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Essential remote management skills and tips for success

February 23, 2023 - 14 min read
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    More companies are embracing remote or hybrid work environments than ever before. As such, it’s more important than ever for managers to understand how to manage remote teams effectively.

    That includes understanding the nuances of managing remote employees. It also includes developing the skills needed to empower remote teams’ best work. Otherwise, organizations put themselves at risk. This includes risk of lost productivity and decreased performance. It also includes the risk of losing top talent to organizations with a better approach to remote management.

    But what, exactly, does effective remote management look like? And how can managers increase effectiveness and impact when managing remote teams?

    Let’s take a deep dive into remote management: what it is, the advantages (and disadvantages), and how to become a high-performing remote manager.

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    Defining remote management

    Remote management is a type of management that involves overseeing a team of remote employees as they navigate the world of remote work.

    Remote management occurs with both fully remote teams and with hybrid remote work. Depending on the company and team, remote management can include a variety of tasks. For example, remote managers may plan and host remote meetings. They may also oversee the progress of team-related projects, tasks, and workflows (also known as remote project management.) Or they may lead the charge on setting remote team members up for success while working at home.

    Remote management differs from traditional onsite management in a few different ways, including:

    • Remote oversight of the team. With onsite management, managers work in the same location as their team. With remote management, teams are distributed. That means managers usually work in a completely different location than their team members.
    • Employees may be working in different time zones. With virtual teams, employees can often work from anywhere. That means that, with remote management, you may be managing people in different time zones. And when teams work asynchronously, strong management is an absolute necessity.
    • Different technology. The technology required to manage a remote team is different from the tech managers need to oversee an in-person team. For example, remote managers may need to gain remote access to their employees’ computers. Or they may need to navigate a variety of collaboration tools to effectively manage their teams. Because of the technology required, remote managers generally need to be tech-savvy.
    • Having to forge connections online. When you manage a team in person—and see them on a daily basis—it can be easy to build relationships. But relationship-building is different when you manage remote employees. Fostering a positive relationship and trust may take more time and effort with remote teams.

    Advantages and challenges of remote management

    As mentioned, remote management differs from in-person management in a variety of ways. Those differences provide some advantages to remote managers. They also provide some challenges.

    Advantages

    Some of the major advantages of remote management include:

    • More engaged teams. Many employees (but not all employees) prefer to work remotely. And when they can work from home, these employees are often more engaged with their work. As such, remote managers often have the benefit of managing more engaged employees.
    • Higher productivity. Working from home offers a variety of benefits to employees. For example, they don’t have to commute to work and can set up their workstations however they’d like. These benefits set employees up to work more efficiently—which translates to higher productivity.
    • Diverse teams. When hiring within an organization isn't limited by geographic constraints, they can hire more diverse talent. This leads to more diverse voices, opinions, skills, and backgrounds on remote teams. This diversity can make remote teams (and their managers) more successful.
    • Lower costs. Managing an in-person team comes with a lot of overhead. For example, when teams work in an office, the organization has to pay for office space, electricity, and furniture. Remote teams have significantly less overhead. This leaves remote managers with more resources to invest in setting their teams up for success. 

    Challenges

    Remote management offers some definite advantages over managing a team in person. But it’s not without its drawbacks.

    Some of the biggest challenges remote managers face while managing their teams include:

    • Different time zones. As mentioned, remote teams often work in different time zones. This can make it hard (or, in some cases, impossible) to schedule meetings, collaborate on projects, and oversee employees in real-time.
    • Communication challenges. Team members working in different time zones can also lead to communication challenges. For example, if an employee has a question about how to move forward with a project, but they’re working in a different time zone, they have to wait to get their query answered until the manager signs on for work. Depending on the difference in time zone, that could be hours or even a full workday.
    • Less control and oversight. When they’re managing a remote team, managers have less control and oversight of the team’s workflows. They can assign work. But because they’re not in the same physical space as employees, they can’t physically oversee the employees completing their tasks. While most employees don’t need to be micromanaged, some employees struggle when working from home.
    • A high volume of messages. When teams work together in an office, employees can swing by their manager’s desk when they have a question. But that’s not possible in a remote environment. If an employee has a question, concern, or request, they have to reach out to their manager digitally. As a result, remote managers often have a much higher volume of messages to manage than in-person managers. And staying on top of those messages can take a lot of their time and energy.
    • Security challenges. Keeping sensitive data and information safe is critical for organizations. But preventing data leaks or security breaches can be more challenging when teams are working remotely. This is because employees are logging in on a variety of networks, making it harder to ensure the highest level of security across the board.

    woman leading an online meeting at a long table

    3 skills to develop as a remote manager

    If you’re going to be remotely managing a team, developing management skills is a must in order to be the most effective manager.

    Some of the management skills you’ll want to focus on developing to be an effective remote manager include:

    1. Organizational skills.

    Remote managers are responsible for managing multiple employees, often in different time zones). They also need to manage a variety of projects, tasks, and technologies. In order to manage all of their responsibilities, systems, processes, and general organization is an absolute must.

    2. Communication skills

    As mentioned, communication is critical when managing a remote team. Asynchronous communication requires remote managers to be extra clear when communicating. That includes clearly giving directions and assigning tasks. It also means giving clear responses to employee questions and requests. Otherwise, employees won’t have the direction they need to effectively do their work.

    Online communication can also be more challenging than face-to-face communication. For example, it can be harder to understand context without body language or hearing someone’s tone of voice. As such, remote managers need to be able to overcome those communication challenges—which requires a certain level of skill.

    3. Relationship-building skills

    Positive relationships between employees and managers are important for any team to function. And that includes remote teams. Strong relationships foster trust, which empowers teams to do their best work.

    Relationship-building skills are important for all managers. But they’re especially important for remote managers. Building relationships remotely can be more challenging than connecting in person. Remote managers need to be able to build trust and strengthen relationships with their employees. And that's true even if they never actually meet those employees in person!

    Tips for remote management

    Looking to improve remote management at your organization? Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

    1. Set managers up for success.

    If you want remote management to succeed at your organization, you must set your managers up for success. This includes investing in management development programs and providing remote leadership training. It also includes investing in the software managers need to better manage their teams.

    It’s also important to help managers prioritize work-life balance and avoid burnout. This includes giving them plenty of time off and keeping workloads realistic and manageable.

    The bottom line? When managers are supported and set up for success, they can more effectively support their remote teams. So give your remote managers that support.

    2. Don’t micromanage.

    If you want to be an effective remote manager, there’s a management approach you need to strike from your vocabulary.

    And that’s micromanaging.

    As mentioned, remote managers often have less visibility into their teams' work. For some managers, this leads to a desire to micromanage. For example, managers might want to try things like remote monitoring their employees to ensure they’re doing the work they say they’re doing.

    But this management approach causes remote employees to feel like their managers don’t trust them. It can also make them feel suffocated. And that feeling of distrust and being suffocated by their manager? It can ultimately lead top talent to look for other opportunities.

    Instead of micromanaging employees, embrace a more trusting management style. Try fostering a culture of autonomy and accountability in the workplace. Check-in, but don’t be overwhelming.

    man in online meeting with headphones in the evening

    3. Create opportunities for connection.

    It can be challenging for remote teams to feel connected when they’re working in different locations. But that connection is necessary for teams to do their best work. And so, it’s up to remote managers to create opportunities for virtual team building.

    For example, if you want to foster connection with your team, you might schedule a weekly Zoom happy hour where team members can socialize. You might create Slack channels for employees to have non-work-related conversations, like a channel to share photos of their pets or to discuss their favorite hobbies. You could even set up regular in-person meetups to bring full-time employees together.

    The more connected remote teams feel—both to their colleagues and their managers—the more cohesive and effective they’ll be. So, if you’re the manager, make sure you’re creating those opportunities for connection.

    4. Invest in the right tools.

    For remote teams to function well, they need the right tools. And as an organization, it’s important to invest in those tools.

    While the “right” tools will vary by team and organization, some remote management tools you’ll definitely want to consider investing in include:

    • Project management platform
    • Real-time collaboration software
    • Chat platform
    • Video conferencing software
    • Secure drive

    Use these tips to improve remote management at your organization

    If your team is hybrid or fully remote, it’s important to understand the ins and outs of remote management. And with these tips and insights, you have everything you need to improve remote management and the digital employee experience at your company. And, in the process, empower remote employees.

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    Lead with confidence and authenticity

    Develop your leadership and strategic management skills with the help of an expert Coach.

    Published February 23, 2023

    Elizabeth Perry

    Content Marketing Manager, ACC

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