5 Minutes Read to Effectively Manage Remote Teams

Do you recognize yourself in this type of example?

“It’s the first day of a big project. Chris is the project manager.

At 9 a.m, Chris asks his remote team (while sipping his tea) about their day and progress on the project via conference call.”

You might be wondering it’s just 9 in the morning, and how can one ask about progress at the starting of the day?

Well, I didn’t mention that the remote team had already completed the brainstorming session for the project and even took their supper.

Berlin is the location where Chris sipped tea and Sydney, where his team took supper.

“The melody of 9–5 doesn’t always bring up the rhythm — needed for remote teams.”

There’s a high demand from professionals to place value on flexibility.

According to Upwork’s Future Workforce Report of over 1,000 hiring manager in the US:

· By 2028, 73% of all departments will have remote workers.

· Currently, 69% of younger gen managers have team members who are allowed to work remotely.

· Younger gene managers are 28 percent more likely than Baby Boomers to utilize remote workforce and expect that over the next three years, 2 out of 5 full-time employees will work remotely.

That said, managing a remote team is essential for any organization to sustain and grow. When it comes to outsourcing trouper like Radixweb — being productive in a remote workspace becomes a cakewalk.

Here are some simple yet powerful remote work practices that is helping organizations Radixweb and remote companies to achieve what they want.

1) Communicate More

Email alone is not enough. Remote employees profit from using a richer or interactive platform, such as video conferencing, which provides participants with many of the visual cues they would have if they were face-to-face.

Video conferencing has many advantages, particularly for smaller groups: visual indicators allow for increased “mutual knowledge” about coworkers and also help to reduce the sense of alienation among the workforces.

Ultimately we make sure that everyone’s on the same page when the day ends and has a clear picture of whats going on in the team, project, or organization.

2) Set Communication Norms

Remote work is more productive and rewarding when managers set expectations for their teams about the frequency, means, and optimal timing of communication.

For example, “We at Radixweb prefer Skype calls for daily check-in meetings, but when something urgent comes up, we use IM.”

Also, if you can, let your workers know the best way and time to get to you during the workday. (e.g., “I appear to be more available late in the day for ad hoc telephone or video calls, but if an emergency arises earlier in the day, just drop me a text.”)

Finally, we keep an also keep an eye on contact between team members, to ensure that they exchange information as required.

3) Respecting Cultural Differences

One of the other major obstacles when it comes to managing remote teams from various countries — where people have a different approach to career and families vary in boundaries.

By understanding and respecting the cultural context of other people, our bond of interaction has become stronger. Once you understand and respect the cultural context of other people, your bond of interaction with them will become stronger. Some leaders typically lack an understanding of how to handle cultural differences — while managing a global workforce.

4) Encourage and Engage Regularly

At Radixweb trust begins with appreciation and empathy. So, we leaders should allow team members to explain their experiences early on, the value they plan to bring to the community, and the way they want to operate.

We engage the remote employees team with some form of contact on a regular basis. To connect, using the various channels. Then, schedule a routine face-to-face meeting. It can happen on a weekly, monthly or annually, and could be combined with a training or coaching program.

“This constant contact and communication would make a remote team feel a significant part of the project or organization.”

We keep encouraging their our team to deliver their best. However, email alerts and frequent conference calls are not enough to keep that momentum going.

There are instances where misunderstandings frequently occur in the absence of visual signals and body language, particularly on larger teams. Team members start feeling isolated and less involved and withdrawing their contributions to the project. But we make sure to address such typical issues and resolve — that occurs while working remotely

Hence Also we get your remote team together to celebrate the success of short-term goals or to crack severe problems.

5) Read Between The Lines In Written Communication

The digital screen will generate new opportunities for certain members of the team, making way for others who may be less likely to speak out in groups (introverts). Text-based communication puts less emphasis on interpersonal skills and physical presence and provides an efficient means of sharing control and decision making.

Nevertheless, you need to we watch out for virtual unconscious bias, where grammar, punctuation, and choice of words may exposes prejudiced attitudes towards certain groups.

For example, using exclamation marks or a happy emoji after referring to someone’s comment, logic, or thought is just as powerful as an approval marker of something for that individual.

6) Open to Feedback

Workforces should feel comfortable on receiving criticism from their senior for a productive workplace climate. To build the atmosphere, we seek to provide both — give and receive feedbacks from our clients .

Although these management skills are important to any business partnership, a remote work arrangement once again amplifies them. Since it can be challenging to stay on the same page in these situations, knowing how to listen to individuals at various locations is extremely wise

7) Software Tools: The Backbone of Remote Working

Today’s technology has allowed teams to be formed globally and using the right tools can help to coordinate remote work and keep everyone on the same page.

Organizations are trying to get into this to keep up with their teams changing needs and to adapt to talent from parts of the world.

Here are some tools we’ve found handy for remote working teams:

· Zoho Project Management System: Zoho Projects is Zoho’s project management app, a company that offers online work for 45 million people. Large and small companies, from every sector, use the tool to deliver great on-time work. Businesses are able to schedule thier projects, delegate assignments, interact efficiently, never miss a significant update and display accurate progress reports.

· Zoom: For our frequent video meeting, we prefer to use Zoom. It is a community calling app with a clear video quality. It’s easy to use, pricing is very competitive and straightforward. Any call with a full-length video can be captured during remote Meetings & Video Chat. For group discussions you can share your computer with the teams. Video webinar, meetings, zoom space, business IM and voice sharing are other zoom solutions.

· Zoho CRM: Zoho CRM empowers small to large companies with a full life cycle management approach for the management of enterprise-wide sales, marketing, customer support & service and inventory management within a single business system.

· Skype: The well-know tool. Does it even need a description of what it does?

The Endings

We will Nowadays many organizations surely encounter new ways of miscommunication and confusion as more and more of our communications happen remotely (online). The solution won’t always come from new technologies (though developers are no doubt doing their best to bridge that gap).

Instead, the solution is to study the new rules of engagement; to build a set of communication skills that suit the demands of our digitally powered era.

The ‘process’ is the most powerful ingredient for managing a remote team effectively. And we at Radixweb has been part of that process for 20 years. Want to know how we’ve made remote working productively for years? You are just a click away!

In the absence of everything else, successful processes help you us get any job done. It offers the framework and direction required — to make things happen.