7 Best Strategies for Effective Remote Management

Introduction

In times of pandemics, remote management has ruined the lives of many managers. It has become hard coordinating a team across multiple office locations or managing full-time remote workers be it a great manager or a great HR.

Today, the best business leaders have to deal with a new set of challenges. Nearly 15% of remote employee managers received no training.

In this blog, we are going to share with you some effective ways for remote management for the leading hybrid or fully remote teams.

Strategies for Effective Remote Management

• Use Technology to Your Advantage
• Use 5-15 Reports
• Trust Employees and Not Micromanage
• Encourage your Team to Work Remotely
• Establish Transparency
• Be Open to Feedback
• Meet in-Person at Least Once Per Quarter

1. Leverage Technology

Today’s modern managerial business tools no longer leave the room to worry about constantly pestering management.

One such tool that has the potential to add value to any team or organization is  Slack. Microsoft’s Slack is a powerful, cloud-based, collaboration software that leverages features from budgeting to communication channels to project management.

The software also has the potential to organize and secure a team platform. Hence, it can provide the ability to document important business decisions to messaging coworkers to posting project milestones, to posting daily status updates, to hosting shared files.

Last year, with remote work, Slack has proven itself to be is an incredible resource for leaders.

Remote or hybrid teams can also leverage video conferencing software as a substitute for in-person interactions, meetings, or daily stand-ups. Some popular free and paid software include  Zoom, Google Meet, Webex, and  Loom. They allow you to record status updates and other forms of asynchronous communications.

Staying connected at one or different locations allows managers to have better flexibility and gives them the ability to keep up with the team’s daily needs.

2. Use 5-15 Reports

The  5-15 report methodology is another useful tool that managers must have in their toolbox when it comes to remote work policies. 5-15 report methodology can read reports in five minutes and write in fifteen minutes.

The ultimate goal of this report is to provide employees with a weekly summary of accomplishments, challenges, priorities, roadblocks, and lessons learned.

Such reports have the potential to simplify the management process. They are especially useful for managers that are keeping track of multiple employees spread across different locations.

This method also provides the benefit of encouraging employees to become more focused and introspective on their work.

3. Trust Employees Not Micromanage

Sometimes managers can become anxious or super involved regarding their employees due to their human psychology. Such feelings might be enhanced only when workers are not present in the office.

However, in the case of micromanagement or monitoring, it is likely to have resentment from direct reports.

The employees are a talented pool of human resource that desire a job which will offer a lot of challenges and the opportunity to contribute. Instead of relying completely on reports, honing these desires instead of harping on detail can be a sign of a strong leader.

4. Encourage Team to Work Remotely

Managers can save thousands of dollars per month just by reducing office space by pushing employers towards remote work. It will also increase their productivity and boost their job satisfaction.

Forbes says that  90% of employees who work remotely plan to do so indefinitely. They are also happier overall compared to those without the option. Besides, if you don’t provide remote working opportunities, your employees may leave and decide to work for freelance platforms, such as Upwork vs Fiverr.

Besides, individuals have different needs and allowing certain employees to work sometimes in the office and at home per week may be a strong alternative to a full-time remote position.

All the employees are team members will appreciate the work flexibility provided by the company every month.

5. Try to Bring Transparency

The effective remote manager must learn to communicate openly and keep employees informed. They should have the crucial information despite the levels they are working on.

Managers need to communicate their expectations for work performance, corporate policies, and communication before establishing any remote arrangement. This gives both parties a head start with a clear understanding and without a communication barrier.

For instance, a manager in New York may have the culture shock firsthand while supervising a remote worker from the Midwest. They will be unfamiliar with corporate policies such as time-off, sick days, or even shortening business hours.

A manager may want to be more flexible if a remote employee from a northern state has lost their Wi-Fi while some organizations can be rigid regarding such policies. In such a case, both the manager and employee need to have a clear understanding of mutual expectations.

6. Be Open to Feedback

In every workplace environment, employees should feel comfortable receiving criticism from their managers. To create such as environment, a manager must learn to give and receive feedback from their employees.

Even though management skills apply to all businesses, they are becoming more amplified due to remote work arrangements. Since it is challenging to stay on the same page, a manager must know how to listen to their employees wisely.

One way to show employees that you are open to feedback is by directly ask them for one. It will also allow your direct report to see that you are actively seeking feedback and allow for an open dialogue.

Besides, having an open conversation will eliminate frustrations and friendly feedback is essential to remote culture employee happiness and satisfaction.

7. Meet In-Person Once Every Quarter

Lastly, remote managers should also keep in mind that in-person interactions are also instrumental to succussed in a business relationship.

Remote managers should strive to meet at least once per quarter with all of their remote employees. This will also preserve their strong relationship and prevent employees from feeling disconnected.

Conclusion

In this blog, we have covered the top strategies you need to know for effective remote management. Follow this at your workplace to get the best productivity from remote work while keeping your employees happy and satisfied.

If you have a strategy that worked for you, do share your favorite strategy of remote management in the comments below.