Massive changes have taken place in the business world since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with one of them being the shift to working remotely. Thus, leaders had to quickly learn how to manage remote teams.
Today, renowned companies such as Twitter and Slack are at the forefront of this campaign, where they have allowed their employees to work from home past the pandemic permanently.
The following benefits associated with remote working have highly contributed to this decision.
- Remote working spurs creativity and satisfaction in employees
- It saves on costs for both parties
- Working from home increases productivity
- It allows employees to have a work-life balance making them more satisfied
The future of remote work is bright with previous studies such as that conducted by Gartner on company leaders, revealing that 80% of them plan to incorporate part-time remote working in their schedule, with 47% investing in it full-time post the Coronavirus pandemic.
Even as businesses shift to this mode of working, it is essential to note that dealing with remote teams is hard work and has shortcomings. For instance, you have to deal with challenges that come with maintaining open and productive communication, constantly tracking the employees to know what they are working on, finding the appropriate time to schedule for online meetings and phone calls, and developing and maintaining company values and culture.
These three tips will work magic in helping you overcome performance issues with your remote team.
Have a Reliable Channel of Communication With Your Remote Teams
One secret to better management of a remote team is faster and effective communication when the need arises. This requires that you do away with sluggish old-fashioned communication tools and incorporate modern apps such as Skype, Slack, Zoom, Loom, Dropbox, and Click Meeting to help fasten communication and sharing of files between the teams.
In addition to the tools, ensure daily schedule check-ins and consistently communicate with your remote team. Also, be reachable, easy to share with, and always give clear instructions on tasks, including the deadline and expected outcome.
Empower Your Team
As it is, remote work is here to stay. As such, it’s time you considered training your team if you are among the millions of businesses that had to take this route unplanned following the attack of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Remote work is a complex process that may see former okay performing office employees decline in their productivity. To ensure a smooth transition, make an effort to empower your remote team with cybersecurity knowledge, digital skills, including usage of different communication and work tools.
Moreover, empower your remote teams with the company’s values, vision, mission, and soft skills such as managing their time and avoiding distractions at home.
Equally important, ensure to constantly equip and keep the team updated with the latest skills in the market. Never allow your staff member to handle a task requiring new skills if you haven’t trained them. Doing this will overwhelm them more so now that you are not available for a face-to-face consultation.
You can use various tools such as project management and collaboration tools such as G Suite and learning management systems to pass vital knowledge to your remote team.
Trust Your Team
Micromanagement is a killer of productivity. The fact that you don’t have the workers under your watch does not give you the right to nag them now and then. Even though trusting someone far away is not easy, try as much as possible to incorporate it into your remote team.
Giving your remote workers freedom increases their morale and boosts productivity. Moreover, it gives you an easy time conducting your supervisory roles due to the healthy relationship established. Equally important, believing in your workers gives you peace of mind and sufficient time to do other vital things hence increasing productivity.
Take Away
It’s arguably true that remote teams are here to stay. This, therefore, calls for any business wishing to thrive soon to find effective ways of managing and handling performance issues in their remote workers.
Make a difference in your business productivity today by incorporating the above three recommendations to manage your performance issues.
