Working From Home: How to Manage Your Team More Effectively

As the world continues to adapt to the fluid and challenging environment left in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. More than a trend – as we settle into the new normal, we take a look at how to effectively manage your team when working remotely.

Trust

For teams new to working from home, one of the biggest challenges can often be trust – how do you know your employees are doing what they’re meant to? No matter if remote working is new or commonplace within your business, managing home-working employees requires effort on all counts to make it work.

Whilst you have a talented and hard-working team in the office, take them out of it and you can find that without a managerial eye watching over them, deadlines can slip along with motivation. Leading people you don’t see on a daily basis poses many challenges at the best of times and so it’s important to open up communication and help your team to create a productive environment.

We take a look at effective strategies to help you manage your team remotely.

Communication

With nearly all social ties cut in lockdown, communication is vital to ensure your team feels connected. With no 5 minute catch-ups over coffee and a lack of physical interaction, it is easy to feel lonely and disconnected. There is a balance to be had as you want to avoid micromanagement, but make sure to check in with everyone on a daily basis. Ask your team what works for them and follow through.

Weekly video conference calls are also a great way to ensure the team feels connected with each other. Being able to see facial expressions adds invaluable context and should be part of all your remote team catch-ups.

Harness Technology

Look to use collaborative tools such as Zoom and Slack. A simple way to keep everyone engaged, tools such as these enable communication to flow and the business to operate ‘as normal’. Find a suite of technologies to replace the in-person and offline tasks that used to happen when you were in the office such as project management and chat tools.

Nurture Culture

One of the hardest tasks when working remotely is to continue nurturing your company culture. Difficult to maintain through written words, look to introduce activities and calls that focus on creating a team feeling. Continue with non-work related communication, share the company vision and celebrate birthdays and special occasions. Remember, your actions will speak louder than words – be empathetic, always be there and turn up. After all, there is no ‘I’ in team.

Support

Want more support? At TalenTeam we understand that teams are more desperate than ever before. With the new SAP JAM collaboration tool, you can ensure your organisation remains connected, ideas are shared and projects are collaborated on. For more information on how this can help your company, get in touch today.