The global pandemic has rapidly increased the number of remote workers worldwide. The trend of remote working or work from home has been on the rise for several years now, owing to technological advancements such as cloud storage, video conferencing, and project management software. Remote working provides flexibility, autonomy, and a better work-life balance for employees, opening up access to opportunities beyond their local geographic boundaries.
For a manager or a leader working with a remote workforce, many challenges come with managing a team that is not physically present in an office. Employers and workers alike often struggle with concerns such as communication, productivity, focus, and motivation. The question is, how do you create a culture of trust, respect, and collaboration amongst remote teams?
This article delves into the techniques that employers can use to empower their remote workforce by encouraging creativity and initiative.
Clear Expectations are Critical
Clarity is essential when working with remote teams. Unclear expectations, lack of communication or feedback can lead to misunderstandings, low productivity, and missed deadlines. It’s vital to set clear expectations from the start. Make your team aware of what is expected of them regarding their duties, timelines, and daily check-ins, so that everyone is on the same page.
You can start by creating written guidelines regarding how the team will operate, establishing rules for workflow and communications, defining project scope and objectives, and highlighting ways to stay accountable. Regular status updates, daily check-ins, and weekly meeting schedules are an excellent way to help remote team members remain informed and on-task.
Fostering Open Communication Opportunities
Communication within remote teams can be challenging, particularly when the team members are in different time zones. In addition, remote workers may suffer from isolation and find it hard to develop a real sense of teamwork. Employers and managers have to overcome communication barriers and do everything they can to support open and effective communications. Team leaders can use communication and collaboration tools such as Basecamp, Asana, Slack for day-to-day project management and keep track of workflow.
To foster open communication opportunities:
Encourage a culture of transparency – leaders can use tools for team chat, virtual meetings, or video conference calls to keep everyone updated and allow them to voice their feedback and concerns.
Use video calling – video conferencing can help team members connect face to face, build relationships and get a better idea of who they are working with.
Create a virtual water cooler – encourage an informal group chat where remote workers can share jokes, memes, or news. It helps to break the ice and promote team-building.
Establish A Sense of Trust and Empowerment
Trust and empowerment are core elements of healthy work cultures, no matter if you work remotely or work in a physical office. However, this element is crucial when it comes to managing remote teams. Remote workers need to be trusted to control their schedules, workload, and delivery times. However, trust needs to be earned and nurtured over time.
Managers can foster a sense of trust by:
Emphasising results over attendance – remote work offers flexibility for workers to work when they are most productive. Rather than focusing on the time spent on a task, managers should emphasize the quality of end-result required.
Give autonomy – Trust your team members to do their work best. Give them the freedom to manage their work schedules, and encourage them to take the lead on their projects.
Provide feedback – Feedback is a critical aspect of building trust. Provide regular feedback to help your team members improve their skills, recognize their accomplishments, and identify areas for improvement.
Provide Opportunities for Professional Growth
Remote workers need to feel valued and supported by their managers. Support can include training, attending conferences or workshops, and cross-training in different roles. When team members feel that their growth is valued and supported, they are motivated to bring new ideas and creativity to their work. Professional growth and development opportunities can help increase employee engagement, retention, and ultimately, company success.
Employers can provide growth opportunities by:
Providing online training – management can offer courses, workshops, or webinars that relate to team members’ areas of expertise or their development needs.
Establish a mentor-ship program – pairing team members with veteran members can help younger team players learn from their more experienced counterparts.
Cross-functional teams – managers can increase team members’ exposure and knowledge about other areas of the business by temporarily deploying them to different teams.
Encourage Flexibility
Flexibility is one of the biggest benefits of remote work. When team members have the autonomy to work when they are at their most productive, morale and motivation increase. Remote employees have different work styles and schedules that work for them, and managers must recognize this.
Highlighting flexibility can mean:
Customize schedules – allowing team members to work flexible hours helps them to manage their work-life balance effectively.
Remote-First Collaboration – by making sure that your team has spaces and tools for working remotely as if your office was built for remote work.
Giving team members equipment of their choice – whether laptop or desktop, let the team select their desired equipment that helps them work most effectively.
Celebrate Successes
Celebrating successes, big or small, helps boost morale and motivation. Recognition and appreciation for a job well done encourage employees to stay engaged and feel a sense of accomplishment. Celebrating successes can increase creativity and productivity in the team.
To celebrate successes, managers can:
Implement peer appreciation – Team members can recognize and appreciate one another for work well done, best practices, or skill improvements.
Rewards and incentives– rewarding team members for meeting targets or milestones can increase motivation and inspire others to excel.
Recognition in public forums – acknowledging team members’ achievements in team meetings helps to spread their accomplishments, providing positive reinforcement.
Provide Strong Leadership
Leadership is an essential aspect of empowering your remote workforce. Leaders need to be adaptable and provide support, guidance, and direction to their team members. In remote work, leadership can be challenging to achieve. The remote team leader is tasked with setting expectations, managing tasks, and motivating the team to achieve the common goals.
Excellent leadership skills include:
Clear direction – Team leaders need to be explicit and provide direction on how to achieve goals, communicate the rules of the teamwork, and keep track of progress and achievements.
Effective communication – Encourage your team members, create a culture of transparency and open communication, and communicate regularly and clearly, providing feedback positively.
Problem-solving mindset – remote work comes with unique challenges that require a problem-solving attitude. Leaders can help remote teams develop creative solutions and remove barriers that affect their productivity.
Utilize Technology
Technology is crucial when managing remote teams; technological advancements provide tools that increase productivity and communication, critical for remote teams. Remote workers rely heavily on technology to help them communicate, collaborate and complete tasks.
making use of tools and software like Zoom, Slack, and Microsoft Teams fosters Connectivity and communication while easing remote team members’ workload.
Technological tools that foster productivity include:
Collaboration and communication tools – using collaboration tools like Google Docs or Slack allows for swift communication of different document sharing across team members.
Task management tools – software designed to help teams manage complex workflows like Asana, Trello, or Basecamp.
Video conferencing – tools like Zoom or Microsoft Teams enable quality video communications.
Foster a Healthy Work-Life Balance
Working remotely often blurs the boundary between personal and professional life. It can be challenging to create a healthy balance when you work from home every day. Remote team leaders must consider their remote team’s work schedules and provide an environment that supports a healthy work-life balance.
Establishing healthy work-life balance can include:
Encouraging breaks – encourage team members to take regular breaks and schedule in activities like exercise, cooking, or other interests.
Avoiding overworking – a healthy work-life balance promotes a more productive work environment. A team member who is burned out is unlikely to deliver quality work.
Creating a stress-free work environment – Employers can adjust their options if they experience burnout. Create a healthy physical and mental atmosphere by providing resources like health insurance or wellness programs.
Conclusion
Remote work has become necessary for organizations to adjust to the changing times. However, managers are tasked with a new challenge of managing their teams effectively. Empowering remote workers is essential to foster loyalty, motivation and improve productivity. To empower and encourage creativity and initiative among remote teams, employers must provide clear expectations, facilitate open communication, establish trust and empower their staff, provide professional growth opportunities, celebrate successes, provide strong leadership, utilize appropriate technology, and foster a healthy work-life balance. Implementing and emphasizing these techniques can help build trust, a supportive culture, and promote continuous learning, thus enabling remote teams to be productive, engaged, and empowered.