Work from anywhere set up continues to grow despite COVID-19 vaccines being made available to more countries. It has been roughly two years since many businesses have allowed remote work or a combination of home and office work for some.
Although a year ago, not many managers knew how to work in a virtual environment, a lot learned how along the way. And many still continue to learn as some companies retain a completely virtual (wfh/wfa) setup. But one of the things managers learned in a virtual or online environment is that sharing the same objectives with their remote teams always brings positive results. People care more when they are involved.
As this trend continues not just on a local level but on a global scale, international job markets have opened up for more global expansion. So how does one plan to manage a diverse and distributed remote workforce?
Let’s look into what most managers experience when dealing with their remote teams and how to overcome them.
Communication
Imparting or exchanging information is difficult, whether face to face, more so in a remote setup.
It’s never easy to encourage open communication. People always have their own way of saying and doing things. However, many leaders found out that one must establish and develop a method of communication among the team. In a face-to-face setup, managers are used to calling their team in meeting rooms to meet and discuss. Today, with a remote team, utilizing workspaces like Slack, an internal communication platform that allows collaboration over many channels, is the next best thing. Hence, this setup replaces the traditional way of meetings and communication.
Many managers realized they needed to develop their own communication skills to connect with their staff. To avoid confusion and misunderstanding among the team, establish a style of communication that works well for the team by maximizing tools that promote openness to minimize misunderstanding and enhance communication. There are several online workflow management systems available today. Hence, it’s the perfect chance to get the staff on board for digital transformation using a shared platform.
If it aims to handle work-from-home concerns, managers can ask employees to discuss any issues with their software, internet connection, etc. It’s inevitable to experience setbacks with a project or how the platform runs. Facilitate and guide the workforce as they use it.
Company Culture
Culture is the sharing of common values that are established, communicated, and reinforced throughout an organization. Therefore, entrepreneurs would actually save time by identifying their companies’ values from the inception to get the suitable glue when the going gets tough.
Aside from communication, when managing remote teams, it’s but natural to run across cultural barriers too. The difficulty with multicultural teams is that they have misconceptions. It’s challenging to handle people of various ethnicities while still embracing cultural diversity. Finding out how different individuals respond to criticism, promoting a mentality of embracing diversity, being mindful of national holidays for your global workforce, and upholding respect for every cultural difference are all excellent ways to start.
Confidence
Confidence is essential to teamwork. People’s confidence builds as their team’s collective effort produces positive outcomes. Recognize small wins within the team. The more people feel competent, they will feel more confident.
You can hold quick virtual team meetings to share what’s going on. Make a point of sending out an email or chat congratulatory to the entire team to recognize individual accomplishments. It doesn’t matter whether it’s big or small wins. It shows that you’re paying attention to recognize their efforts and that you care about their achievements.
Establish Expectations
You can show leadership by taking time to talk to your remote staff about consistent guidelines and work expectations. It’s the ideal time to hear them out and consider their opinions about their jobs.
Emphasize policies on appropriate etiquette during virtual meetings and other company rules like work hours, scheduled meetings, projects, and deadlines. Furthermore, remote work requires self-motivation, adaptability, and organization. It may help to develop the discipline in your employees to meet your expectations.
Enforce Company Culture
More than productivity, human resources, and economics are at stake in the debate over remote employment. It’s also a matter of culture. Distributed teams can lose out on some of your organization’s distinctiveness. So managers encourage the team to contribute to their unique work culture by holding virtual parties and online-themed events.
Ideal Work Platform
There are several online workflow management systems available today. Hence, it’s the perfect chance to get your staff on board for digital transformation using a shared platform.
If it aims to handle work-from-home concerns, ask your employees to discuss any issues they’re having with their software, internet connection, etc. It’s inevitable to experience setbacks with a project or how the platform runs. So facilitate and guide your workforce as they use it.
Build Trust with Constructive Feedback
As a manager, you must cultivate trust to get the best out of your team. Sometimes, your team may not reach their targets or may not perform their jobs as expected. When you show your employees that you care about them and the project they’re working on, they’ll go to great lengths to avoid disappointing you. It’s especially true when people work remotely. Keep lines open to constructive feedback. You should also welcome comments and casual discussions. It has a beneficial influence on employee morale and productivity.
As John D. Rockefeller said,
“Good management consists in showing ordinary people how to do the work of superior people.”
If you’re the manager who wants to go the extra mile and lead your staff to success, I hope that you’ll achieve your goals soon. Are you ready for your international expansion? Learn more about how EOR services can help you achieve your goal today. Contact us here!
Olivia Yu has decades of experience in the Human Resources industry. She’s the Regional Director for Asia Pacific of a famous international HR company. Olivia’s international experience inspires her to write articles about human resources and global staffing.
