Four tips to manage a remote team

Managing a team remotely is no longer a choice but a necessity. The uncertainties presented by COVID pandemic has left no options for companies but to ask their employees to work remotely. While initially, we all thought that all this is temporary and will go away soon, with an increasing number of cases every day, it seems work from home arrangement is going to stay for some more time.

As a result, managers and team leads have suddenly found themselves managing a completely remote team. Honestly, that can be challenging and, at times scary, especially if you are a manager who is more comfortable managing your team face to face and suddenly have to manage a remote team for the first time with no time to prepare. 

If you can relate to the above as a manager or lead, then the below 4 tips will set you up and your team to sail through this work from home arrangement during the pandemic.

Regular Communication

If there is one mantra that you need to adopt while managing your team remotely is to have frequent communication with your team - in a group as well as one on one, preferably face to face via video. Phone conversations and email goes only so far and does not fully serve the purpose, to connect meaningfully, your team needs to see you and you need to see them. One of the biggest challenges of working from home is the sense of isolation and loneliness that sets in, especially if you are used to the office environment. A daily frequent communication with the team goes a long way in eradicating this isolation, plus helps you to keep your team connected.

Set Realistic Expectations

At the very outset, spell out what your team members need to focus on and create realistic expectations for them. By the way, this “realistic expectations” applies to you as a manager as well. This means defining deadlines, project deliverables and the scope of work related to the project. Just like you, many of your team members are working from home for the first time and may not be aware of certain protocols related to remote working. As a manager, you have to set work priorities with deadlines both for you and your team. 

Count on Quality not on Quantity

In other words,  focus on output and not on activity time. It’s not possible to oversee and manage every work activity done by a remote team, hence instead of insisting on putting a certain number of hours or activity time every day, look at the outcome of the work assigned and measure your team’s performance accordingly. End of the day, if you are getting the desired output from your team, why bother on what your team is during their working hours.

Help in Resourcing your team

If you are suddenly managing a remote team, then there are chances that they would require systems in the form of laptop/desktop, mobile device, and even a high-speed internet to work from home. While your office may have dedicated staff to look after the system requests and arrange for the machines to your team, as a manager you will have to also take ownership to ensure that you coordinate with the concerned staff/person and get the system delivered to your team. It is your responsibility to ensure that your team has the required equipment and technology to get the work done, otherwise don’t be surprised if your team misses an important project deadline due to lack of necessary equipment and you get questioned by the client.

To summarize, the current environment calls for relooking the way work is done and to reconsider the meaning of productivity. As a manager, you have to decide whether you want your team to punch in 8 hours of work every day or trust them and give them the required flexibility to get work done within the schedule eventually helping them to be more productive.