're the way of the future for remote work. If you haven’t looked into it, now’s the time. 

These are what worked for us, what are some things that worked for you? Share in the comments.

Hope this all was helpful and have a great week.