In this new isolated economy, we should all be considering how to work a lot smarter (not necessarily loads harder!). And this is becoming increasingly difficult to do when faced with manage teams remotely. 

According to Workplace Global Analytics, regular work-at-home has grown 173% since 2005, 11% faster than any other part of the workforce. So, remotely managing people isn’t just for now; it looks like it is becoming a part of modern-day business. 

Human beings have needs

Winston Churchill said that ‘the difference between mere management and leadership is communication’. Seventy years on, it seems that pursuing strong communication is still playing a big part in business, and in this current crazy economy, it has never been as true as it is today.

As humans, we should remember that we crave interaction to feel connected, validated and motivated. We do not want our employees to feel disconnected from their team. And this is not just for work purposes, but apparently for our health too...

According to an article in The New York Times, ‘people who are chronically lacking in social contacts are more likely to experience elevated levels of stress and inflammation’ - frequent communication is key to a healthy, productive life.

Remote teams also have needs 

It is easy to fall into a routine of ineffectively communicating when working remotely, which is why our number one rule is to have frequent, good quality catch-ups throughout the day.

Mandy Brown, co-founder and CEO of Editorially and an editor of STET, says that it’s vital to over-communicate when managing a remote team. In an article, she wrote that “Perhaps the most persistent bit of advice I gathered — and in some ways, the most counterintuitive — is the need for remote teams to over-communicate’.  

We have found that putting some simple but effective steps in place can significantly help our daily routine when managing our remote teams. Some measures that we have put in place have helped our remote setup include:

• Having regular (2 or 3) quick team meetings/catch-ups throughout the day helps create this new sense of community and it has helped us establish a new working routine which keeps the team focused.
  
  
• We have set up a group/team instant chat where we all feel we can communicate and quickly share their ideas, thoughts and praise. We created a Whatsapp group, but Slack would also be useful here. We want to feel like we are only a quick thumb tap away from everyone and not isolated on our own.
  
  
• We now use online video conferencing as often as possible and have found that there are many benefits to this. When you can visibly see the other person messages are made clearer, and therefore, the chance of better communication is higher. Being able to see people’s faces also brings about a sense of familiarity, and it has continued to build rapport through our team as we are transitioning into this way of working.

Remote Management Made Easy

As we keep hearing, we are in unchartered waters, and we have to consider how we are steering the ship forward. A sure sign of an ineffective team is poor communication. If you let the frequency and quality of communication slip, you could soon find your teams becoming inefficient, lost and, quite literally, isolated.

Fortunately, there is a lot of information emerging regarding remote working, including plenty of helpful free tips and some brilliant remote courses with easy to implement ideas aiming to achieve outstanding results. So, hop on board, get up-to-date and keep the ship sailing!