Managing Remotely—What To Do and What Not To Do

Management Remote team
  • DITCH YOUR MICROMANAGING WAYS

  • Even a seasoned manager might have some micromanaging ways. When you’re accustomed to being able to stroll over to your employees’ desks to discuss strategies, goals, and future projects, letting go can be tough.

  • To create a healthy, ongoing relationship with your remote employees, implement the four pillars of remote management success.

  • Communication and Collaboration

  • Trust

  • Inclusivity

  • Support

  • CLOUD-BASED COLLABORATION

  • Use cloud-based applications to collaborate on documents that your team needs to access. Here are a few things to consider having in shared cloud storage for everyone to access:

  • Employee handbook (which, of course, will detail all remote process and expectations in one document)

  • Company logo files

  • Historical marketing data

  • Editorial calendars

  • Project progress + activity

  • TO BUILD TRUST, SET EXPECTATIONS

  • Expectations must be set from the beginning. Since you, the manager, will have a lot less insight into how work is getting done, you’ll need to be explicit and clear about your expectations from the get-go.

  • FOCUS ON GOALS, NOT ACTIVITY

  • Another way to create and foster a workplace built on trust is to shift traditional thinking around a crucial aspect of management. In this case work from anywhere can also mean work at any time.

  • FACE TIME IS CRUCIAL

  • This can include a monthly or weekly “All Hands Meeting” with the entire team, in addition to weekly 1:1s with employees who directly report to you, periodic departmental meetings, and ad-hoc huddles just like you might have in the office.

  • CREATE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES + COACHING

  • Whether your employees are operating remotely or sitting a few desks down from you, continued learning is crucial to any workplace.

  • Offer learning opportunities often. Some great ways you can offer and encourage your employees to continue learning are:

  • By allotting an education stipend

  • By encouraging and facilitating in-house, cross-departmental mentorship

  • By offering to pay for local conferences

  • By meeting up, as a team, for a conference

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