✅Checklist: Successful management of remote teams
While there are many specialists who work remotely for years, there are those who weren’t ready to switch on the ‘work-from-home’ mode when the lockdown happened. And my team is not an exception. On the very first days, it was somehow weird to get used to social isolation but after all, we figured out how to cope with it. And personally I have created a checklist for the successful management of remote teams.
✓Communicate daily
Time: 15 minutes per employee
It’s essential that you allocate at least a quarter an hour a day per each of your team member. Ask how are they feeling and if there is anything they want to share. Then proceed with work tasks for the day, their quick overview. Use any convenient tool for calls, such as WhatsApp, Zoom, Skype, Google meetings.
✓Set working hours and response time
Time: 3 minutes per employee, one-time deal to come to an agreement
Negotiate and set working hours for every employee. This is the time frame when they are obliged to respond to any tasks and issues. If you work in different time zones, at least half of your working hours should match with the working hours of each of your team members. The second important thing is the response time during which they should reply. The recommended time frame for response is 10 to 15 minutes.
✓Set clear KPIs in numbers
Time: 30 minutes per employee to review previous results and set planned indicators.
Take your time to review previous results of each team member and set weekly and monthly KPIs in numbers. The indicators can be of any kind:
Amount of leads:
Amount of partners:
Amount of sales closed:
Spend:
Net Revenue:
ROI:
✓Ask for quick daily reports
Time: 10 minutes per 1 report to read and ask clarifying questions (if any)
The daily report is a powerful tool to keep your employees focused on the result. Only one thought about having something to show at the end of the day makes them more responsible. Besides, it helps them better prioritize tasks so more important ones are completed first. After reviewing the report, you can always correct them, ask clarifying questions and set goals for the next day.
✓Use messengers for instant communication
For the successful management of remote teams, it’s important to keep the communication going. This is where instant messaging platforms come in handy. Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp – any of these will provide all the necessities. Get the discussion going in real-time. Get notified when you receive a new message. Share media files, links, and documents. And of course, make calls!
✓Use task managers
To keep track of the progress of all your tasks, use task managers. They are good both for short and long-term tasks. I would recommend using Jira or YouTrack. Both are easy to use and customize to your business needs.
Sure, managing remote teams isn’t the same as dealing with in-office ones. But if you put this checklist in practice, you will see an increase in the productivity of your remote teams. In case you need to improve your management skills even more, take the ‘Project management’ course, which you can find in TOP 5 free online courses here.
- Name: Olga Position:
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