Advice on running a business from home: Managing remote teams

• April 03, 2020
• Author: Give A Grad A Go

 

There are many advantages of running a business from home, and many self employed who work remotely alone, or in a small team might find it easy to manage the direction of their business. However, running a business remotely can be a slightly different ballgame in a larger company, when you are managing remote teams.

If you are a manager working with remote teams then you have the responsibility for your employees, on top of running your remote business. You also have the added responsibility of motivating remote employees, effectively using remote team communication tools and ensuring that everyone has the same work ethic, values and vision for your company.

This responsibility might seem overwhelming, and you will need tools for remote teams and our guide on how to manage and motivate a remote workforce. As well as this guide, Give A Grad A Go are also on hand to help you with remote hiring.

 

Give A Grad A Go’s Managing Remote Workers Toolkit

 

1. Regular communication and guidelines

Knowing how to keep remote teams connected is important when running a business from home. Sharing your communication guidelines should part of your remote team’s practices and should begin as soon as the employee is hired to ensure that the onboarding process is not an afterthought. Some of remote teams best practices for communication are getting a good idea of:

• The method which is preferred by all your team members to communicate.
• What time is best for your team members to communicate; is it preferable to have a morning meeting or an afternoon meeting? Are you some of your team members in different time zones?
• Time management is vital when running a business from home; make sure your expected email turnaround time is clear!
• If your company does head down days, then ensure the rules and requirements are explained universally.
• If you are recruiting from home as well, then it might be worth checking out our skype and video interview tips.
• If certain employees work different hours, for example working remotely half the time, then it might be worth organising a bespoke working from home plan with them.

2. Clear understanding

The first thing any managing remote workers toolkit will tell you that the most important thing to remember is to ensure that your employees have a clear understanding of your business, their role and impact, and the goals to which they are working towards.

You can use our 3 top tips for communicating clearly with remote workers:

• Do a video guide to explain certain processes. Sharing screens can also be a valuable way to explain clearly and accurately, particularly if you are wondering how to onboard remote employees.
• Write it down. It can be overwhelming to learn a lot of new information at once and it can be worthwhile creating a handover guide to give to a new employees. This way they will be able to go back and check things without needing to ask for help.
• Catch up with them at a later date. Organise a catch up to check in and ensure that they properly understand and are happy with the way things are going.

3. Keep employees engaged

In order to keep staff engaged in their job while working from home, continue to offer opportunities for professional and personal development. Ask them if there are certain areas of the business they would like to explore or learn more about. Continue to invest in training for remote working staff, take a look at our virtual training tips for businesses for more advice on this.

4. Virtual tea breaks

Having breaks at work is important for any company. If you are wondering how to engage remote employees then involving a virtual tea break into the daily routine is a good way to do so. If you usually take a tea break mid afternoon - then you could suggest logging on for a call to catch up with your colleagues socially or take a quick break to re-engage before the afternoon.

5. One-to-one meetings

One to ones are a great way to motivate remote employees and give them the opportunity to ask questions, share their ideas and give feedback. When you have a one-to-one remember to ask them if they have any queries and ensure that they have all the tools and details they need. One of the benefits of running a business from home is that you can choose your environment and are able to schedule time to speak individually with people without any distractions that you would encounter in an office environment.

6. Social activities

Motivating distributed teams can be done by social activities online. Remote employee lunch ideas to enhance engagement could involve: making a quiz, playing bingo, having fancy dress or funky shirt Fridays, or a weekly team competition. This will keep your team communicating with each other and making everyone feel involved when they’re working remotely.

7. Timeline and deadlines

If you are wondering what constitutes running a business from home then it is important to know that you will need to plan in detail. It is a good idea to create a timeline and calendar which is accessible to the team you are managing. This way, your remote employees can share and work towards deadlines with each other easily.

8. Aligned values and goals

Make sure that you clearly share your companies values and goals online. In an office environment the natural dynamic and company culture is very transparent, but online there needs to be more of an effort from the manager to share this.

9. Things to consider and tackle as a manager

• Transition back into the workplace: Sagal Group are passionate about creating commercial spaces that engage and inspire. They have written a fantastic whitepaper on preparing for a transition from remote working, back into the office. Download their Working Solutions for Office and WFH Teams.
• Remote working tools: virtually managing teams means that your company will be heavily reliant on technology. Having remote IT support for small businesses or remote teams will be good as a back up in case you encounter technical issues.
• A clear programme: It is important to have some online tools to help your team share updates and plans for the business. Ensure that there is somewhere to schedule holidays, plans, recruitment, goals, roles and responsibilities. This will help everyone keep in contact and plan together.
• Understand differences in your team: When working remotely, everyone will have preferences, commitments and even cultural differences. It is worth speaking to everyone and seeing if they have a different time zone, commitments such as children to take to school or looking after an elderly relative.
• Motivation is key: If you are looking for strategies for motivating employees who work remotely then it is good to think of some team bonding activities and exercises. Video based coaching and training are good, and clarity on your goals, and remind your employees of the benefits of working from home.
• Make it accessible: Remember that your remote employees need to be treated and given the same access as the local employees. It may even be worth them having access to more because they will need as many resources as possible.

 

Looking to hire remote teams? Give us a call on 020 7100 8800 or fill out the form below:

• April 03, 2020
• Author: Give A Grad A Go