Much has changed after the pandemic, especially the way companies used to function. Now, employees prefer remote jobs over office jobs and PJs over power suits.
But do you know the reason behind this switch?
It’s the work-life balance, higher productivity, and flexibility that remote work provides.
Yes, the pandemic was the primary reason behind this change but even before the pandemic, remote jobs were on the rise. According to Flexjobs , around 4.7 million people, which make about 3.4% of the US workforce, were already working remotely before Covid-19 took the world by storm.
Let’s now talk about the agenda of today’s blog, successful remote team management. According to Gartner 
, 74% of companies plan to shift some of their employees to remote working permanently which makes it all the more necessary for companies to get better at remote team management.
To do so, it’s crucial to first understand the factors that can make remote team management demanding.
Here’s a quick look at the key challenges faced by companies while managing remote teams.
Key challenges of managing remote teams
Tracking progress
Without face-to-face supervision and daily meet-ups, collaboration gets tough, and keeping track of employees’ progress becomes problematic, especially for complex projects and extensive teams.
Maximizing productivity
Distractions at home, lack of face-to-face supervision, and less collaboration are some reasons behind low productivity during remote work. It often leads to project delays and budget overruns.
Creating payrolls
Without the physical presence of employees in the office, maintaining attendance and recording their billable working hours become challenging.
Maintaining communication
With team members spread across the globe, it gets difficult to maintain a clear channel of communication. Language barriers and cultural differences among team members are some of the key reasons behind this problem.
Building trust
With no proof of the work done by employees, creating a sense of trust between management and remote workers becomes complicated.
5 tips for succeeding at remote team management in 2022
1. Schedule daily check-ins
Managers should try to schedule daily or weekly check-ins with their team members. This would help establish a clear communication channel, keep track of their daily progress, and increase accountability.
For conducting these meetings, they can use different collaboration software, such as:
- Skype for Business
- Google Meet
- Zoom
While managing remote teams, managers should avoid bombarding their team members with messages and notifications as it gets in between employees’ productivity and often leaves them feeling burned out. They should give employees their space to work and trust them with their process.
2. Promote flexibility
With remote work comes distractions that usually don’t exist in offices, such as kids or different household chores. These distractions make it stressful for remote employees to manage work and personal life at the same time and usually end up with low productivity or missed deadlines.
Companies should be more open and flexible about events or unexpected situations that may arise while their employees work remotely. They should encourage employees to communicate their problems and find solutions together.
In the case of team members spread across the globe, companies should promote flexible working hours and encourage employees to use different remote collaboration tools.
3. Provide work from home equipment
It takes many ingredients for a cake to turn out good, similarly, a good set of remote work equipment is required for higher productivity and better results from remote employees.
But not every remote worker is financially strong to buy this equipment, therefore for successful remote management, better productivity, and improved employees well-being, companies should take initiative and provide resources like:
- Desk
- Chair
- Good Wi-Fi connection
- Laptops
- Headsets
4. Celebrate success
Working remotely should not limit office celebrations, instead, teams should use collaboration tools to get connected and celebrate from wherever they are.
Little things like this, make remote employees feel appreciated for their work and motivate them to perform even better next time. It also creates a sense of connection between team members.
In the case of an individual member’s success, managers should either organize a celebratory call or drop a message in the team’s group, appreciating his hard work.
5. Use a time tracking software
Time tracking software is the best tool for managing a remote team, successfully. It helps project managers to assign tasks, track daily progress, and reallocate resources if needed. It also increases accountability and brings transparency among team members.
KonarkPro is a new-age time tracking software, designed to help outsourcing companies increase efficiency and stay productive by seamlessly managing their remote teams.
Conclusion
Getting good at managing a successful remote team is not a one-day job, however, with consistency, effort, and the tips listed above, it is a process that is easily achievable.