How to Manage a Remote Team

The days of a team all needing to be in the same place at the same time in order to work effectively are long gone. Today, we can work on a regular basis with colleagues dispersed across different buildings, cities, countries and even continents. However, managing a team that’s spread out in this way can present huge challenges, even for most experienced bosses.

Take your team’s productivity and efficiency to new heights with these useful tips.

Hire the right people. Not everyone is up to the task of working alone. You’ll need self-motivated and trustworthy employers. If you can’t trust a team member, remote management will never work.

Develop a well-defined communication strategy. Communication is key when you have a completely remote workforce. Always make sure you communicate at last once each day with core members of each team you manage to give them the opportunity to provide feedback, raise concerns or showcase successes.

Use the right remote work tools. Technology is your best friend when managing a team from outside a traditional office environment so be sure to make the most of it. A truly remote work team will have email, a file-sharing capacity, an instant messaging platform, screen sharing software, project management software, and any tool and resources specific to your industry.

Don’t forget face-to-face meetings. When managing from outside an office environment, it can be difficult to understand someone’s thoughts without visual clues. Video calls are the closest thing you can get to face-to-face contact.