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When people are working from an office they learn some unwritten rules from experience, error, and trial. For instance, everyone knows not to disturb the designer when they are trying to come up with a new concept. Similarly, not to tell the developing team a new task when they are fighting an unknown coding bug. To cut it short, everyone knows how to work as a team and it is relatively easy to manage one too.
However, in remote work practices, there are no one-to-one interactions between the team members and the supervisor. So it is difficult to create team synergy as well as keep everyone on track to complete their duties righteously.
You will find several blogs and articles on how to manage remote teams and what are the best practices to manage remote teams. However, it will be a rare event to find a piece of content talking about what not to do when managing remote teams. In several instances, taking care of the don’ts instead of do’s is what matters, not so surprisingly, monitoring and managing remote teams is for sure that one case.
To fill this gap, the following blog post will list the most crucial don’ts when managing and monitoring remote teams.
Assuming Things
The worst mistake you can commit when monitoring and managing a remote team is assume things. Your employees may be experienced but don’t expect that they know how many times you want them to log in, when, and how to join virtual meetings, or how to submit and report when they start working on a project.
Hence, make clear instructions and rules to work and perform every function when describing the monitoring and managing mechanism for your remote workers. So, the first habit you need to give up on is assuming that your employees will self-learn everything. Be clear in your communication to avoid any blunders in project results.
Don’t Overlook The Importance Of Social Culture
You can never neglect the importance of social culture and camaraderie in your surroundings. You remote workers are still spending a significant time working. This means that validation from co-workers still matters for their motivation.
Hence, promoting friendly and connected work practices is crucial yet a challenging task for remote employers and managers.
Working remotely in teams is surely different from freelancing and it should feel so too. You should let your employees contact and talk about things other than work too. You can do so by:
- Using peer-to-peer communication and recognition tools to connect.
- Allow them to use google chat, make rooms, and discuss current fashion trends, striking technological trends, and other topics that interest all.
- Host virtual gatherings through zoom, google meet, and house party. Let people talk and share what they think is good for being good colleagues. (this will replace the water-cooler talk time).
- If the weather permits and your team can actually meet up, arrange an outdoor gathering, lunch, or dinner after regular intervals.
Don’t Relegate Recognition
Many managers tend to push back recognition and appreciation activities when their employees are working from home. However, it is a practice you should avoid as much as possible, and always keep appraisals at the top of your to-do list.
Continue to offer praise when an employee does a good job. Similarly, make sure that they keep celebrating work anniversaries and milestones.
In fact, appraisal and recognition are even more important than ever in remote work conditions. Appreciation creates a bond and a sense of responsibility in remote teams.
Final Thoughts
Keeping your employees motivated while working from home is a challenge for many managers. Fundamental values and practices can help create synergy in remote teams. Make sure to follow the best practices but also remember to pay close attention to things that can have a negative impact on your remote workers.
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