Remote work is becoming more and more common. As of 2019, 16% of all U.S. companies exclusively hire remote workers. While this is a very positive development for the new generation of digital nomads, it also means that a lot of what we know about managing a team has to be rethought. The same strategies that have been used for years by managers and entrepreneurs may not always apply to a team that is ran remotely. So how do we rethink team building to fit this into this new model? And how can you make sure that things run smoothly in your team even if you’re hundreds of miles away? Here are our 9 best tips on managing your team remotely.
9 Tips on How to Run a Remote Team Successfully
1. Be there
This one may feel counterintuitive. Even if you’re not present with your team in person, you’re still going to have to be there. What that means is being there for them, being someone that they feel they know and can trust. It also means having a strong presence that they can’t ignore.
To build a sense of presence in your team, you don’t have to be constantly harassing everyone with emails. But you do have to keep in touch. Send a message once in a while to ask how that co-worker is feeling in the company. Email that freelancer to congratulate him on a great performance this past week. More importantly, make sure that nobody is feeling neglected, and that everyone has some form of contact with you.
Whenever you get emails or messages from team members, make it a priority to answer them as soon as possible. This is a clear way to let them know that you care and that you are there for them. In turn, they will feel more respect and responsibility toward you.
2. Have some trust
There’s nothing more unpleasant than being anxious over something which you can’t control. Unfortunately, when you’re managing a team from a distance, there will always be a degree of uncertainty. At any point, it’s hard to know who is doing what, who is working well, who is slacking off…And that’s something which you’ll have to learn to accept.
Of course, it remains your duty and responsibility to run regular checks on your team’s results to make sure that things are going according to plan. But as much as you can control results, the process that got them there will partly remain a mystery to you.
It’s crucial that you develop a sense of trust in your team. Not only will it help you form stronger and more positive relationships with team members, it will also spare you a lot of unnecessary anxiety.
3. Be transparent about your activities
As much as you have to trust your team, your team also has to trust you. When you’re far away and the only contact that they have with you is through emails and occasional video conferences, that sense of trust can be hard to build. With time, team members might begin to wonder what work you are actually doing for the company.
Being open about your duties in the company and your daily schedule is a great way to build trust. Sharing your calendar with team members makes you seem trustworthy and transparent. And, as you are no doubts working hard, seeing your busy schedule might also inspire your colleagues to give it their best, and spend more time on their job. After all, isn’t the best way to lead by example?
4. Focus on team building through positive communication
Establishing a sense of shared trust is a great first step, but it’s not all. To run a team successfully remotely, you’ll also need to create a team feeling. You need for your team to feel enthusiastic about working together. In a local setting, this is relatively easy to achieve: you organize team activities, have in-person meetings and conference, celebrate team achievements…Working remotely makes all of that a lot trickier.
One way to build your team even if you are not physically close to them is to send out a regular newsletter that gets everyone involved. Discuss how the company is doing. Let them know what you have been working on. Discuss who’s been a great employee, and what people have had an outstanding performance.
These newsletters don’t have to be bland and dry. You can add your personal flair into them, and add touches of humor or wit to keep your team members interested. Whatever you need to do, make sure that your regular communications with the whole team are positive and engaging. This can go a long way into creating a powerful team feeling.
5. Be careful about who joins your team
Every company has a personality. Some companies are so big that they attract people with widely different lifestyles and tastes. Still, there is generally such a thing as a mentality that is associated with a given business. When hiring, this is something that you have to take into consideration. It’s not enough to find a freelancer who is great at what they do, or a new designer with a great portfolio. You need to hire people who will fit right into the team, and move your company in the right direction.
One of the main struggles of managing a team online is that you’re generally unable to conduct in-person interviews. Video calls are the next best thing, but they can’t tell you everything that you need to do about a person. So be meticulous. Go through their C.Vs, their references, their social media profiles, and try to get a feel for their personality. With time, you will be able to develop intuition about who is a good match for your team. In the meanwhile, just take things slowly and never hire somebody in a hurry: these kinds of decision can really break a team.
6. Involve new employees from day one
Starting a job with a new company can be nerve-wracking. Starting it remotely feels a little different but still has its challenges. Your duty as a team leader is to make every single person who joins your team feel welcome, appreciated, and supported.
You won’t be here to give them a big smile and a warm greeting however, so be prepared to find alternative ways to express the sentiment. For example, you should make sure to send every single new hire a personalized email welcoming them into the company, and assuring them that you are there if they need it. It can also be a good idea to create a guide to the company, which all future additions to the company will be able to rely on.
Of course, the type of onboarding that you put into place will depend on the informational need of new team members. A new copywriter might need a style guide for example, an accountant might need some training on which software the company uses. You’ll have to use your own discretion to come up with training guides that lets newer additions know everything that they should when starting in your company. Some things most companies should cover are who to contact in case of problems, which communication channel they should use, and what the names and contact information of other team members are.
7. Show appreciation
The value of gratitude cannot be overstated. Showing appreciation is hands down the most powerful way to keep employees motivated to do their best work. It’s something that regular office workers expect, but remote workers and freelancers work a bit differently. Likely, they won’t be expecting a pat on the shoulder when they do something right. Surprise them by doing it anyway!
What you need to remember is that freelancers have a lot of different opportunities for work. If they start feeling unappreciated by your company, they will be out of the door in no time. Of course that doesn’t mean that you have to constantly reassure everyone of what a great job they are doing. But celebrate the important stuff.
For example, if one of your remote sales people has exceeded their targets, send them an enthusiastic email and maybe even a bonus. If a graphic designer working for you has created their best work so far, give them a quick call to let them know how much you appreciate their talent and effort. These tokens of gratitude don’t cost a thing, but they are a great way to keep remote employees motivated, and feeling that they are an important part of the company.
8. Choose how you will communicate with your team wisely
So far, we have discussed the importance of keeping in touch with your team, and making sure that everyone can contact you easily. One thing that you need to consider first though is how you will communicate with your team.
Using email is a classic, but if you find that most of your communications are short and to the point, some other channels may be better adapted. For example, you could use a messaging app internal to the company, and manage several group chats on there to contact relevant people. Or if most of your employees enjoy a more direct type of contact, why not make Skype the preferred company communication channel?
Whatever you decide to use, just make sure that it suits the needs of your team, and is both efficient and pleasant to use for everyone.
9. You can still have meetings
Just because everyone in your team is working remotely doesn’t mean that meetings are not possible. Meetings are a team-building classic for a reason: they gather all employees together to make sure that everyone is on the same page.
Of course while managing your team remotely, you will have to find alternative ways of conducting meetings. The most popular one is to schedule large conference calls using Skype or Google Voice.
It’s a good idea to have meetings at least once a month, and every few weeks if possible. Just make sure to keep them short and to the point—nobody likes conference calls that drag on for hours. Your goal here is to create meetings that people actually enjoy attending. To do that, you may want to have a clear agenda of things which you will discuss, and to use a friendly, patient tone of voice.
Meetings are also the place to address anything that is going badly, but don’t lose your temper. Your team sees you very rarely, so if all they see of you this month is an angry person in a conference call meeting, that’s what they will remember. And trust us, this is not how you keep a team going strong. So remain civil and use some tact. For example, make sure to name a couple of positive things about someone’s work or the company’s performance whenever you are addressing a concern.
Finally, if you are in a position where you have quite a few foreign employees, you will want to keep your language as simple as possible. Even if people understand English well, they may not be receptive to your jokes, punning or slang. Out of consideration for them, keep everything you are saying very basic, otherwise they are sure to zone out!
Final Words
Managing a team remotely is a complex exercise in re-thinking traditional team-building strategies. In-person meetings, team activities and real-life interviews don’t apply to you anymore. But don’t get discouraged, successfully managing a team from a distance is easier than it looks. What it boils down to is learning how to make your employees feel good, and trust you. Once you have these two down, the team can essentially run itself. And remember, there’s no need obsessing over the activities of each individual team member. You will never be able to know everything about what your team is up to—and that’s probably for the best!
Hope you enjoyed this post on how to run a remote team successfully, and let us know if you have any comments below!
