Managing a remote team comes with its fair share of challenges. When you don’t have regular face-to-face time with your employees and are not in the same physical location, it can be difficult to keep track of how your team is doing.
However, as a manager, you need to ensure that you find a way to support your team and give them the help they need to perform at their best.
From modern tech tools to regular catch-ups online, there is a lot that you can do to support your remote workforce; you just need to find what works best for you and your team.
For example, while you might not be able to sit around the boardroom table together in person, there are countless video conferencing tools that you can use to connect with your team and discuss any issues they might be having.
Go the extra mile by offering remote worker coffee solutions such as discounts at local coffee chains or small espresso machines that your workers can set up at home to stay energised throughout the day.
Thinking outside the box and finding unique ways to connect with your team are often the best ways to support your remote workforce and show that you care so that your team will be more productive in their work moving forward.
Let’s look at just a few tips that will help you provide your workforce with the support they need.
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Check-In Regularly
Whether it be due to isolation or simply not having the same structured setting as a traditional office setup, it’s easy for remote workers to get demotivated when they don’t have a connection to their coworkers.
This is why, as it has always been in the business world, communication is critical in ensuring that your employees are happy and productive.
Schedule daily meetings with each of your team members to check-in and see how they are doing with their workload.
This is a great opportunity to discuss any issues your team may have, whether those are with clients, the technology you are using, or anything else.
These calls must be scheduled in advance so that your team knows when you are going to call, and you cause minimal disruption to the flow of their workday.
Offer A Range Of Communication Options
Email is essential in the modern business landscape and must be used. However, answering emails can be slow, time-consuming and is certainly not the most efficient way to communicate with your team.
To ensure that you and your workforce are always connected and communications are fast, effective and efficient, it’s important to have multiple communication tools in place.
Video conferencing can be great for smaller teams, while instant messaging platforms work well for larger organisations.
With so many different tools to choose from, it’s important to assess the needs of your business before committing to a platform to use moving forward.
Think about how your business plans to use a platform, and consider options that can be connected to your existing frameworks for efficiency and ease of use.
Offer Some Social Interaction
One of the biggest challenges of managing and supporting your remote workforce is often a lack of engagement.
Taking some time to discuss non-work items is a great way to build a rapport with your team and help each of the individuals working on your team to get to know each other on a more personal level.
Try having a Zoom catch-up once a month where you have pizzas delivered to each of your employees’ homes in advance.
Sitting around and talking together without the pressures of work is one of the best ways to make your team feel appreciated and build that all-important team spirit necessary for your business to thrive. You can even involve your whole team, no matter how large, in virtual icebreakers as well. Anything from breakout rooms to talking about resolutions to virtual escape games with Escapely. Having your team bond over fun activities can help drive productivity and collaboration within your team!
After all, for many people, the work-life balance becomes quite blurred when there’s no change from work environment to home environment, and taking the time to support your employees in other areas can take away some of the stress of that situation.
Find New Ways To Support And Encourage Your Workforce
As the dynamics of every team and the requirements of every business are completely different, it’s important that you assess the needs of your workforce and put a plan in place that will help you to provide the support that your team requires.
Finding new ways to encourage, motivate and support your workforce will ensure that you work together like a well-oiled machine and continue making strides towards your company’s goals.
