This essay is a perfect fit for our articles on decentralised businesses.
Managing talent in a distributed workforce poses a distinct challenge, even with cutting-edge technology, skilled managers, and well-defined policies in place. The process of managing talent from a remote setting is different from any other task.
To successfully manage a geographically-distributed workforce, managers must adjust their expectations and experiment with innovative approaches. Some methods that contradict traditional wisdom may need to be embraced. Despite the potential investment of time and energy, those who follow the insights provided here are more likely to achieve success in their remote team management.
Outlined below are six recommendations for effectively managing remote teams with success.
Shift your perspective
To foster effective collaboration, managers must modify their outlook when working with remote teams. It’s essential to acknowledge that managing distributed teams involves unique approaches and considerations, as opposed to expecting identical procedures as in an office setting.
Managers must avoid presuming that all remote staff members exhibit comparable levels of performance or interact in identical ways. It’s crucial for managers to modify their approaches to performance evaluation and progress tracking when working with remote teams. Thus, the first step in successful remote team management is to maintain an open-minded attitude towards potential changes.
Reinforce your dedication to effective management techniques.
Effective goal setting, transparent communication, efficient meeting management, and utilizing team members’ strengths while addressing shortcomings are all indispensable practices for any proficient manager. While these are basic requirements for managers, their significance is even more pronounced in a distributed strategy.
To achieve effective remote talent management, regular and thorough communication is vital. To prevent knowledge silos and anticipate potential issues, it’s crucial to ensure that all team members are updated through multiple communication channels. While certain information may be repeated for specific audience members, it’s important to touch base with each team member, both in group and individual meetings.
Employ alternative methods to measure efficiency and effectiveness.
Managers must modernize their approaches to evaluating employee performance. It’s not suitable to assume that dedication can be evaluated based solely on the amount of time spent working (if it ever was). Today’s remote workers utilize a variety of techniques to manage their time and accomplish their duties proficiently.
Managers must avoid relying solely on the time spent on a project or the employed methodologies when evaluating employees. Rather, they should prioritize the outcomes achieved and assess whether deadlines and protocols were met. When feasible, managers should grant teams the latitude to determine the most effective methods to pursue their objectives, given that any established criteria is realistic.
In summary, the recruitment process should be realigned.
When recruiting new staff members for a decentralized environment, it’s beneficial to implement a hiring process that is appropriate for such a scenario. This necessitates various considerations. Managers should recognize the value of candidates with ‘soft skills’, such as proficiency in communication and self-discipline in adhering to timelines. These traits are advantageous as they indicate that employees will possess the self-reliance to manage their time, abide by instructions, and maintain open communication, regardless of circumstances.
To guarantee a smoother transition for remote employees, the onboarding process should be revised. Working remotely can present unique challenges, hence managers should take measures to ease the process. This involves furnishing new hires with the requisite tools and resources to commence their duties, conducting video calls to acquaint them with the team, and outlining a clear roadmap for their first day, week, and month.
Nurture Social Interactions to Enhance Connections
Remote work can result in loneliness, a prevalent problem among remote employees that can augment feelings of seclusion. Although regular meetings may be regarded as adequate for team bonding, it’s essential to recognize that employees need more than just brief moments of informal conversation before and after a planned meeting.
Managers must set aside time for team members to become acquainted with one another in a more relaxed setting. Organizing casual group gatherings, arranging fun activities with incentives, or engaging in collaborative projects are all useful methods for cultivating stronger bonds between team members who seldom interact. To enhance the process, it’s advisable to employ video cameras during these events, enabling participants to become acquainted with one another and feel more at ease when collaborating.
Utilize Individual Conversations
Individual meetings offer managers an effective way to evaluate their employees and detect probable concerns before they escalate. Traditionally, these meetings are conducted in a professional and objective-based manner. Nevertheless, in decentralized organizations, managers should foster a slightly more personal approach to these conversations, without excessively probing into the private lives of their employees.
If a team member displays signs of lacking motivation, experiencing a challenging phase, or feeling lonely, such indicators may arise during team conversations. Managers should remain attentive to any warning signs and extend feasible support. This may involve exploring alternative options, linking them with suitable specialists, or simply discussing the given task to reveal the underlying problems.
Reclassification of Involvement
Managers of decentralized enterprises must acknowledge that their responsibilities have transformed. Whilst the basics remain unchanged, the mode of execution has shifted. Hence, it’s advisable for managers of remote teams to evaluate their operations and contemplate any essential modifications.
As work patterns evolve, the role of management should also evolve accordingly. It’s vital to direct the requisite resources towards facilitating efficient team performance in a decentralized business setting. This redefinition of management is not a single occurrence; rather, it’s an ongoing adjustment to cater to the evolving requirements of a global workforce.
For further relevant content, check out our ongoing Series on Decentralized Businesses.
