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Though a few remote teams may debate the logistics of what makes for the best communication cadence, most emphasized the need to over-communicate. A principle of over-communication eliminates assumptions and allows intentions to be clear as possible. Over time, this transparency leads to trust.

Structured mechanisms to share best practices and tips on remote work were also popular. And, you’re right in assuming managers play a particularly important role. We’ve found that when managers model stellar communication, especially when it’s really transparent and timely, the rest of the team follows suit.

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We share 21 tips to lead remote teams in 2021. Create a free InHerSight account to get unlimited access to top companies lists, anonymous employer reviews, articles, career advice, daily job matches, and our growing community of professional women. Frequent, short meetings can boost productivity. Employees might grumble about meetings under normal circumstances, but many COVID-19 Pulse of HR respondents said that daily team huddles helped them remain focused and engaged while working remotely.

For the most part, this experiment has worked. Productivity has thrived in the pandemic with 94% of employers reporting the same or higher productivity than before 2020. With the anniversary of COVID-19 and cases still on the rise, remote work is less of a temporary experiment and more of a strategy for the future.

This article is part of InHerSight’s Working During Coronavirus series. As the coronavirus pandemic continues, find helpful advice here on working remotely, job hunting remotely, dealing with anxiety and stress, and staying safe at work if you have to be on-site. Many of the most frequently cited issues, however, stemmed from the abrupt surge in remote work. Monthly research-based updates on what the future of work means for your workplace, teams, and culture. This issue’s special report explores new ways that leaders can identify which key performance indicators will advance their teams toward their ever-shifting objectives. I find sincere praise goes a long way in times of heightened stress, as well as not taking it personal if someone seems more stressed then usual.

How To Manage A Remote Team

Are they the main caregiver in their household? Reinforce that it’s okay if a 5-year-old accidentally interrupts a meeting, just as it’s also okay to still take sick, personal, and mental health days when you’re working from home. Virtual social activities, such as lunch and learns, coffee breaks, online exercise classes, and happy hours, were also frequently mentioned as ways companies can help employees overcome social isolation. These activities were not as highly ranked by voters as personal check-ins and were as likely to be mentioned in bottom-quartile responses as they were in top-quartile ones.

I would love to hear your feedback on how to manage a remote team once you’ve tried some of the above tips. Be available quickly and at all times of the day. Go above and beyond to maintain https://globalcloudteam.com/ an open-door policy for remote employees—make yourself available across multiple time zones and through multiple means of technology (IM, Slack, Skype, Email, Phone, Text etc.).

These 21 tips cover only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to supporting your remote team. The online survey was conducted by CultureX and Josh Bersin from March 31 through April 15, 2020. The survey included the free-text question, “What are the most pressing HR challenges for your organization?

We are using ZOOM and Microsoft Teams (which hasn’t been used a lot by most of the staff) to stay connected. Our full staff is 13 full-time and 2 part-time staff. A weekly all staff ZOOM meeting is scheduled, plus I have scheduled bi-weekly meetings with my department. Along with all the great suggestions from Justin and everyone else, I am openly sharing with my staff that I know this is a challenging adjustment.

The sudden shift to remote work provides organizations with an opportunity to rethink existing processes to boost efficiency and accelerate their digital transformations. Several respondents singled out centralized information hubs on issues related to remote work and COVID-19. Highly ranked resources included frequently asked questions , virtual training resources on trending topics , archived video messages from leaders, and remote-work success stories from colleagues. They also highlighted the need to communicate clear guidelines on HR policies that were particularly relevant during COVID-19, such as sick days, time off, and expected work hours.

Career Resources

Her bylines include Fast Company, Charlotte magazine, The Charlotte Observer, SouthPark magazine, Southbound magazine, and Atlanta magazine. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. The following five principles, based on our research, can help leaders more effectively manage a distributed workforce.

Yes, it is important to respond to your team quickly, but not at the sacrifice of having dinner with your family or getting a good night’s sleep! It’s important to care for our mental wellbeing during this unusual time! Try to use multiple means of communication to connect with your remote workers. Don’t just resort to phone or email but get familiar with video conferencing technologies and a variety of services like Skype, Slack, Zoom, GoToMeeting, to name a few. Get skilled at setting up and running meetings using these technologies, as if this was going to be your new reality moving forward.

• Making good on this promise depends on our inclusive, passionate, inspirational, collaborative and diverse team.
• The less managers leave their people guessing or wondering, the better.
• I work in payroll for a large employer, and all that you wrote is very helpful.
• By focusing on listening, really listening, managers can best support their teammates emotionally.
• With the anniversary of COVID-19 and cases still on the rise, remote work is less of a temporary experiment and more of a strategy for the future.
• Based on the events of the past several weeks, every reader can relate to feeling disoriented and uncertain.

” The responses were classified into topics using the CultureX natural language processing platform. By role, the sample consisted of chief HR officers (25%); HR vice presidents, directors, or managers (52%); and HR specialists or business partners (16%). Organizations with more than 10,000 employees represented 21% of the sample, while 31% had 1,000-10,000, 23% had 200-1,000, and 26% had fewer than 200 employees. IT (21% of responses), professional services (14%), and financial services (9%) were the most common of 19 sectors represented in the sample. Beyond the news, which is an ever-present distraction for all of us, you need to know what else could be keeping your team from getting their work done, and you need to account for it. Do they have kids they’re trying to keep entertained when they’re on conference calls?

Remote Manager Challenge #2

Things like online happy hours and yoga classes are a fine way to facilitate social bonding, but they cannot substitute for leaders personally touching base with their teams. Using a natural language processing platform developed by CultureX, the authors clarified responses into hundreds of granular topics and aggregated topics under six broad categories. While remote teams have figured out how to hit OKRs, creating a culture of open communication and psychological safety is a much harder target. A lack of body language and cross-the-room glances makes trust more important and more difficult than ever. With high-EQ, remote managers can lead with care and promote open communication. Remote work is here to stay and will bring new challenges and opportunities.

They paired new teammates with buddies, outlined everyone’s work-with-me guides, and ensured documentation was clear and concise. We can’t pretend work and life are completely separate anymore. We spoke with managers as they pet their dogs, bounced their babies, and worked from their kitchens. Managers understand it’s okay to not be okay and they actively create a safe space for their team. The short answer is lead with emotional intelligence.

Experienced remote teams know writing is a superpower and have set rules for how they share information. The shift to remote work, however, also provides opportunities to accelerate progress on strategic priorities. Nearly 10% of respondents mentioned remote learning opportunities as one of the most effective steps their organization had taken to build their skills during the quarantine.

By framing feedback as learning, however, these conversations can drive the team’s greatest growth. The best remote teams acknowledge individual feedback styles and take care to share input at an appropriate time. More importantly, managers constantly ask for feedback so channels are a two-way street. The top three challenges of remote management are isolation, expectation-setting, and burnout.

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So grateful you emailed this useful piece out. We’ve gotten a lot of unnecessary junk the last three days and this shone through. From stubborn Managing a Remote Team habits to difficult people to monumental changes, we can help. The survey results, including the most popular best practices, are available at

The figure below lists some of the most highly ranked ways that organizations helped their employees maintain work-life balance while working remotely. Other popular policies included adjusting employees’ workloads to accommodate family responsibilities and making it easier for employees to take paid time off. Employees also valued corporate initiatives explicitly designed to help them manage stress and maintain mental well-being. The most commonly cited obstacle to effective communication was conflicting messages from different parts of the organization. Different functions, including HR, finance, legal, and operations, should send a unified message to all stakeholders, including front-line employees, remote workers, vendors, subcontractors, consultants, and customers.

Monthly Manager Tips Delivered Straight To Your Inbox

These are questions you should be asking your temporarily remote team members right now to stay on top of challenges your organization might face. Insist on some face time with remote employees. If in-person meetings are not possible, at a minimum use video conferencing technology or pick up the phone to ensure colleagues occasionally see one another’s face or hear one another’s voice. Thank you for your relevant and timely question. Based on the events of the past several weeks, every reader can relate to feeling disoriented and uncertain. I admire the fact that you’re thinking not only about your own personal journey, but also the impact to your team.

Whatlife Work Is Impacting Your Ability To Do Your Job Right Now?

When it comes to managing remote teams, be very clear about expectations. This is especially important now, because the “rules” of work have suddenly changed. Never leave people in the dark about projects, roles, deadlines etc. The managers we interviewed kept mentioning how difficult it was to get teammates to take time off. Without anywhere to go, remote teammates skipped their vacations and continued working. As best you can, encourage teammates to take time away from work and break the cycle of burnout before it gets worse.

Teams are sick of spending another hour on camera. To create async spaces for bonding, managers called their employees on the phone, encouraged photo-sharing on Slack, and found creative games to play. This solution was incredibly popular among the remote managers we interviewed.

The best remote leaders add a human element across a virtual environment. Each of these remote manager challenges can be tackled with a bit of vulnerability and emotional literacy. Help distributed employees stay productive and engaged. Remote work can boost productivity, particularly on stand-alone tasks that require minimal coordination with colleagues. They write regularly on emotional intelligence and people-first leadership.

Take Charge Of Team Bonding

It’s no wonder why major companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Zillow announced plans for ongoing work-from-home. With long-term remote work on the horizon, it’s time to switch gears. Strategies that got teams through the initial remote transition aren’t as effective now. Managing remote teams in 2021 looks different––it’s about helping teams thrive, not just survive, while fully remote.

Our desks are not setup the same way, stuff isn’t as easily accessible, and even the chairs we’re sitting in are different. I am encouraging them to get up and move. It’s easy for us to call or email each other, but I want them to be comfortable reaching out to each other using the video option in Teams. We all need face-to-face contact, or we will really fell isolated.