Managing a Remote Team: 12 Best Practices for Better Productivity

The remote and mobile workforce population is steadily rising. Even IBM adjusted its HR policies to accommodate remote workers. Today, it is one of the top companies that make use of a remote workforce, offering flexible work options, alongside Apple, Dell and Xerox.

To ascertain staff productivity in teams that are scattered across various locations, below are twelve best practices to effectively manage a mobile/remote workforce:

1. Embrace flexibility

Managing a remote workforce will require application of a diverse set of techniques and mediums to get a task accomplished. Individuals are, well, individuals and are, therefore, unique, and so are their ways to accomplishing things. While maintaining protocols is important to achieve business goals, allowing remote workers to utilize methods and tools they have already proven to work is good practice. Investing in communications software that can be used around the clock could be a good idea, so team members can easily let others know when they are and aren’t available.

[wcm_restrict]2. Use cloud-based tools

Cloud-based tools provide convenience of access, regardless of location and device used. In fact, they are one of the key reasons virtual collaboration is even possible. One cloud-based tool that is especially useful for project planning and execution is Comindware Project. For open-source developers, there’s GitHub, where they can collaborate on, review and manage code. And for designers, there’s Mural.Ly to help them visually organize their thoughts.

3. Choose security

To maximize your cloud investment, choose a system with a group of technical specialists available 24/7. This allows you to save on time and training costs. If you need to tighten your security even further, companies such as Conde Nast Publications, The Bank of New York and SC Johnson use Symantec’s cloud-based security solution, Symantec.cloud, to protect their business communications and other infrastructure.

4. Instill accountability

Have a section in your cloud-based tool where members can easily view a team tree charting who’s reporting to whom, who’s leading whom, who’s working on what, and when they’re expected to deliver. This makes everyone accountable for their actions. Everyone’s time is accounted for, and the tendency of remote workers to be idle is minimized. A viewable signoff section where people can closely examine who authorized what or whose authorization is needed for what is also a wise addition.

5. Value software ease of use

Amazon reached a wider base of users when its app became accessible via various mediums. The Kindle Reader (mobile app or native hardware) made their online bookstore portable, allowing them to increase user reach. It’s not hard to imagine reaching the same level of continued engagement when applying the same practices to a software that employees can easily use and consistently access.

6. Schedule effectively

With different schedules, even different time zones, it’s easy to miss deadlines when you’re managing a remote and/or geographically dispersed team. Creating a task timeframe that everyone must adhere to is a must. Tools with built-in scheduling charts, such as Gantt charts, help estimate the amount of time needed per task, send out automated reminders, whether as calendar or email reminders on desktops or smart devices, as well as automatically adjust the timeline to account for early completions or delays.

7. Be transparent

Humans are inherently curious, which is why transparency is a big boost to team morale and productivity. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is known to endorse openness between leaders and employees by adopting an open-office floor plan to enhance collaboration. In this same sense, crucial information must be shared with the team at all times. This helps foster better decision-making and a greater degree of participation from members.

8. Enforce policies

To keep remote teams in check, everyone must be aware of a certain set of rules to follow, as well as sanctions to heed, if any. Policies regarding communication availability, required amount of hours per day, consequences for late submissions, among others, should help eliminate ambiguity and slacking.

9. Release guidelines

A formal guideline must be in place to streamline the workflow. For example, when a member signs in, he/she is required to send a check-in message to a team lead, provide a status report before working on a task and another one before signing off for the day. Damage control guidelines should also be released to account for late submissions, sick members, and the like.

10. Measure productivity

Have a set required amount of tasks per day so workers have something to work towards. The same way that sales professionals have a sales quota per day or fishing companies have a production quota per fishing season, having a reasonable but concrete target will reduce wasted time and encourage productivity.

11. Be reachable

As the manager, you are the one most accountable for everything. Hence, keep your communication lines open at all times. In rare occasions you cannot be reached, designate deputies or other points of contact for important decision-making functions.

12. Schedule regular meetings

Meetings, albeit virtual, should be a regular part of your team’s routine. Meetings don’t always have to about work, though. Teamwork is founded on relationships, and relationships start with communication. If you want your remote workers to be at ease with one another, encourage sharing of ideas, culture, beliefs and ideologies.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember]

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About the Author

Maricel Rivera manages content for Comindware, a global leader in adaptive BPM and project management solutions. You may connect with her on Twitter.