The COVID-19 pandemic forced a lot of companies, schools, and other establishments to impose a remote work setting. Although we’re now past the post-pandemic era, remote work is still a relevant workforce trend. From cost savings resulting from the absence of daily commutes to increased productivity due to fewer distractions, this setup is the key to balancing work and personal obligations.
While some businesses already have some experience in managing employees working remotely, other employers struggle with fully implementing the remote work model. Add to the fact that overseeing a remote team is a whole new territory altogether.
Don’t worry, we’ve got your back. In this guide, we’ll share our top 10 tips on managing employees working remotely.
10 Tips on How to Manage Your Remote Teams
In remote work, new policies need to be established, your employees will encounter struggles, and other preparations need to be rushed. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to manage your remote workforce.
1. Communicate (A Lot)
The cliché, “communication is key,” is now one of the essential elements that will keep your business alive. You always have to know the current capabilities of your workforce. Perform daily check-ins with your remote teams to see how they’re doing.
Ask them about what might affect their productivity and respond accordingly. If your remote work employees have personal issues at home, empathize with them to show that you care. If it’s operational risks, like information security or network latency, have them reach out to your IT staff to guide them through it.
2. Don’t Forget to Give Credit or Feedback
Part of communication includes being communicative with both credit and feedback. As your business engages in a remote work setup, your employees can’t see you, and therefore some of them will spend more time overthinking what you actually meant with your “okay” or when you don’t reply. Give credit to ease their feelings of isolation that come with working remotely.
A little “good job” or “this looks great” can go a long way. On the other hand, if you don’t like what they did, give constructive criticism so that they know how to improve. This is best done on a call so they can gauge your emotions through your voice. Moreover, constructive criticism will boost their morale as it shows you’re open to improvement.
3. Support Employee Development
Managing employees working remotely doesn’t stop at conducting regular virtual meetings, following up on deliverables, and monitoring performance metrics. Just like your in-office employees, you also need to prioritize your remote team’s professional development.
LinkedIn Learning, cited by Thirst, found that employee development investment can increase the likelihood of employees (93%) staying employed in a company. If you want to build a remote company culture that’s not only grounded in inclusivity but also continuous improvement, here’s what you should do:
- Schedule regular coaching sessions to identify areas for improvement
- Offer additional training materials and resources.
- Encourage your remote workforce to attend webinars and company training programs.
- Offer ample opportunities for cross-department training or projects.
In conclusion, professional development rewards remote employees with a career path brimming with opportunities and success. It also makes your workforce more adaptable to new industry demands and technological advancements.
4. Celebrate Milestones
Remote employees deserve praise for their hard work. While celebratory lunches and pizza parties are out of the picture for remote work, you can still celebrate your team’s milestones and achievements in your own way.
A heartfelt message in the group chat, or even a token of appreciation you’ll send to each team member is enough to show your gratitude. This, in turn, improves your staff members’ morale and engagement — thus inspiring them to work harder.
5. Use Team Management Tools
Luckily, the technology to keep a purely remote work business going has been around for the longest time. Since you can’t have a physical meeting for brainstorming, collaboration, updates, or feedback, use other communication channels.
Use Google Hangouts, Zoom, or Discord for conferences that require screen sharing. For communication channels, you can always rely on Slack — our client's favorite.
If you want your teams to be organized while giving you the capacity to track their progress, use project management tools like Trello, Asana, or Basecamp.
6. Set Expectations in Sprints
To maintain remote work productivity, you have to set expectations in sprints. Sprints could be weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or quarterly tasks that you expect them to accomplish in that period.
In the middle of these sprints, it can also be helpful to have a quick meeting to talk about their progress, action items for the next couple of days, any impediments to work, and if they need help with anything.
This will build your trust with your remote employees and give you peace of mind as you focus on production, not screen time. At the same time, your remote team members won’t feel like they’re being micromanaged, which can also affect their motivation to work.
7. Check up on Your Team Members Regularly
Loneliness is one of the downsides of remote work. Since there is a lack of social interaction, you have to check on your remote work employees regularly. And by that, we mean to check on them as a person and not as an employee.
Ask how they’re doing at home and encourage them to communicate if they have any problems with their remote work environment. Your employees need to know that you really have their backs. Employees who feel like their company cares about their well-being will work better. And when they work better, your business will grow further.
8. Schedule Virtual Events
Building a strong bond between your remote workers also involves a sprinkle of casual fun. Game nights, online challenges or contests, happy hours, coffee chats, and other virtual social events and team-building activities promote camaraderie and encourage remote workers to get to know each other in informal settings.
Create dedicated Slack channels for these activities to keep everything organized and separate work from fun. While virtual events are a breather from the modicum of work (and regular meetings), these events shouldn’t be scheduled in excess.
9. Promote Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity (DEI)
Promoting DEI is one of the most vital remote work best practices for modern businesses. DEI is not a trend, but a standard that companies must strive for. According to Glassdoor, poor workforce diversity in a company can make 32% of job seekers and employees not consider applying for a job.
Moreover, retention rates are 5.4 times higher in companies with diverse and inclusive workplaces, as reported by Great Place to Work. Hence, when managing a remote team, it’s important to prioritize diversity and inclusivity.
Here are some ways to cultivate DEI values:
- Learn your team’s culture and celebrate their local holidays
- Acknowledge and respect cultural differences
- Get to know a few words and phrases from their local language
- Avoid making misogynistic or racist jokes and remarks
- Welcome new perspectives from remote coworkers
By fostering an inclusive remote office environment, your team members will feel more valued and hence are more likely to perform better and remain committed to working with you.
10. Promote Work-Life Balance
Remote work can blur the lines between our personal and professional lives. The lack of a good work-life balance can lead to burnout and poor mental health. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to maintain this balance, such as:
- Establishing response times for effective and prompt communication
- Not expecting replies beyond office hours
- Equally distributing the workload between remote team members
- Providing self-care tips for working remotely
Managing employees working remotely involves a lot of trust and accountability. By trusting your remote team and keeping them accountable, your employees will have the motivation to bring their A game to work.
Effective Remote Team Management = Growth
At the end of the day, it will all come down to how much you care about your remote work employees. Whether there’s a crisis or not, you know you can always rely on your remote team for your business needs. If you effectively manage your remote workers, don’t be surprised if your business is still growing to this day.
Build Your Remote Team With KDCI Outsourcing
At KDCI Outsourcing, we make building a dedicated offshore team of remote professionals easier and cost-effective for businesses.
Our outsourced project managers and employees in accounting and finance, customer service, graphic design, marketing, and real estate use your preferred workplace communication software to ensure that every correspondence is consolidated in one place.
Our commitment to employee well-being helps our work-from-home staff cope with the rigors of remote work, so they can remain productive and continue exceeding your expectations from the comfort of their homes.
Together, let’s harness the power of Philippine remote work in the outsourcing industry. Start outsourcing your projects to KDCI Outsourcing. Reach out to our experts now!
