One of the biggest challenges business owners face today is managing their remote teams.
Due to the lack of face-to-face contact, it can seem an impossible task. After all, how are you supposed to manage employees when they’re in entirely different locations to you? It’s an obvious question that many business owners are asking.
Well, there’s good news: it’s easy to manage your remote teams whilst keeping them happy and productive at the same time. To learn how to do this, keep reading for some top tips.
Focus on Virtual Team Building
Thanks to apps like Zoom and Microsoft Teams, it’s now possible to engage in virtual team-building exercises. All your employees need to do is make an account on your chosen platform, fire up their webcams, and you’re ready to go.
One of the best ways to build your team’s bond is through virtual trivia team building. This is a fun game for all your employees to play together, no matter where they are.
This makes for an exciting alternative to the usual chatting and video calling, as it adds a fun element to the virtual workplace. For example, your teams will be able to play virtual trivia games during their dinner breaks or when it’s the end of the working week.
Hold One-To-One Feedback Meetings
Just because your teams are working remotely doesn’t mean they won’t have feedback for you.
This is why it’s a good idea to hold one-on-one feedback meetings with each employee (ideally, this should be done over Zoom).
During these meetings, employees will be able to give you feedback which you can then take action from. It’s a simple, effective, and proven way to improve remote working.
Provide Good Tech Equipment
Due to the nature of remote working, your teams will be reliant on tech equipment, from laptops to headsets.
As the owner and manager, it’s your responsibility to provide them with the right equipment. Failure to do this will lead to poor-quality work and dropped standards.
Also, it would help if you had members of your IT department provide remote support to individual workers who aren’t as tech-savvy as the rest, as they can quickly become overwhelmed by different virtual tools and software.
All of this will ensure that your employees feel valued and looked after – despite working from home.
Be Available
Here’s an interesting statistic: over 50 percent of remote workers are concerned about exclusion and isolation.
This is to be expected, as the concept of remote working is still alien and strange to a lot of people. However, this can’t simply go unattended to. Instead, you must take action to keep your employees happy.
The best solution to this is to be available. Because they’re not in an office with you, employees are reliant on email and video communication with managers. Therefore, by being readily available across these different mediums, your employees will be able to stay connected with the soul of the company and get all of their queries answered.
Conclusion
Moving into the future, it’s expected that remote work will become the norm. Business managers will be under more pressure than ever to keep their teams happy and productive when this happens. By using the above-mentioned tips, you can do exactly that.
