How do you manage a remote team?
Since the health crisis in 2020 and successive confinements, telecommuting or "remote" working has become widespread, and is today an integral part of employees' working habits.
The advantages of telecommuting are numerous. It improves employees' quality of life (greater comfort, less commuting time, less stress, etc.), which boosts motivation and productivity.
Today, many many employees are prepared to turn down a job offer if it does not include the possibility of teleworking. As "TT" has become a central asset of the employer brand, we have to come to terms with this new reality.
This increasingly common practice raises the question of how best to methods for managing from a distance.
How to manage your team from a distance? How can you enable everyone to enjoy the benefits of teleworking without affecting productivity productivity? How can you leverage the benefits of telecommuting for innovation and employee commitment?
Marvin helps you find the best solutions solutions for managing your remote team in a caring environment.
The many challenges of remote management
To help you better understand how to adapt your management to teleworking, and develop your management style and leadership in all circumstances, Marvin helps you identify the main management difficulties linked to the introduction and widespread use of teleworking.
Communication
Communication plays a vital role in team functioning and productivity. Indeed, for different employees to be able to work truly as a team, especially at a distance, communication is often the key.
Good communication enables managers to better communicate their expectations of their employees, and to better distribute tasks and missions within the team.
Transparent communication also makes it easier to point out any points of friction that could disrupt the team's work, and to take the necessary action in good time.
When a team telecommutes, communication is hampered: whereas in a face-to-face environment it's easy to speak spontaneously to a colleague (in an open space, during a break, etc.), telecommuting involves sending an instant message, making a call or sending an e-mail.
Getting any message across by e-mail or instant messaging can also lead to misunderstandings and misinterpretations . A message intended to be direct and effective can be perceived as cold or authoritarian, whereas non-verbal language in person dispels this risk.
Coordination
When telecommuting, work rhythms and schedules can vary from those of a traditional office day.
Indeed, if your employees don't have commuting time, they may prefer to start their working day earlier , in order to finish earlier.
Telecommuting also allows you to reconcile professional and personal tasks, so the working day may be more "chopped up". It's also possible that some of your telecommuting employees are in a different time zone.
The fact that the whole team works face-to-face means that working hours can be better coordinated, facilitating impromptu meetings and other ad hoc meetings. From this point of view, and if it is not effectively supervised, telecommuting runs the risk of putting a grain of sand in a well-oiled machine, and therefore requires a rethink of team management.
Confidence
Like communication, trust is essential to good management and interpersonal relations within a team. Yet it can be undermined by teleworking.
On the one hand, for fear that his or her team will take advantage of telecommuting to work less and carry out domestic tasks, the manager may be tempted to implement stricter control of working hours, or even to check the activities of his or her employees.
Resorting to infantilizing management methods will have the deleterious effect of deteriorating the quality of the working relationship, and wasting a lot of the manager's time.
On the employee's side, messages received from the manager can be misunderstood or misperceived. They can give the impression of a lack of trust, and thus contribute to a deterioration in the working relationship.
While these cases may seem caricatural, they are a good illustration of how trust between a manager and his team members can be tarnished by poor management of teleworking .
Productivity
In the long term, all the difficulties outlined above can affect the team's productivity and ability to deliver high-quality, coordinated work over time.
While we shouldn't fall into the trap of clichés about telecommuting, we do need to ensure that it doesn't weigh too heavily on the productivity of the team and each individual .
To meet these management challenges imposed by our changing working patterns, today's managers need to develop new skills to adapt to a changing world of work.
What are the key skills needed to manage a remote team?
As you can see, to be a good face-to-face manager, but also a good remote manager, you need to be able to overcome the difficulties associated with telecommuting. Here's an overview of the skills you need to acquire to be a good remote manager.
- Communication skills: to avoid any misunderstandings or tensions linked to a misperceived message, it's essential to adapt your communication to the telecommuting context. Communicating well at a distance also means communicating clear and precise expectations and objectives to each of your employees.
- Organizational skills : to coordinate the team's work and the various telecommuting meetings, an effective manager needs to have enhanced organizational and anticipatory skills. When telecommuting, you also need to adapt to employees' growing demands for flexibility .
- Technological skills: a host of innovative tools and software make remote teamwork considerably easier (Slack for instant messaging, Notion for teamwork management, Airtable for database management, etc.). Innovations in this field are plentiful, but you still need to know how to take advantage of them.
To recruit successfully from a distance, you need the right technological tools. To help you recruit the best candidates, using a collaborative ATS is essential, such as Marvin Recruiter.
- Interpersonal skills: preserving an atmosphere and team spirit is essential for quality of life at work, and for retaining your talents. If your team frequently telecommutes, it's important to maintain friendly, informal spaces for exchange. You also need to know how to identify and dispel misunderstandings linked to digital communication.
A few best practices for smooth remote management
Setting clear expectations
To avoid misunderstandings and wasted time, good remote management involves formulating clear, precise expectations. A good practice might be to ensure that the manager and employee are aligned on the objectives set , following a video exchange for example.
Communicate regularly and effectively
One of the risks of telecommuting is that you don't get as much contact with your colleagues and managers as you would in the office. To remedy this, you can set up regular and effective exchange times to discuss specific points and make sure an assignment is going smoothly.
Using the right collaboration tools
Software, instant messaging, shared workspaces: there are many tools available to facilitate remote management. Take the time to identify your needs and the best tools to meet them, and you'll gain in efficiency.
Demonstrate flexibility
One of the advantages of telecommuting is that it makes it easier to reconcile professional and personal tasks, and employees often demand greater flexibility. As a manager, you need to adapt to the altered schedules and chaotic pace of telecommuting, as well as to the new expectations of your employees.
Fostering trust and commitment
To ensure a climate of trust, don't hesitate to be transparent with your teams. Remember to regularly renew your expressions of trust. To ensure a pleasant working environment and re-engage employees in their missions, try to preserve spaces for informal exchanges, and allow them to take their heads off the handlebars from time to time.
Conclusion
To be a good remote manager, you need to develop real skills. With ATS Marvin, you can recruit the profiles best qualified to manage a team remotely.
Our intelligent recruitment solution allows you to source profiles directly on LinkedIn, and then centralize all potential candidates on a single interface, before filtering profiles according to your expectations. Marvin makes your life easier and and streamline your recruitment process. Contact us today to request a demo.
