How to manage a remote team without micromanaging

​​Remote team management​ is becoming the norm in today’s working environment. However, at the beginning of 2020, managers had to speed learn how to lead virtual teams! Balancing schedules, tending to emotional needs and staying in contact while still completing work to a high standard are all things you need to juggle. 

This article will go through the basics of managing a remote team, how Covid-19 changed the way we work, common challenges of remote team management and tips for how to successfully lead a team working remotely. 

A remote team is a group of employees who are working from various locations. This could also mean that they are in different time zones and working to different schedules while still remoting into the same team or projects. 

Remote team management is the manager’s responsibility. Although it is sometimes harder to balance so many different needs and schedules, having a remote team can mean new ideas, a broader spectrum of global talent and helping employees have better work life balance. 

Remote teams suddenly became a necessity when the 2020 pandemic hit, and for the most part it looks like they are here to stay. It is increasingly common for workplaces to be a lot more flexible on the number of days that employees need to be physically in the office if it is just as easy for them to get work done on their computers at home. 

This has changed the way you need to manage remote teams. 

Although it is more difficult in some ways, research shows that there are a lot of positives for employees:

Happy employees means happy workplaces. Even though it means big changes for employee management, it can also mean opportunities for growth and employee benefits. 

Although working remotely works well for a lot of employees, there are a few challenges that come with managing virtual teams. 

• ​​​If you have never implemented ’work from home’ policies before, and have no opportunity to train or prepare employees for it, you might see an initial dip in productivity and engagement. The reality is that some people still need a manager to make sure they are getting work done. This is where tools like ​​​​time tracking ​​and checking in regularly can help. ​​

• ​​Another common challenge for leading virtual teams is slower query responses. If you are working on a joint project and can’t get updates face to face it can slow down progress. This can start to affect relationships with clients and stakeholders if it drags on too long. Having set times for queries and check ins can make this easier (as long as everyone knows when mandatory team meetings are!). ​

• ​​​Other common issues include more social aspects. Things like distractions from people at home (or the opposite: social isolation) can all affect employee productivity and make managing a virtual team difficult for you as a manager. ​​

To help you effectively ​​​manage employees working remotely​, we’re going through a few simple tips to get you started. 

Don’t underestimate the power of good communication! Most issues can be solved by simply stating that there is a problem. Scheduling daily team check-ins is a straightforward way to make sure you are all on the same page and working on your individual projects or tasks. 

Everybody should know exactly what they need to do throughout the day, and it’s your job to delegate tasks appropriately. Using a joint project management software can help staff keep each other up to date on deadlines. 

Due to the nature of remote work, you will need to readjust your expectations of how and when people get their work done. Some people may be more productive later in the day while others may like to work steadily throughout the entire day. Your main job for making this work is to set standards and KPIs so that overall the work still gets done. Depending on the job, this might mean doing a certain amount of hours each day, setting weekly milestones, or hitting monthly targets as a team. 

Every workplace is different, ​however,​ to work remotely you need to have effective software. This means video conferencing, project management, file sharing and communication platforms that let people do their job well even when they’re at home. Investing in cloud-based software is usually the easiest way to make sure work still gets done. 

To have a successful working from home arrangement, it has to be a win for both sides. Employees need to have a good work life balance, and you need to set clear expectations for what work is completed and when. Regularly check in that your employees are not overworked or blurring the lines between work and home, and check-in to make sure that work is being done at an acceptable standard. 

It is important to gather genuine employee feedback on how working remotely is going for your employees. This can be done through team meetings or anonymous polls so that you can adjust expectations or set higher ones. 

Don’t just wait for someone to tell you something is wrong. Although working from home has its benefits, it can still be isolating for a lot of people. Put it in your calendar to check in with each employee in your team individually to see if they need any additional support. Supporting your employees’ emotional needs will always lead to a more effective work environment overall. 

Being flexible shows that you trust your team to get work done and work in a way that suits them. Micromanaging is probably the fastest way to breed resentment when managing a remote team. It is also a good opportunity to be flexible in your own schedule- you need work life balance as much as your team! 

If you are in the same place, it is a good idea to get together in person once in a while. There are only so many virtual meetings people can take! Try to mix in a social event and a work event regularly to stay in touch with how your team is going and encourage them to stay connected with their team. 

Managing a remote team of employees comes with both challenges and benefits. If you work with employees to stay flexible with schedules and give clear instructions, remote working can be an incredible opportunity to give both parties a better work life balance. 

Smartly payroll gives you one less thing to worry about when managing employees remotely. With digital employee timesheets and simple payroll processing, managing remote teams just got a little bit easier.

Not using Smartly yet?

If you want to learn more about how your day-to-day tasks can be made simpler, you can chat to us to get some insight on how payroll software could benefit your business. Smartly can make the complex tasks seem simple including payroll, timesheets, leave and more! Smartly takes care of most of the faffing, so you can focus on the important stuff.