Due to the rise of latest technology and digital business trends, entrepreneurs are hiring remote employees from different countries and states not only to expand their business processes but to provide their overseas customers with quality services. As more and more businesses are hiring top talent from different territories to carry on their business processes efficiently, managing a virtual team could be little bit difficult for business owners and managers.
Addition of remote employees to your business or team can come up with unique challenges for the management but the following virtual team management guide can help you effectively manage remote employees in the best way.
Set Limits with Remote Employees.
There must be flexible limits and boundaries for the virtual teams as it can help remote employees manage work and personal life effectively. As most of the remote workers are from different time zones, any type of notifications like email or chat message can disturb someone’s family time or sleep. That is the reason, being a good manager or businessman, you should discuss work schedule and project details individually with each team member to help them maintain good balance between personal and work life. It will help build and maintain positive relationship with your employees for better productivity and improved moral.
Set Expectations Clearly.
Whether you want your remote employees to sell watches – such as the rolex yachtmaster – to local customers or want them to provide existing & potential customers with great customer support, you should set expectations with your remote workers clearly. It will help them work with improved focus to chase the set targets or goals more effectively without getting out of track. Let them know about things like working hours, availability, method of communication you prefer, project deadlines & milestones, meeting schedule and so on. When your virtual team will be clear about expectations, they will complete their duties and assignments with improved focus.
Provide them Help whenever required.
Be quick to give them a helping hand whenever something is bothering your virtual team. Unforeseen things can happen to any business or employees but handling such situations accordingly is the best way to make your team members feel relaxed. Whether you are online or offline, don’t ever let your virtual team be out of your mind and provide them with the right help or ideas whenever required. In results, they will be able to work appropriately without facing worries.
Screen Sharing Tools can be Awesome.
Screen sharing tool is something that allows a person on another side to see what you are doing and what you want them to do. Such tools also enable the other person to control your screen with an intention to make some necessary changes in your system. A lot of free and paid screen sharing tools can be found on the web that you should choose as per needs of your business or company.
Choose the Best Tools to Communicate.
As per your business needs, you should choose the apt modes of communication to stay in touch with your remote workers. As there are a lot of ways to communicate like Email, project management tools, instant messengers and video chat, etc. you should choose the right tools to streamline communication within the organization. Email can work great for quick and detailed conversation. Many other chat programs like Skype, G-talk and Hangouts can also work well for a small business to interact with its virtual team. Plenty of project management and collaboration tools are also available that a business can choose as per its individual needs.
Make time for Small Talk.
Sending your remote workers with project details and assignment is jumping off the call or quitting the chat is normal. As a good team manager or businessman, you should spare some time for small personal talks with your remote workers. It will not only help you get to know them but will bring them closer to you and the company. Doing short personal talks rather than the routine work helps you to build rapport with each member of your team that will help you work through the tough times. They can come with the important things to you because they trust you. By doing so, you can help them get rid of the tough times and they will work honestly for you by providing their 100%.
