Managing a team efficiently is no small task in-person, let alone when you are working remotely. With the largest global work-from-home experiment in effect, and the popularity of outsourcing continuing to grow, learning to effectively run a remote team is a crucial business skill. Here are our tips for remote management success.
Get ready to go remote
Regardless of why you are working remotely, you need to plan how you will work remotely. Whether your existing team is working remotely due to COVID-19 or you specifically planned to offshore, running a remote team effectively requires preparation. To get ready for the challenge, and help ensure success, take some time to establish the following:
- Document your workflow
- Define the scope
- Plan how to deliver instruction – either onboarding processes for outsourced teams or first-time remote instructions for local teams
- Set your KPI’s
- And finally, choose and implement management and workflow software
Read more about how to get your business outsource and remote ready
Use the right tools to manage your remote team
Whether your remote team is located down the road or on a different continent, the key to great communication and productivity is using the right tools. Choose software and programs that are optimised for what you need, and don’t be afraid to adopt multiple tools to meet your needs efficiently. Adopting cloud-based software can help keep everyone on the same page, creating video tutorials can be a great option for induction and support, and utilising online workflow management can increase productivity and efficiency.
Learn more about the tools you need to manage your remote team here
Build and maintain your workplace culture
The ultimate key to your remote team’s productivity and efficiently lies in the team culture you create. Belonging is a basic human need, and studies of the growing remote work industry have shown that the most efficent remote teams are those with a strong team culture. The good news is, creating this culture is fun! Here are a few of our favourite ideas for building and maintaining a remote, but still vibrant, workplace culture:
- Build team rituals. Get used to celebrating highlights and laughing at and learning from mishaps together.
- In addition to online chats and group hangouts, create separate spaces or forums for hobby and interest discussions.
- Create time in specific meetings for personal introductions. Get to know co-workers kids, pets, and spouses!
- Set aside a company budget to cover birthday gifts that the rest of the team decide on, in the same way you would budget for an office party.
- Most of all, have fun! If you and your team enjoy working together, efficiency will come naturally.
Final tip: Amp up the medium, not the message!
When miscommunications happen while communicating via messaging (and they inevitably will happen), simply jump on a quick video call to clear up any confusion, then get back to work. Taking five minutes and ‘amping up the medium’ by video chatting, you spare yourself miscommunications and avoid amplifying the message out of context.
Learn more about building and managing a remote team
At The Back Room, we help firms create and manage efficient remote teams through a Business Process Outsourcing model. Learn more about how to set-up and run your team here.