One of the biggest challenges managers faced these past few years, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, was managing a remote team. According to a recent study by flexjobs, 58% of people want full-time remote work while 39% of respondents want a hybrid model.
With an increasing number of clients, the cost of hiring an in-house full-time employee increased. Hence, businesses need to outsource services that can benefit them in many ways and save costs. However, it also adds up as a challenge because the work is to be done remotely.
Businesses should be able to manage remote work in a way that satisfies both employees’ needs and business goals.
Let’s briefly study how businesses can manage remote team effectiveness while outsourcing services and handle full-time employees at the same time.
Steps to effectively manage a remote team
01. Maintain honesty and transparency:
The relationship between a manager and employee should be healthy in terms of honesty and transparency. There should be transparency in business operations and employees should feel comfortable questioning anything or expressing their concerns.
Honesty and transparency matter both ways as employees should also be truthful to their manager. There should be no communication gap between them.
Most problems can be easily solved if the manager-employee relationship is open and fruitful.
02. Set reasonable deadlines with limited tasks:
Do not stuff your employees with unlimited tasks, give them two or three tasks with deadlines that they can complete easily in a day. Pressurizing employees with an overload of work can degrade the quality of work and make them lose focus and motivation.
Set the expectation beforehand so the employee finishes the task according to the method within the given timeline.
Providing reasonable deadlines can help them to stay on track.
03. Designate reliable employees for communication:
Designate a reliable intermediary who will communicate with the outsourced employees or external vendors. Make sure that they know the goals and their tasks so they can make decisions independently without having to consult each time.
Define a border between your company and the external vendor so you can also make your decisions.
04. Regular communication and engagement:
In remote work, the chances of meeting employees face-to-face are very rare. Hence, communicate with them on a daily basis. Have casual conversations about their day, hobbies, struggles, events, etc. so they feel comfortable.
Communicating with remote employees can keep a harmonious environment within the team be it your outsourcing team or full-time remote employee team.
05. Regular follow-up:
When you are outsourcing services, then you are the one who is waiting for the update. Make sure to ask for updates on the progress of the project, from time to time. Take regular follow-ups on how much the project is completed and how much is left and how much time it will take to complete the project.
Make a record or document of every follow-up meeting so everyone can know when the update is taking place. Sometimes you may need to push the team to meet the deadline, which mostly happens when the communication is lacking.
06. Use proper management tools:
One of the most convenient ways of managing your remote team is to use management tools that make you, as well as your employees, task easy. There are various tools available in the market for communication, collaboration, project management, and time tracking, among others, that can be useful for your business to manage your remote or outsourcing teams.
Let’s look at some top remote management tools that can help you and your team:
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Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Teams is a communication software that helps employees or teams to stay connected via chat, and audio & video calls. It provides a calendar of your meetings and has a screen sharing option and a whiteboard. |
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ProofHub | ProofHub is a project management software that comes with many features like discussions, chats, online proofing, and others. It provides full control over the projects and is suitable for remote, hybrid, and in-office employees. |
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KonarkPro | KonarkPro is a time tracking software that keeps track of time. It helps increase the productivity of employees and generates insightful reports that can be analyzed to improve work patterns. The software can be used by both remote and hybrid teams. |
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Basecamp | Basecamp is a project management and collaboration software. It is one of the best software for teams, freelancers, and managers. It has features to share and collaborate thoughts and opinions and it helps keep everyone on the same track during the project. |
Conclusion
Managing remote employees is not an easy task. It is not just about assigning tasks, but also about keeping employees motivated and happy so they can deliver good quality work.
The strategies we discussed in the article can help you yield your desired outcome.
Try KonarkPro to manage your remote team effectively. It enables employees to track their work hours and become super productive.