How To Successfully Manage A Team Remotely

Managing teams remotely is more common, not only in companies with global teams spread across the continent, but with more flexible working scenarios for employees generally. When managing a team remotely, it is vital to consider a range of factors and pitfalls to ensure a productive team as opposed to a set of dispersed individuals. As a manager you must ensure that all members feels they are still being managed without being able to see them every day or maybe even every week. How is this possible?

The first step is to make sure you get to know your team and ensure that your team know each other. Hold a conference call to introduce your team to each other, both names and job roles as well as introducing yourself. Team members will be working together regardless of their location and the ice needs to be broken early. I once worked in a company that had team members in South Africa, London, New York and France. Once a week the manager would hold a conference call meeting with all team members. This would be a chance for an update on current products, issues etc that affects the team. It would also be a chance for team members to raise concerns or ask questions and for issues to be sorted out. Part of managing a team remotely is ensuring that they still feel like a team rather than solitary members who sometimes see other names appearing on emails.

A useful tool in achieving this is windows messenger for the office. It can be set up so it only allows access to other company members rather than external parties. One problem when team members only have access to email is that they do not build a friendly working relationship with other team members. Banter across an email can more easily be taken the wrong way leading to misunderstandings. With messenger, team members can have the freedom to be chatty, asking how they are etc before asking the work related question. Managers often worry that team members will be chatting to each other while they should be working, but I have found that this tool encourages the team members to work better together. They are friendly with each other and care about each other and their work. The instant nature allows quick questions to be answered without the disturbance of a phone call. Conversations etc can still be recorded and if you wanted to check what your team is doing.

Keeping track of your team and their work can be an issue. You will want to keep a track on the progress of your team but will not have the option to see the work in progress regularly. Ask your team to supply you with regular updates on all tasks via email. In this way you are not micro-managing your team, but still keeping in control of the progress they are making and of their workload. Even though you are managing them remotely, you still need to have faith and trust in your team. If you were in the office with them it is unlikely you would want to micro-manage them to distraction, asking every five minutes what they are doing. Just because you can not see them working, do not assume that they are not working, but do deal with problems if you see them arise. It will become obvious very quickly if a team member is not pulling their weight and falling behind. This should be addressed when it arises.

It is important to your team to know that although you are not there, you are still available to hear their concerns, queries etc. Make an open door policy. Be sure that they are aware of your phone numbers, emails etc and times when you are available. One useful tool is the shared outlook calendar. Each member of the team has access to everyone's calendar so they can see when people are in meetings or out of the office or free. (Personal items can be made private.) It can also be a useful tool to allow team members to book out blocks of time to show which project they are currently working on.

When employees have completed a task to a high standard or achieved something, do not underestimate the value of congratulating them. They do not have the day-to-day conversations with you to feel re-assured and encouraged. In order to motivate your team to do well you will need to be positive and open in your praise. Mention things in the weekly conference call and email them personally so that they know you are aware of and grateful for their hard work. As well as noticing when they are working well, check that they are not overworked. Since you can not see them being overloaded, it is much easier for it to go unnoticed. Keep a record of current projects or tasks, along with how long they will take to complete and who is performing them. You may wish to use an excel spreadsheet or Microsoft Project to plan this. Note that different countries have different public holidays.

When considering different public holidays, it is also vital to consider local cultures and business practices. An office in one country may have very different practices to one in a different country. You may be willing to allow a certain amount of freedom for the employees to work according to local custom provided the work is completed. It may be however, that you want everyone to stick to some or all of your own practices. Whatever you choose it is most important to first investigate the way local employees work and inform your employees of your expectations. If it is usual for an employee to take a three-hour lunch break and then work late into the evening, it may not occur to them that you want their office hours to be consecutive. It is necessary to handle this issue with sensitivity.

Once all these issues have been dealt with and your team know you and each other, the most important thing to do is to maximise your face time with them. Managing teams remotely is entirely possible, but always consider that people want to see you in person to discuss things face to face. Try and put as much time as possible into your schedule to meet with them, even if this involves travelling. If you have to manage them remotely on a consistent basis, it may be worth taking a course in this subject to go into these and other methods in more detail.