3 Essential Tips For Productively Managing Your Remote Team

Whether you already had a remote team before the pandemic or afterward, is important to keep in mind several tips that’ll help you maintain great performance.

Part of what 2020 taught us was that the ways of working don’t have to be the same all the time in order for companies to be successful.  

This year we saw how, despite the fact that many businesses did not have the tools to take their products to the digital domain, many of them managed to do so thanks to the correct use of tools and the members of their teams that were committed to keeping their businesses afloat. 

This is not something that only applies to businesses. Governments around the world have realized that teleworking is one of the best options to reduce costs and boost the economy. Therefore, experts indicate that the trend will continue to grow in this area. 

Keeping that in mind, we believe it is important to support the management of all entrepreneurs and business owners who take a moment to read our content. 

For you, we have created this simple guide with 3 essential tips to take into account to productively manage your remote team: 

1. Know your goal

This is a point that we constantly mention in our content because we know it as the starting point for an effective strategy.  Above all, it is essential that you have defined where you are and where you want to go, and not only that but what KPIs you will use. 

Remember that it is never the same to tell your remote team that the goal is to increase traffic to your website than to tell them that next month you are projecting a 33% increase in traffic from your “buyer personas” compared to the previous month’s results to be achieved by fulfilling specific tasks. You must define your objectives so that they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely. If you are not clear about your objectives, no matter how good your team is, you will never achieve good results, starting with your communications. 

After establishing objectives, you must specify the necessary tasks to achieve those objectives, their desirable deadlines, and the timeframe to finish each task. 

2. Program follow-ups

We are on the verge of 2021. Believe us, there are many tools for you to manage the process of the tasks assigned for the fulfillment of your objectives. 

For example, you can use project management tools such as Asana or Trello. If you are looking for some instant messaging tools without having your team being distracted, you can rely on Slack which has been on the market for quite some time and integrates many other applications to make your remote team feel comfortable at work. 

We always recommend that you also rely on virtual meetings once or twice a week because it is never the same to communicate in writing as it is to talk face to face, even if it’s virtually.  

In addition to these basic tools, you can also make use of some others to coordinate the start and end of day registrations. 

There are some very good tools like Time Doctor that help you keep track of your team’s work hours, as well as helping you make sure of their productivity and giving you reports that let you know if there is anything that needs to be adjusted.    

3. Perform frequent calibrations

Finally, it’s time to review the results you’re getting. How are your KPIs? What do the reports on your team’s work tell you? What feedback has your team given you on the established strategies and their execution? 

It is always important to measure both quantitative and qualitative aspects. You may be getting good results on your KPIs but your team is tired or you may not be getting good communication and team integration. 

That’s why the weekly meetings we talked about in the previous point are so necessary. You have to watch the dynamics that are constantly taking place in your company to make adjustments in time instead of waiting until the end of the month to find unwanted situations. 

It often happens that when a new member joins a team there is an adaptation period where everyone must readjust so that the team dynamics remain efficient, productive, and comfortable for everyone. Keep in mind that the most important thing in teams is the quality of relationships. If your team is well, motivated, and comfortable with the work they do and with the other team members, the chances are that they will perform the tasks effectively are greater than if the quality of relationships in the team is poor. 

Therefore, every time you have to integrate a person, it is essential to take into account how the team works, what you want to achieve, what is the environment, the company’s values, and in that sense, hire people who are qualified to perform the necessary tasks but who also fit your way of working. 

This is a point that is sometimes overlooked because many business owners focus on hard skills rather than people as a whole. 

In short

To productively manage your remote teams you need to have a lot of clarity in your objectives, create follow-up routines and keep up to date with the necessary calibrations in your strategies or for your team. 

Today you can rely more than ever on remote workers to help you run your business more effectively. 

At There is Talent we have an incredible team that has the perfect balance between hard and soft skills so we know we will always have the best match for you. 

Would you like to know more about it?

Book a call today with our director Claudia and find out what our team can do for your business!