How to manage teams remotely

During the current times many of us are coming to terms with managing teams remotely. Remote management is no doubt a completely different challenge to managing your team in the office. The things that work for you, when you are with your team (literally) don’t quite work virtually. From our very own experiences, Synapri want to share with you our top tips for managing your team remote.

Set goals

Whilst working from home, it is hard to stay completely motivated and productive. To keep team spirits friendly, yet competitive.. set clear goals but ensure they are achievable.

By doing this, when your employee hits their target it can give a fantastic momentum as well a great feeling of fulfilment.

Support your team with flexible working hours

With not all children back to school, the lack of help with childcare, and in many cases a 2 parent working household sharing the ‘School of Mum and Dad’ - just go with it. At the moment ad-hoc working hours for parents are the new normal and having a normal 9-5 work time has become extremely difficult for some. As a manager, be the support you feel you would need in your employees circumstances.

Communicating

They say, communication is king. Make sure you are staying in regular contact with each employee. Set aside time for group calls and one-to-ones to find out how they are doing, even personally. Mental health at the moment is very important, and even a ‘how are you doing’ can make all of the difference. Make use of the different ways of communicating - video calls, calling, whatsapp, whatsapp groups. It’s good to be consistent and proactive.

Getting regular feedback from your staff is very important, so you know the stages of projects, whether they are on task and so you can also help guide them.

Taking care of Mental Health

Mental health is just as important as your physical health. Keeping employees proactive with lots of contact, setting out plans and goals can keep them on track of deadlines and focused. Encourage them to take regular breaks and step away from their workspace as it is a different atmosphere at current and fairly overwhelming for many. Make sure they know, you are there to talk should they need you.

Trust

We all know what trust means, and trust between two people, a team or a workforce is hugely important. At the moment, you need to keep your faith in the team that they are doing the work they state. Don’t make them feel like they are being checked up on. They are all adults, in circumstances that are far from usual. Just have faith in what they are doing - as long as they get the job done!