Managing a remote team of employees is significantly different from managing a team of traditional office employees. While there are several effective ways of managing traditional employees such as hosting team building activities that will essentially enhance productivity through boosting unity and increasing the comfort level within workspaces, these methods cannot exactly be used for remote employees. As technology is drastically changing most aspects of the business from online marketing to how we manage employees, there are several benefits as well as several challenges that startups and smaller-scale businesses should consider. However, understanding the 5 key elements of remote team management will help you discover effective methods of boosting productivity, enhancing team motivation, and streamlining business functions.
Online Employee Managing Tools
Even though it is possible to manage your team without the help of innovative technologies, you will find that traditional methods of monitoring employee hours worked and other aspects of management will be significantly difficult. What’s more, traditional methods are also gradually being removed from traditional office spaces as business owners and project managers have noted how effectively online timesheets and other types of technologies are able to reduce errors. Therefore, you should be utilizing online tools such as a top-rated employee time tracking app or other types of online employee monitoring tools. However, you should analyze your candidate choices before settling on an online tool as certain software solutions provide far more features and functions. You should opt for an online tool that will allow you to manage your team from your mobile phone while other useful features to look for include report generating features.
Communication
Communication is one of the most overlooked elements of managing a remote team, although, it is an incredibly important element that will have a massive impact on employee productivity and motivation. Unfortunately, more often than not, remote employees are confronted with feelings of isolation that can dramatically affect productivity as employees are unable to feel a sense of unity or loyalty towards their employers. Luckily, there are several effective solutions to enhance communication for remote employees, such as making use of online platforms that serve as a workspace. This effort will boost unity as your team will be able to come together in one place. In addition to enhancing communication, you will also be able to enjoy additional benefits as most of these software platforms boast features such as storing project info in the cloud, which means you won’t have to endure concerns about losing progress or document changes that may go unnoticed.
Setting Workflow Rules
It’s quite a simple task to set workflow rules when your team is based in a traditional office, although, the same methods can’t be applied to remote employees as reaching workflow goals when your team is scattered across the globe raises entirely different challenges. You should bring a set of rules for workflow forth for each individual member of your team through communication. In addition to this, you should also define major workflow principles for your team. This can be done through your online workspace or via email. You will also need to account for potential time zone differences to ensure your team is always on the same page. Therefore, you will need to manage time efficiently and ensure each member of your team is able to view task requests at an appropriate time with consideration for their time zone differences.
Organization Tools And Tactics
Managing a remote team means that your organization will need to be excellent. Your personal organization can be enhanced with the help of certain organizational tools and while there are several useful project management tools and personal organizational tools easily available on the market for relatively low subscription fees, it would be wise to take steps to boost your time management and organization methods before using another new online tool. Tactics to enhance your own personal organization include creating a to-do list and opting for alarms and other basic strategies. Once you are able to get a grasp of basic tactics, using online tools will be an effective solution for boosting your organization. For example, you could use a bulk SMS service to send mass text to employees if there are urgent updates that everyone needs to know.
Consider Cultural Differences
As your team will be scattered across the globe, you will be working with various cultures and even though many project managers and business owners may disregard this aspect, it can raise concerning issues when it comes to managing your team. Therefore, you should consider the varying cultures to ensure each member of your team is able to thrive. Cultural issues that can affect business include religious holidays that may no coordinate well with certain deadlines among other issues. The best way to remove cultural issues before they become a problem is simply to communicate with your team. Regarding the topic.