Top Ways to Manage a Top-Performing Remote Teams

Did you know that 25% of the workforce worked at least partially remote before COVID? Working remotely has become a significant trend, and it’s here to stay with or without Covid. As a global community, we’ve learned that many employees prefer at least some remote work to the five-day office week. Still, we have a learning curve to leading a high-performance remote team.

Businesses that build their culture that is inclusive, collaborative, and empathetic from the top down are much more likely to succeed in the office, especially with a remote team. We’ve compiled a few best practices to help your company engage your employees fully from their home offices. Here are a few things that top leaders are using to manage top-performing remote teams.

Lead with Empathy

While there are many advantages to working from home, there are, of course, many new obstacles.

These include interrupted internet connections, distractions from children or partners, and loneliness or isolation from the team. In addition, many parents are balancing work and childcare in new ways, opting to save money from daycare while they’re working from home. This trend may continue long after the COVID pandemic resolves.

Studies show that empathy is one of the essential qualities of a good leader and translates to overall team success. Take time to listen to employees struggling to adapt to home technology, smile when a child derails a presentation, or reach out to employees that seem distant and blue. These efforts will let your team know that you understand their situation and are doing their best― no one works well under the pressure of an unyielding boss.

Have Daily Check-ins

Consistent contact is critical to feeling like you are a part of a team, not on an island. You can do team standups a la Pixar or individual follow-ups, depending on your team culture.

While you are communicating with your team, be sure to make expectations clear. People prefer emails to meetings, yet it can be hard to cover all the information in writing. Take time to fully draft emails with deadlines, reasons behind goals, and available resources to declutter the day of meetings and put your employees in a position to succeed.

Focus on Outcomes, Not Activity

We’ve learned from the pandemic that hours spent do not equal a job well done. Given new freedom, many employees can achieve tasks in less time than before, and they may be getting used to new abilities to go to the gym during the day or have lunch with their family. As long as employees meet deadlines and produce quality work, don’t worry about the time it took them to create the piece.

Make Face Time A Priority

Relationships are always the centre of a successful business. As your office spreads out physically, make sure to keep relationships alive. Do this by encouraging video calls as often as possible. The human touch of being seen, using body language, and communicating outside of the confines of written text will keep your team alive.

As the work dynamics are changing leaders need to adapt and explore new ways and approaches to get their team to perform at peak levels.

Do drop a comment if there is something that worked for you or your learnings to date.

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