5 tips for managing your team remotely

Telecommuting: 5 tips for better managing remote employees

Are you one of those people who feared the sudden switch to telecommuting and a potential drop in employee productivity a year ago? If so, experience and time have surely reassured you. The opposite has certainly been the case. Workers in all sectors redoubled their efforts and were more productive in 2020. However, teleworkers can still be disrupted by performance issues such as bugs, lack of feedback, poor environment and work overload. As a team or company manager, how can you remedy these problems and provide the tools your employees need when working remotely?

This article is mainly based on Harvard Business School professors Bill Kerr and Joe Fuller's podcast "Managing the future of work", in which RingCentral vice-president Michael Peachey is interviewed.

Tip 1: Understand and get to know your collaborators and employees

Adapt to their needs and value their work

Most of your employees seem to have succeeded in familiarizing themselves with digital tools such as data-sharing or videoconferencing platforms. But they still have specific needs that you, as their manager, need to address. According to the Statista website: 51% of French employees teleworking in 2020 expressed greater technical difficulties in mastering remote computing tools.

In the podcast, Michael Peachey explains how he helped teleworkers stay connected by letting them choose the tool that was best suited to their needs. His responsibility was above all to support them in this transition, recognizing that everyone's experience may vary.

Working remotely requires a different approach and more effort. Asking the right questions and finding solutions is essential. Also, valuing the work of your collaborators and employees, and showing them interest, can instill in them the feeling of being truly integrated into a team, even from a distance.

 

Tip 2 : Using resource planning to improve performance

Better schedule management and time savings

Meeting your customers' needs is your top priority. However, you spend most of your pre-sales efforts on non-value-added tasks that take up a lot of your time.

Resource planning and schedule management, revenue tracking and reporting can be combined in one single software. Stafiz is both an ERP and a Resource planning software. Using the platform guarantees enhanced performance and time savings so that your team members can focus on more impactful tasks.

The use of a schedule management tool and resource planning helps to reduce the fatigue and stress associated with working long hours in front of screens and encountering numerous bugs.

 

Tip 3: Keep your team connected and productive

Training employees in digital tools

According to Neil Kidd, Team Development Manager, in this article on Welcome to the Jungle: " Adaptation means adjusting to new tools ". Having a tool at resource planning or digital platforms that make tasks easier is one thing, making sure the whole team doesn't waste time figuring out how to use them is quite another. Whether it's the Stafiz solution or other technologies you use, there are demos, online training courses and resources you can share with your staff.

Involving everyone equally

The digital sector offers the advantage of a "portable" career, in the sense that anyone can work from anywhere. That said, not everyone benefits from the same conveniences, and a teleworker may find himself at a disadvantage vis-à-vis his colleagues in terms of his involvement in the missions or tasks at hand. What's more, 57% of teleworkers found exchanges between colleagues more difficult in 2020.

To bond his teams and keep them socially connected during confinement, Michael Peachey invited his employees to connect to a non-stop video conference every day, as if they were all in the office together. As a leader, creating this community at work helps to stay connected and " emotionally healthy ", according to Peachey.

According to this article, holding weekly videoconference meetings helps to maintain team cohesion if speaking times are respected and the meeting is based on visual support sent in advance. That said, we should bear in mind that the accumulation of meetings reduces productivity and leads to fatigue. Let's find the right balance!

Tip 4: Three soft skills you need

Emotional intelligence and empathy

Soft skills are indispensable in today's workplace, and for a manager, they're not to be underestimated. Both your employees and your customers generally have high expectations of you. Empathy is surely one of the most sought-after qualities in a manager. Your employees work hard and don't always let their feelings and emotions show.

According to Hospitality Insight EHL, emotional intelligence allows others to express themselves with confidence, and to receive the advice and encouragement they need to avoid losing interest in their work, or even falling into mental health problems.

 

Availability

" As a manager, check in with your team frequently and support everyone as individuals. Don't just ask them questions about their to-do list, but ask them how they're feeling. We know it works, and we've seen relative winners and losers in the different sectors we serve, depending on how well an organization is connected internally" Michael Peachey, RingCentral

To rally your troops, you need to be present and ready to listen. By nurturing this social and emotional bond, your employees will be happier and perform better. The key is to know how to trust them and not to disrupt their daily tasks, which are usually interspersed with numerous meetings.

Enthusiasm

Stay enthusiastic! Show your employees that nothing is impossible, and use your imagination to motivate your teams. It's a well-known fact: if the leader is enthusiastic, the rest will follow - and so will your company's growth.

Tip 5: Inspire employees to adapt to change

Being a resilient manager

In the podcast "Managing the future of work", we talk about learning by doing. Peachey explains that we need to start leading in a new way. Resilience partly defines this concept, in the sense that adapting to the consequences of the Covid-19 crisis is key. Acquiring this strength will enable you to convey the optimism and determination your employees need to continue working productively and in unison with your objectives.

Always set goals

Having a short- and long-term vision is the only way to get the results you want to grow your business. Setting objectives, reviewing and adjusting them with your employees can only help them feel involved. Michael Peachey explains that it's no longer about tracking progress and assigning tasks, it's about " drawing on the full power of the remote team at full capacity, versus a leader who only draws on half the power of the remote team. " These are the kind of teams that will succeed and get the projects right.

Encouraging employees to reinvent themselves

Finally, according to the Welcome to the Jungle article: " Leadership qualities are made up of a mix of soft skills such as decision-making, integrity, problem-solving and the ability to teach and coach. These skills are obviously important for bosses and CEOs, but employees can also demonstrate leadership and, in so doing, become more empowered, productive and influential. "

It's all about being proactive, taking on new responsibilities, finding ways to stand out from the crowd, and demonstrating creativity and innovation. A leader can inspire his or her staff to take the lead, and instill that confidence and level of commitment with these five tips. This way, managers will no longer have to worry about how to keep a team invested in the company's priorities.

In an ever-changing world, we anticipate a collaboration between telecommuting and office presence for some employees. This experience is likely to present greater challenges. Michael Peachey believes that this hybrid environment will not necessarily be fair to all, and those who have to work remotely are likely to be at a disadvantage in their quest for career development. The question for managers as to how to manage their teams and staff in this situation is already beginning to arise.

 Read this article on Responsive Management