When the pandemic was at its height in 2020, working from home suddenly became the new norm. As such, it's the only way that businesses were able to continue operating during the lockdown. However, now that Covid-19 appears to be behind us, many people are still working remotely, which presents particular challenges when it comes to team management.
How Many People Work From Home Now In Australia?
Believe it or not, according to the 2021 Census in Australia, 2.5 million Australians are in work-from-home jobs. It's relatively easy to see the appeal, as employees are spared that daily commute and enjoy relative autonomy. The question is, how do you address the issue of how to use your interpersonal skills to communicate clearly when you're not all working in the same office?
What Is The Best Way To Manage A Remote Team Online?
The good news is that working with a remote team doesn't necessarily mean that communication and management have to suffer. As you'll see by checking out the following 5 tips, all it takes is a little organisation and focus on keeping everyone on track in their roles.
Tip #1 - Get Buy-In Of What's Expected
If there's one thing that you have to nail above all else when you have team members working from home is the setting of work expectations. Having some kind of ad-hoc charter that everyone understands and signs will create a culture of accountability.
You should cover things in an initial Zoom call, during which you also get everyone to verbally commit to it in front of each other. Aspects covered can include things like work start times and acceptable/unacceptable clothing on calls - so everyone knows what's expected.
Tip #2 - Regular One-To-One Check-Ins
One of the reasons why some people underperform in a working-from-home setup is that they don’t feel their work is being scrutinized in the same way it would be if they were in the office. That’s why regular one-to-one zoom or phone calls are essential to keep everyone focused.
Whether it’s carried out on a weekly or daily basis is up to you, but these interactions should be conducted in tandem with performance reviews. This will ensure that your employees understand they’re still required to get things done - even when unsupervised.
Tip #3 - Regular Team Meetings Are Also Important
While your regular one-to-one catchups are essential, so too are regular team meetings. These are the kinds of meetings that you would have normally in a workplace setting, so there’s no reason why they should stop just because of remote working. ideally, you should meet up with your team once per week at minimum
The same rules relating to punctuality and mutual respect must be adhered to during these meetings, with an even clearer emphasis on letting others speak. However, they can be a little more relaxed, as there may very well be kids running around in the background! But that’s okay.
Tip #4 - Designate Specific Work Communication Channels
In the modern world, gone are the days when people only communicate by phone or text. Now you can email, call, text, send Facebook messages, or even contact each other via Instagram. However, in a work setting, there really needs to be a single mode of communication so as to avoid confusion.
The great news is that there are many collaboration tools to use, including popular options that make team communication easy. Widely-used choices include the likes of…
So, whether you have online learning, you want all your staff to take, or everyone needs to come together to get a project finished before the deadline, these platforms make management so much easier.
Tip #5 - Account For Distractions
Of course, you want your team to reach their full potential, but you must consider that working from home brings challenges. Chief amongst these is distractions. As children, the couch and TV can become very appealing during certain parts of the day!
These things will obviously affect proceedings a little for most, so you should provide a little slack. From time to time, a distraction can be of benefit, and it will occur, so don't get too hung up on it happening.
OCA Short Courses - Your Key To Better Management
Managing a team remotely is something that can work given the right approach; however, if you want to tip the scales in your favour, OCA video-based short courses like those in our Franchise Support Skills Bundle can be a real game-changer. Easy to digest, CPD-Endorsed, and modular, our training is easy to digest and even easier to arrange around your current obligations.
Our courses are next-level learning. You can see for yourself by watching our Student Study Demo, which shows you what you can expect as an OCA student. 1-to-1 mentoring, 24/7 tutorial support and super-engaging content are standard across our course library covering over 20 professional industries. It's why our students view ours as the best online courses Australia can offer!
To find out more about us and how we do things, visit us at www.onlinecoursesaustralia.edu.au or give us a call at 1300 611 404 if you're looking for advice. Alternatively, drop us an email at [email protected], and we’ll reply as soon as we can.
