Over the past two months, many businesses that previously had staff working full-time and in-house were forced to adjust to a new reality: Most (if not all) of their staff was suddenly working from home.
Working remotely definitely has its own unique set of perks. The challenges that come with remote working, however, are what businesses are currently struggling with. Managing newly remote teams, in particular, can be a little chaotic, especially when the shift is sudden and maybe a little unexpected.
In this post, we’re going to take a close look at how to manage a newly remote team so that your team can keep their stride and be just as effective as if they were together in the office.
Get The Right Communication Platforms ASAP
Communication tools that can help your team stay in touch and on the same page are more important than ever before. Even if you weren’t using these tools previously, sign up for them right now. We recommend Tresta for a virtual phone system and Slack for internal messaging.
Set Expectations And Communicate Them Clearly
You should be reasonable in your expectations, and flexible, but you can and should still be firm about what needs to be done. There’s a learning curve right now, but in a week or so, this will become the new normal.
Focus On Task Completion Over Hours Worked
Think about what your team needs to accomplish. Does it matter about how long they work, or what actually gets done? Write out a list of tasks that need to be accomplished, prioritize them, and explain that these are the tasks that must be done within a set period of time.
Touch Base With Your Team Regularly
Miscommunication is easier when everyone is working remotely. Proactively checking in with your team can prevent small issues from turning into larger ones, and it can help everyone stay on track.
Make Time For Relationship Building
Relationship building is something that often falls by the wayside when businesses shift to remote working, but it shouldn’t. Especially when we’re all forced into sudden isolation, and social contact and relationship building is important for our morale and workplace satisfaction.
Set Up A Standard Operating Procedure
Even if you had a standard operating procedure before, there’s a good chance that this might look a little different now. Think about the differences between remote work and in-office work, and consider how to close that gap.
There are plenty of businesses that have been working on an entirely remote basis for several years now, proving that this is absolutely a possibility for those who aren’t physically in an office to tackle all of their tasks at a high level.
It all comes down to having the right strategies, the right expectations, and the right communication tools to keep everyone on the same page. If you start there, everything else will fall into place.
