7 Tips for Mastering Remote Management

Managing remote teams has complicated the manager’s job. At one time, checking in with employees was easy. You could take a stroll around the office to say hello or ask someone to pop into your office for a quick chat.

Back then, working from home was an uncommon perk. The workplace has evolved, and about 35% of all employees work at home full time. Another 23% opt to work from home part of the week.

But no matter how common it is, remote management still comes with a unique set of opportunities—and challenges. Once you have the right strategies in place for managing remote teams, you’ll see huge benefits for both you and your team.

Effective Remote Management Improves Employee Retention

If you’re a remote workplace hold-out, these facts may surprise you. If you’re all in for the remote world of work, they will justify your effort to ditch the office part- or full-time—if you have the right remote workforce management techniques in place.

Despite all the considerations and adjustments managers need to make to sustain a remote workforce, the benefits add up. Forbes found that remote work is the biggest draw for top talent. Remote employees are 13% more likely than their in-office colleagues to stay at a company for five years. More than half of remote employees would begin job hunting if they had to return to the office. Besides not having to maintain costly office space and seeing increased productivity, less turnover, and absenteeism, employers save an average of $11,000 per remote employee per year.

How to Manage a Remote Team

The new norm of working remotely brings new challenges to managers who have come up through the org chart in a traditional cubicle and corner office environment. Here are seven keys to success in managing employee engagement with remote workers. and building an outstanding team:

1. Retool Communication
2. Gear Up With the Right Tools and Tech
3. Help Team Members Set Up Shop
4. Reduce Loneliness and Isolation
5. Lock In Teamwork, Collaboration, and Project Management
6. Watch for Employees Who Can’t Unplug
7. Lock Out Security Risks

1. Retool Communication

Keeping a steady flow of communication in a remote environment is a manager's top challenge. Here are ways to create a new routine that facilitates easier communication:

• Start each morning with a brief team meeting to ensure everyone is on track.
• Ask each person what their top three needs are that day and facilitate teamwork solutions. This is an efficient way of engaging remote employees, and it engenders camaraderie as well as communication.
• If you have a global team, respect time zones when you schedule meetings.
• Make sure all team members get adequate training on the communication application you use.
• When interviewing applicants for new positions, include questions about what communication platforms they know.

2. Gear Up With the Right Tools and Tech

Make sure your team members have reliable tools to facilitate communication and efficiency. You would never let your employees bring their personal laptops to a physical office. Still, many companies who have switched to remote management are looking to save money by doing just that. Make sure you are providing these tools to remote employees:

• Make sure each of your employees has what they need. That includes wireless mice, monitors, keyboards, and laptops loaded with all the necessary software.
• Use cloud-based options when possible to avoid physical upgrades.
• Make sure you include links on home screens optimized for video conferencing.

3. Help Team Members Set Up Shop

An often-overlooked issue is the remote office environment. We’re not suggesting you become an interior designer. You can provide employees with examples of how to arrange or carve out their office spaces. Try these resources for ideas to get employees set up for efficiency:

• Search the web or look at Pinterest for ideas like reimagining a closet into an office.
• Ask other team members to share their tips.
• Talk to them about ergonomics, such as the optimal level for computer screens that won't cause neck strain.
• Provide budgetary assistance for appropriate office chairs.

4. Reduce Loneliness and Isolation

Remote employees report the lack of human contact as one of their most significant problems. Use your imagination to create some aspects reminiscent of how informal contact occurs in a physical office. These remote management ideas combat feelings of isolation and create a phenomenon where employees put in more effort and stay focused when they feel like part of a team that is looking out for each other:

• Create a virtual water cooler channel on your communication tool for employees to gather and chat before work and during breaks.
• Post a virtual bulletin board.
• Host a virtual happy hour once a week.

5. Lock In Teamwork, Collaboration, and Project Management

Keeping track of multiple projects in a traditional office environment can be challenging. It becomes magnified when you’re managing remote workers. Here are some ways to better manage team projects remotely:

• Be clear about project expectations and KPIs for your team and each member.
• Use cloud-based project management tools like Basecamp, Trello, and Asana that allow everyone to prioritize projects, check in on progress, edit documents in real-time, and post results and questions.
• Collect spreadsheets, assignments, guidelines, and other documents in one central place to make it easy for remote workers to stay on track.

6. Watch for Employees Who Can’t Unplug

Instead of worrying that remote employees may be slacking, you should be worried about their tendency to work beyond a healthy limit, skip lunch and breaks, and struggle to unplug after work. Here’s how can you ensure your remote team has work-life balance:

• If you’re wondering how to set employee expectations for remote work, use that virtual bulletin board to post policies about work-hour flexibility, sick time, personal time off, and vacation plans.
• A remote team doesn’t need to make up earned time off just because their office is accessible 24/7.
• Suggest sit-stand desks and schedule virtual group stretch breaks.
• Watch for emails and assignments arriving at odd hours and check in to make sure the employee is using flex time and not working around the clock.

7. Lock Out Security Risks

Because your team has laptops with online collaboration tools in their homes, they can be more susceptible to cyber attacks. Here are some ideas for preventing cyber threats with your remote team:

• Prevent problems by installing a VPN and anti-malware software on every laptop and making sure employees know how to log in.
• Make sure your employees get training on how to follow policies about passwords, clicking email links, and uploading and downloading files.

A Few Words for the Remote Team Management Skeptics

Some companies are reluctant to adopt a remote work policy because they fear employees will be distracted and not complete projects on time. Studies show surprising results in this area.

• The well-known research firm Gallup reports that 32% of remote workers feel more engaged compared to 28% who work in a physical office.
• Similarly, Business News Daily found that remote employees work 1.4 more days per month (17 additional days per year) than in-office employees.
• As for productivity, not including lunch or scheduled breaks, the average office worker is unproductive for 37 minutes a day. For remote employees, unproductive time is only 27 minutes per day.
• Out-of-sight, out-of-mind is not a bad thing. In fact, 22% of in-office employees report one of their biggest distractions is their boss interrupting them at work. Only 15% of remote workers reported boss-related distractions.

Be a Remote Management Rock Star

Are you ready to take on or expand your remote management role? Monster has lots of opportunities for remote managers. The first step is to create a profile with your employment preferences. That will put you in front of recruiters and employers. Monster will also send you job postings and more career advice like this to match your needs.