Global Language Solutions Blog Managing Remote Work Teams

If you are a manager in a modern organization, you may find yourself in a common predicament - having to manage people who do not work in the same location as you. This can be a challenging task. Global Language Solutions, a Welocalize company, has offices around the world. Our experience is that remote employees can feel isolated, undervalued, and out of touch with what is happening at corporate. For managers who get it right there are tremendous benefits, including retaining and getting the most out of talented employees who work in various parts of the country or world.Here are some tips, resources, and strategies for becoming a more effective remote manager.Encourage teambuilding. Remote employees can do more harm than good to the company's reputation if they are not living the company's values. Thus, it takes much more training and conscious effort to help remote workers understand and live your values every day. It's important, if possible, to bring the entire team together for training. Face time, even in today's busy, global work environment is a critical component of teambuilding and effective training.Leverage technology. If you're a typical manager, you probably receive dozens, if not more, emails a day. This single impact of modern technology alone causes most managers to waste more time than they save. So, learn to use it effectively. Establish ground rules, such as no unnecessary or non-work related emails (such as jokes or chain mail). Also, think before hitting "send," and encourage your team to do the same. Finally, use web seminar technology to conduct virtual training sessions and invest in a dedicated conference line for your team to hold calls on a regular basis through services such as Lync, Skype, or Zoom.Give recognition. How long does it take for a manager to connect with a remote employee who has done something wrong? Probably not very long. How long does it take for that manager to connect with a remote employee who has done something right? Maybe forever. The most important way for a manager to begin the process of recognizing great work is just that, to actually do it! Send handwritten notes to employees, recognize people via internal communication channels, and present tangible awards to those who have done above-and-beyond work. Also, ensure teammates have ways to send thanks and praise to each other. Tip: Create an online community bulletin board with places for kudos and/or provide each team member with a stack of simple recognition notes and other inexpensive awards to send to each other.Change your mindset. Most of the skills, attributes, and qualities required of successful remote team managers are the very same ones as those required of managers of co-located teams. So it is not that you need to change your thinking about managing remotely, it's that you may need to look at how you think about managing. The key question is: What are you doing to teach your team to take responsibility for themselves? The better managers get at teaching their team members to be self-leaders, the more productive their team will be.Be present. While this may sound contradictory to the remote team manager, it is one of the most important things you can do. As the remote team manager, you must ensure that your team knows you are there for them, even if you are not there with them. While leveraging modern technology is a great way to keep in touch - email, webinars, chat, etc, the most effective thing you can do is pick up the phone and make a call.And, finally, lead by example. If you want to see your team doing certain things, behaving in certain ways and thinking positively, you need to be doing those exact same things yourself. You don't have to be in the same room to be a good role model and a great remote manager.Find out more about managing remote work teams by accessing these resources:The Hive DeskTech Republic