We’ve tried a bunch of video conferencing tools over the years, from Google Hangouts and Skype to GoToMeeting. As we’ve grown, we’ve found Zoom to be the most reliable and clear for large group video calls. We have a weekly all-hands meeting in Zoom that’s essential for putting faces behind the names of our many teammates and gives us all a chance to just hang out for a bit as a company, virtually. I write about my experience working with and leading remote teams since 2010. Communication is vital for the success of a remote team, so set up several reliable methods that your workers can use. Consider using an internal direct messenger for direct communication between team members, while the entire team and clients can use email. A system such as Slack can provide your team with another channel they can use for communicating about specific projects.
One way in which many remote teams overcome this is by creating a dedicated place for communication, whether among employees in the same department or freelancers working on the same project. An internal team communication tool like Slack can allow for communication to come across on many channels. Future employees can also see the answers to commonly asked questions. You should make an effort to get to know them personally and professionally, and show interest in their lives, challenges, and achievements.
Building trust
Daily scrums are an essential part of scrum and even more important for a distributed scrum team. These short, daily team meetings provide a quick forum for a distributed team that helps with focus, collaboration, communication, and problem-solving. Once you get used to managing remote teams, you’ll find that they can be just as – if not more – effective than in-office teams.
You can encourage teammates to organize one-on-one casual virtual meetings when getting ready for work, during coffee breaks, or, you can plan no-agenda team meetings to inspire casual chats. A better connection among remote teams increases fun and introduces a more relaxed approach to work stress, which, naturally, has a positive effect on employee mental health. To keep a strong bond of collaboration on a company-wide level, we have also scheduled virtual activities throughout the week. “Catch-up coffee hour” on Monday mornings, a workout session on Thursday afternoon, or after-work drinks on Friday afternoons. Over the past month, these kinds of activities have kept us connected to one another, in turn keeping our communication strong and our productivity high. We’ve been a company that hires, supports, and nurtures talent from across the globe, even before COVID-19. The top tips that help us with our distributed remote working culture include weekly meetings and unhindered communication.
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This can help your remote workers feel as though they are a part of the team, and it can help to change the way your in-house staff members view the remote workers. While email and digital chats are great ways to keep in touch, face-to-face communication can help your virtual team feel more present in the office environment. Keep your remote employees connected through effective communication channels and strategic use of technology. How to manage a remote team in this regard is to advocate for mental health days — workdays you set aside to help improve your employees’ psychological wellbeing. To manage a remote team successfully, have your employees use the same tools.
Determine The Remote Team’s Structure
You can create channels to divide topics, like a channel for each of your service clients or a channel for each department at your company. Zoom also lets you integrate your file sharing tools and have voice or video calls. If you’re setting up phone or video calls to meet your new teammates, try setting a time limit of 15 minutes. If you work in a remote team, one of the aspects you quickly notice is the importance of communication.
How do you lead a remote team effectively?
Getting a remote team perspective on how your company runs, especially if you are not 100% remote, will be very productive to how you continue running your business. Put your remote and hybrid workers through the same rigorous hiring standards you would anyone else. Hire a balanced team consisting of people of different upbringings, experiences, and ages, in order to bring a wide array of viewpoints to the table.
A distributed scrum team is just that — a scrum team that is either fully or partially remote. In order for a distributed scrum team to be successful, new approaches to adopting scrum need to be implemented. Distributed scrum teams are teams that are either partial or fully remote, who adapt scrum practices for remote work. While scrum provides a framework that can already be useful for remote workers, it’s important to adjust some practices and use the right tools for a distributed team to be successful.
While leading remote teams may seem daunting at first, it doesn’t have to be. Creating an honest and open work environment not only motivates your remote teams, but can also improve collaboration between team members. Time Doctor is a powerful time tracking platform used by large companies like PwC and Apple as well as smaller businesses like Firehouse Subs to monitor virtual teams and freelancers. For example, use video conferencing platforms for weekly team meetings and instant messaging tools like Slack for urgent messages. It’s clear that remote work will only continue to grow in the coming years, which means understanding how to manage and engage your remote employees is more important than ever. Fortunately, there are many ways to engage remote employees—use these tips to take advantage of all the benefits of a remote workforce and keep your team happy, healthy, and productive all year long.
Once the hiring decision is made, the onboarding process becomes paramount. Remote employees don’t have the luxury of physical orientation sessions or face-to-face introductions. Therefore, it’s essential to have a structured remote onboarding process. The shift towards remote operations while offering numerous advantages, also presents a unique set of challenges for managers. As you help your leadership team think through their remote options, you will find that there is no one-size-fits-all solution.