Whether you are a former corporate manager and transitioning to become a remote manager, the good news is what you do in the personal realm is also what you will be applying when you are already stepping into the virtual zone.
The next good news is there is an excellent room for growth, empowerment, and innovation. Now that more offices and work are transferring to the digital sphere, getting people to work together to achieve a particular goal with a high level of performance is more engaging and expeditious.
Here are some pieces of advice for becoming a highly regarded remote manager:
1. Give ample time for virtual meetings
Virtual meetings are considered the best way to get in touch with team members. It is where you can give feedback and establish goals. It is also where collaboration, brainstorming, and innovation come to life. Make sure you’re setting the agenda beforehand and be intentional with every meeting to make sure that it stays productive and meaningful.
2. Have regular one on one calls with team members
Commonly written as 1:1 meeting, this regular opportunity to meet with team members is the most effective practice to build on in virtual offices. In conducting such activities, it is good to remember that the primary goal is to check with the person or the employee and the work performance comes secondary.
Give feedback regarding the present project and its updates but do not neglect to ask how the experience in working with the projects goes. Ask how it feels to work remotely and what challenges they find hard to overcome. What are their learnings during the process?
The work of the remote manager in directing staff extends to connecting with them too. This encourages an avenue to accept coaching and unblocking hindrances. Reaching out to team members provides a healthy environment for growing employees, inculcating trust and transparency in the workplace.
An average of 30-60 minutes per week is enough to get a sufficient hold on the project. Meeting once a month is not advisable, such that the duration may be too long for updates and re-alignments of tasks.
It is best to have the tools and reports prepared in conducting a virtual meeting because of the limited time. Generally, a good flow of meetings should include:
● Connecting with employees.
● Sharing feedback.
● Comparing outputs with plans.
● Coming up with tactical strategies to complete exceptional results.
3. Be public in your communication except for personal concerns
Always use the group communication application and software, including everyone in the team. Such practice allows you also to be more available and accessible to the team.
Avoid utilizing direct or personal messaging except when dealing with some concerns that should be communicated personally; this sets up good work ethics and transparency within your group. It lets everybody feel engaged and can be set as verification for any concerns that may arise anytime.
4. Check workloads regularly
It is easy to load team members with assignments carelessly, so constant checking on workloads should be done regularly to assess the distribution of tasks.
Should you detect work overload, you can deal with it creatively and immediately. Giving breaks, adjusting timetables, and limiting reports will encourage fulfilling tasks exceptionally.
5. Always be available for the team and every member.
As a remote manager, always be available for all team members. Connect with everyone and reach out to everybody. You will need this to get the team to fulfill tasks and goals set for you to achieve. Remember that we feel deep fulfillment through our relationship with other people.
6. Exert effort to hire the best
Do not compromise the hiring and recruitment process; it is where you do the onboarding of employees to the company. Exert effort to screen probable applicants. Should you need to let them undergo a pre-employment test to validate their competency and fitness for the job, do not hesitate to do so.
A good hiring process prevents turnovers and provides a better promise of high performance.
7. Make the work streamlined and actionable
Make a clear communication guideline for all team members. Let every work process be actionable or capable of being addressed by the other person on the other end, your employee. Craft instructions carefully and clearly.
8. Take advantage of platforms and application tools
One best thing about a remote manager is the opportunity to grow oneself. Take the time to learn, enroll in short courses, explore the internet, and check on some software, platforms, and applications available in this digitalized era. A couple of them would surely fit your company's work style or your team.
Grab some understanding of syncing the system and making a streamlined work process.
9. Be flexible
Because of the distance, we may have limited awareness of some happenings in our employees' areas that are beyond their control, like power shortages or the occurrence of a disaster. Should it happen and affect our team performance, we can give some chances for them to make up for it. Know when to understand and when to draw the line.
10. If possible, let them meet once in a while
If you can do it with your work setup, do not neglect to do this wonderful time to see each other occasionally.
A Remote manager's task of directing employees to achieve goals and building relationships may be challenging, but the fulfillment and the invaluable experience of mobilizing the team from start to finish is enough inspiration to do your best and excel further.