Remote Management: An In-Depth Guide on Leading a Remote Team - ClockIt

Remote Management: An In-Depth Guide on Leading a Remote Team

Having a remote team can unlock new opportunities, open up new markets, and reduce costs by eliminating expensive real estate expenses. But, managing a remote team requires specific skills different from managing an in-house team. This blog post will cover everything you need to know about leading a remote team. We’ll look at your unique challenges when managing a remote team and the best practices to overcome these challenges. Read on to learn more…

What is remote team management?

Remote management is the practice of managing a team that is not co-located. There are many variations of how a group can be remote. A team can be remote due to the team members’ location, the tools they use, or the type of work they do. Remote management is not a synonym for managing a distributed team. While remote and distributed team management may rely on digital tools, team members’ work cultures and expectations differ.

Why run a remote team?

There are many reasons to run a remote team.

  1. Access to a more diverse talent pool: When you hire from in-person networks, you are more likely to be biased toward people who look like you than ever.
  2. Access to a broader talent pool: Remote workers may be in a different time zone and have a different work rhythm. This means that you may be able to access talent that is usually unavailable to you.
  3. Save on real estate: Owning office space is expensive, and most of it is empty at any given time. You may also have to deal with fluctuations in demand and changes in the real estate market.
  4. Improve employee satisfaction: More and more people want to work. When you run a remote team, you give your employees the freedom to choose how they want to work.

Managing a remote team: the three most important skills

When managing a remote team, you must be aware of the three different skill sets you will need to develop:
  1. Communication skills: Remote management is all about communication. You must communicate your vision, strategies, and expectations to your team members.
  2. Problem-solving Skills: You may be able to communicate, but if you can’t solve problems, your team members won’t be able to move toward their goals.
  3. Time management skills: Managing a remote team can be challenging. You may need to rely on outside help to manage your team and help them to achieve their goals.

You must be able to manage the expectations of both your team members and your clients. You must be able to manage the expectations of your clients and stakeholders. You must be able to manage your expectations as the leader of a remote team.

Establish effective communication practices

Good communication skills are essential to leading a remote team. You must be able to build and maintain trust with your team members and clients. You must communicate with your team members, setting clear expectations and timelines for projects. You must communicate with your clients to manage their expectations and select the right tone for effective project management. Remote communication can be challenging. It cannot be easy to convey emotion and build trust. Here are some tips to help you improve your communication on a remote team:
  1. Use video and calls: These tools enable you to connect more with your team members and clients. You can use Google Hangouts, Zoom, or Skype to host calls. You can use Zoom or Zoom video for video calls.
  2. Use tools for real-time collaboration: Tools for real-time collaboration, such as Google Docs, Trello, etc., can help you to manage and track your remote work.
  3. Manage your emails: An email is an excellent tool for communication, but it can become overwhelming with too many emails. You must learn to manage your emails while ensuring that you don’t lose track of critical communications.

Hold effective meetings

Meetings, especially unplanned meetings, can be time-consuming and distracting. It is best to avoid unexpected meetings and hold only the necessary meetings for your team. When holding a meeting, you must first decide why you are holding that meeting. Once you know the reason for the meeting, you can decide the best way to hold it:
  1. Meetings can be held on-site, in a conference room, or via a video call.
  2. Decide on the best way to hold the meeting based on your team members’ locations, the importance of the meeting, and the type of work they are doing.
  3. Hold meetings in the middle of the day. Meetings in the morning or the evening can create a lot of stress and distraction for your team members.

Remote collaboration practices

Remote collaboration can be challenging because team members may not be as engaged or motivated as they would be on-site. Here are some tips to help you collaborate more effectively:
  1. Set goals together: When starting a project, set goals with your team members. Goals must be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely.
  2. Celebrate milestones: When you and your team members reach milestones, celebrate those achievements together: it will help to motivate your team members to keep going.
  3. Hold 1-on-1 meetings: Regularly hold 1-on-1 meetings with your team members. These meetings are a great opportunity to check in and make sure that your team members are on track with their goals.
  4. Be positive: Be positive with your team members. Be a positive and constructive sounding board for your team members.
  5. Set expectations for feedback: When working remotely, it is easy to over-rely on feedback and constructive criticism. You must set clear expectations for the type of feedback that your team members provide to you.
  6. Set expectations for availability: While working remotely, team members may feel the need to be available 24/7. You must set clear expectations for when your team members can take a break and when they can disconnect from the digital world.

Encourage team members to get together. Meeting up with your team members in-person can help to strengthen the team, reduce misunderstandings, and build trust.

Virtual Collaboration Meetings

Virtual collaboration meetings are meetings that are held remotely using advanced collaboration technologies. These meetings can be used to replace 1-on-1 meetings, team meetings, and client meetings. Here are some tips for hosting virtual collaboration meetings:
  1. Start with the end in mind: What do you want to achieve with your virtual collaboration meetings? What is the purpose of the meeting?
  2. Create the right environment for your meetings: Make sure that you hold your meetings in a quiet and distraction-free environment. –
  3. Set clear expectations for your meetings: What are the objectives of your meetings? What is the flow of your meetings? What are the expectations for your meetings? –
  4. Identify the best tools for your meetings: What tools do you need to use for your meetings? Are there any tools that your clients prefer? What is the bandwidth of your team members? –
  5. Manage your virtual collaboration meetings: How will you track your meetings? Will you be using meeting tools or a mix of meeting tools and regular tools?

Weekly Check-in Meetings

Weekly check-in meetings are special meetings that are held once a week with your team members. These meetings are an effective way to keep track of project milestones, celebrate achievements, and focus on next week’s goals. Here are some tips for hosting weekly check-in meetings:
  1. Start with a review of last week’s goals and achievements.
  2. Use the rest of the meeting to plan for next week.
  3. Be positive with your team members and celebrate their achievements.
  4. Set expectations for next week and check in with each of your team members.

Conclusion

A remote team can unlock new opportunities, open up new markets, and reduce costs by eliminating expensive real estate expenses. However, managing a remote team requires specific skills that are different from managing an in-house team. In this blog post, we’ve covered everything you need to know about leading a remote team. We’ve looked at the unique challenges you may face when managing a remote team and the best practices to overcome these challenges.
Basil Abbas
basil@tecsolsoftware.com

Basil is the Founder and CTO at ClockIt. With over 10 years of experience in the products space, there is no challenge that is too big in front of him be it sales, marketing, coding, etc. A people person and loves working in a startup for perfection.