Remote work is the norm these days for many companies. And it may well be one of the mainstream trends of the near future. As younger generations enter the workforce, they come with new skills and new expectations. In time, both employees and managers will find it natural to work from various remote locations and connect digitally.
Right now, it is a huge challenge for managers to keep work going at the same level of productivity and maintain the morale of their teams. Apart from the stress and worries of dealing with the unprecedented COVID-19 outbreak, a lot of professionals need to adapt to a new style of working: from their home office or living room.
What Are the Key Challenges of Managing Remote Teams?
Managers need to keep three key aspects under control:
- Productivity
- Accountability
- Confidentiality.
All three areas are at risk when employees work from home. In many cases, they use their own devices. And in all cases, they share the same Wi-Fi hotspot with the rest of their family.
At the same time, spending time away from their colleagues and managers may lead to a feeling of disconnection. Team spirit is not just a corporate term. It is a reality. When the team spirit is low, the output coming from the team is below the expected standards.
What Skills Do Managers Need to Supervise Employees Working From Home?
It is clear that remote managers face some new challenges other than those they were used to. To continue being effective leaders, they need the following skills:
1. Digital Literacy
This is the cornerstone skill not only for managers, but for anyone working from home. There is a huge difference between working from the office, with software suites installed on their computers, and accessing SaaS collaborative tools, holding video meetings, and editing documents in cloud storage facilities.
For managers, digital literacy means more than just knowing how to use these tools. They have to know which are the best tools for their teams, provide training for their employees, and set up rules for working online with confidential information.
2. Setting Expectations and Accountability
Working from home without clear rules, benchmarks, goals, and deadlines can be disastrously ineffective. People have different types of distractions taking them from work, starting with conversations with family members, and ending with their favorite TV show.
A manager needs to create a system of attributing tasks, monitoring progress, and instilling a sense of accountability, even if they cannot physically be in the same place with their employees. At the same time, they need to find a balance between monitoring and the employees’ rights to privacy.
3. Communication and Teamwork
Isolating at home is more difficult than it appears. Humans are social beings, and spending too much alone can negatively impact their mental health. In these circumstances, good communication is more important than ever.
Managers have to find creative ways to bring their team together, by hosting video meetings, virtual team building sessions, and other types of communication. It is very important for employee morale to keep all the channels of communication open, such as phone, email, and video calls by Skype or other software tools.
4. Planning and Organizing
Planning and assigning tasks is not easy under the best circumstances, when you can meet with your team face to face for brainstorming sessions. Remote work makes this task even more difficult.
Thankfully, managers can rely on various online tools, such as mind mapping software, to create order and clarity in the tasks assigned to their team members. Even so, managers need to hone their planning and prioritizing skills to make sure that all the tasks are completed successfully by their due date.
5. Empowerment and Rewarding Achievements
In an office environment, managers can easily show their appreciation towards top performers. They can announce a reward over lunch, stop by their desks to congratulate them, or celebrate their achievement in an informal get-together with the team after work.
When everyone works from home, this is not possible. This is why managers must strive to make this recognition public, either by mass emails or during live video conferences. As your employees struggle to adapt to a new way of working, it is in your power as a manager to encourage them to stay positive and productive.
This article was originally published on pldx.org.
