Remote team management: 11 strategies and tips.

Remote work can be challenging, but with the right strategies, remote team management can be highly efficient.

Remote work is here to stay, which means that you’re likely managing a team that is, at least partly, comprised of remote workers. Unfortunately, these teams come with unique sets of challenges that can be difficult to overcome if you’re not familiar with the remote work structure. Thankfully, there are some proven strategies that you can use to keep your remote team happy, focused, and on task.

What is a remote team?

A remote team is a group of people who work together in an environment outside of a typical office. They typically do not collaborate in person but mainly virtually from the comfort of their own homes.

Challenges in managing a remote team.

While there are many benefits of managing remote workers, it does have its set of challenges.

The following are some examples of challenges that come with managing a remote team:

• No face-to-face interaction. Some managers may feel concerned that employees won’t be as productive without face-to-face check-ins.
• Unclear expectations. Employees may need additional guidance and communication when working remotely.
• Less communication. Spontaneous conversations by the coffee machine and quick side conversations in between meetings are nonexistent.
• Isolation. Not being in person with co-workers can lead to a decline in some workers’ physical and mental well-being.

Essential skills for managing remote workers.

Team needs will vary, but by developing some essential skills, you can lead your team to success.

The following are some skills that can help you effectively manage a remote team:

• Communicate effectively. Communication is essential in any work environment, but especially in settings where you don’t see your co-workers all the time.
• Demonstrate empathy. Really try and understand how employees are feeling overall and help out where you can, even if it’s in a small way.
• Focus on outcomes. Empower your team by highlighting company goals and allowing them to create a plan for meeting those goals. This increases project ownership and engagement.
• Define roles and responsibilities. Be clear about what you expect from team members, and continually ask for feedback to ensure everyone is on the same page.
• Provide resources. Set your teams up for success by ensuring they have all the tools and technologies in place to successfully complete their tasks.

Now that you have some skills to work on to have an effective team, you may want to know some strategies, tips, and best practices for managing remote teams.

How to manage a remote team effectively.

Your individual team needs will vary, but there are some remote team management tips that can help your team be their most productive and efficient selves. You can follow some tried-and-tested strategies, abide by a few best practices, and implement a few tools and technologies to make life easier for you and your team.

Strategies for managing remote workers.

The best way to manage a remote team is to have the right plan and tools to fit your team’s needs. Of course, this may not look the same for every team, but here are a few strategies to ensure you head in the right direction.

1. Maintain regular, open communication between team members. One of the biggest complaints from remote workers is a lack of communication and access to information.
2. Create clear expectations for each team member. Clear expectations lead to more efficient outputs.
3. Utilize remote team management tools to aid in organization and communication. So much remote work management software is available to help you effectively manage your team. Shop around and find one that works best for you.
4. Focus on outcomes instead of activity levels. No one wants to feel like they must be tied to their desk. Allow workers to design their own work style — as long as it produces results.

For employees and businesses alike, remote work has a lot of advantages. For example, if you communicate openly with your team and prioritize meeting goals over keeping people at their desks for 8 hours a day, you might find yourself wondering why you ever had people in the office at all.

Best practices for communication when managing remote teams.

Communication is the key to moving tasks forward and quickly resolving any issues that arise.

Here are some best practices when it comes to remote communication:

1. Update your co-workers regularly. To help everyone stay on the same page, be intentional about communicating via messaging apps, email, and project management platforms.
2. Check in daily. While this may seem like a lot, it’s vital when working remotely. Not only does this help you understand which tasks your team has in the works, but it builds camaraderie.
3. Prioritize one-on-ones. These meetings can be a great opportunity to discuss any ongoing issues, build strong relationships with co-workers, and help your team meet their personal and professional goals.

Now that you know how to manage a remote team when it comes to communication practices, you may want to know what tools and technologies can help your team succeed.

Effective tools and technologies for managing remote workers.

To help your team be their most productive selves, you need to ensure they have the right tools to perform their daily tasks.

1. Messaging applications like Microsoft Teams or Slack can be helpful when you need to send a quick message.
2. When organizing projects and tasks, a project management platform like Adobe Workfront can keep your team in the know about where projects are in their timelines.
3. When you need to share folders, documents, and spreadsheets or collaborate on presentations, Google Drive and Adobe Document Cloud are great tools.
4. Adobe Acrobat is one of the best solutions you can get for your team to help create, collaborate, and share all your important documents.

Learn about more remote work productivity tools in this guide we put together.

Providing feedback when managing remote workers.

Feedback is an important component of employees’ personal and professional development. These comments should include a combination of what team members are doing well and areas where they can improve. Having a balance of both is essential to fostering employee well-being and ensuring company goals are met. Scheduling daily check-ins can help your remote team feel supported and ensure that members are on track with current projects.

Remote team management tips to keep up employee morale.

Having social interaction between team members is important for a remote team to create camaraderie and boost morale. Scheduling a happy hour or coffee break Zoom call can help your team get to know each other better and feel more comfortable in their work environment. Make sure to schedule these types of events and set the intention that these are for non-work related conversations.

More resources on remote work and business.

Now that you know about remote team management, here are additional resources on remote work and business:

• Learn about what remote collaboration is.
• Discover how to work with digitization software remotely.
• Learn about what virtual assistants do.
• Discover how remote collaboration tools can help your team.

Make paperwork the least of your worries. Learn how working with PDFs online can speed up your remote workflow. Discover everything you can do with Acrobat to share, sign, compress, extract, and review documents anywhere, at any time.