Remote teams are definitely the way of the future. However, for all of the benefits they offer businesses, it’s impossible to ignore the basic challenges. And your success as a remote team will be highly dependent on your ability to navigate these speed bumps.
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The Challenges of Managing Remote Teams
When it comes to managing a remote team, there are five big challenges. Your ability to overcome these challenges will dictate the productivity of your team. And while we want to spend the majority of this article focused on ways to maximize your team’s abilities, it would be helpful to acknowledge what these challenges are.
- Motivation. It’s hard enough to motivate people in an office when you’re face-to-face with them. It’s even more difficult when you’re forced to do it over email and Zoom.
- Communication. You can’t just pop into someone’s office and ask a question or assign a project. You have to reach someone via email, phone, or Slack and be incredibly articulate to ensure you’re conveying the correct message.
- Decision making. It’s much harder to set clear goals and get everyone on the same page with a decision when the communication is happening virtually. This can lead to decision paralysis or hesitancy.
- Workload management. Monitoring things like workload and performance is more difficult when you can’t see people working. It’s hard to know when someone is overwhelmed (or underworked, for that matter).
- Team building. While there are workarounds, building camaraderie and establishing a corporate culture is more challenging when you aren’t rubbing shoulders with your coworkers daily.
4 Ways to Get More Out of Your Remote Team
Ultimately, your success in managing your remote team will be dependent on how well you’re able to counteract these challenges and pursue opportunities. Here are several tips you may find useful:
Set Clear Expectations
Clarity is paramount in all business communications, but you must be especially mindful of setting clear expectations when working with a remote team.
Don’t just provide guidelines and leave it at that. Any time a new process is put into place, have a meeting and encourage people to ask questions. Create a culture where there are no stupid questions. It’s better to be repetitive than to not explain something well enough. Five minutes wasted in a meeting is a lot better than a two-week delay on a project because someone misinterpreted their role.
Emphasize Communication Standards
In terms of communication, there must be standards across the board. Set clear guidelines on how to communicate (email, SMS, phone, Zoom, Slack, etc.), who to report to, when to communicate (just during business hours, after hours, etc.), and terminology for different technical words, projects, and processes. (This reduces confusion and keeps everyone on the same page.)
Document Everything
When a team is working remotely, it’s important that you document as much information as you can so they can reference it later. Take meetings, for example. Meetings are a huge time-suck; thus, you have to be sure you’re squeezing every drop of value out of them. The best way to do this is by using a meeting note-taking app to document information, take meeting notes, and assign post-meeting takeaways for attendees. It’s a small thing, but it has a huge impact on efficiency.
Use Video as Much as Possible
The final suggestion is to use video as much as possible. While it’s not always fun to hop on camera, you can get more done in a 10-minute Zoom call with a coworker than you’ll ever accomplish in 20 back-and-forth text messages.
In addition to streamlining communication, being on video creates a sense of camaraderie among your team. It’s much easier to bond and build relationships when you’re “seeing” one another on a regular basis. (You can even host video team-building sessions from time to time.)
Adding it All Up
Don’t feel like you have to do all of these things. Pick one or two action items and run with them. You’ll know pretty quickly whether they’re having a positive impact on the bottom line. If they are, continue with them. If they flop, be humble enough to make a quick pivot to something else.
