Managing a remote team of workers can be challenging for even the most experienced employer. If you have been used to managing a team in a traditional office setting, making the switch to remote work can be difficult for many reasons. However, with the right strategies in place, you can ensure that the transition is as seamless as possible.
Not being able to physically interact with your employees, communicate differently, and not be able to see them face-to-face will require an entirely different management approach. You will need to put new systems in place to manage your workflow, to communicate with your staff, track your business performance and manage your finances. Once you have the right systems in place, your business will operate like a well-oiled machine, regardless of where you and your team are working from.
Let’s take a look at a few useful tips to help you manage your remote work team.
Contents
Stay On Top Of Payroll
When your employees are coming to your business premises every day to work, you always know what hours your team is working. When your team are working remotely, however, you need to have a system in place to manage employee work hours so you don’t fall behind on payroll. Timesheet software solutions can help manage timesheets to ensure that you collect the right data, see who is working and automate wage collections with ease.
Set Clear Expectations
Managing an in-house team, communicating with your team and checking in on their progress is simple. However, when you are dealing with a remote team, this simple task becomes a little more complex. To ensure that your team are all rowing in the same direction and you meet all of your project milestones on time, you need to set clear expectations from the outset. Let your team know what you expect from them in terms of communications, progress updates, productivity and standards. With everyone on the same page, your business will have every chance of success moving forward.
Regular Meetings
Just as you would have weekly meetings at your physical office space, you need to do the same when you are operating remotely. Use video conferencing software to host your meeting and ensure that all of your staff are on the call. You can use this opportunity to connect with your team, update them of any changes to your business processes and allow your team to share anything important with the group. Connecting with your team in a meaningful way will help your staff to remain accountable, motivated and productive in their roles in your business.
Offer Ways To Collaborate
Working alongside your coworkers in a physical office space, collaborating on different projects is easy. In a remote setup, collaboration can be a little trickier. However, with the right systems in place, you can ensure that your team can work together with ease. File sharing platforms and project management tools make it easy for your team to work together on various projects. Important documents and files can be uploaded, worked on and revised as needed. Your team can leave notes regarding different aspects of the project, and you can create to-do lists for the project to keep your team on track and organised.
Manage New Remote Team Successfully
Making the transition to managing a remote team might seem daunting at first, but you can ensure that everything goes smoothly with the right approach and attitude. Using the right tools, communicating clearly with your staff and setting clear expectations will help to keep your team motivated and on track towards your business goals. With your remote team working together seamlessly, your business can look forward to a brighter future ahead as you fully embrace the advantages of going remote.