The remote worker has become part of the workplace, and for good reason. It makes sense to have people work remotely so that the office does not have to be cluttered with equipment and coworkers. It also helps to train workers so they can be capable of using the remote work tools so they can work from anywhere they want to. It can be a very productive use of remote work tools.
Managing remote workers can be a challenge, and you will inevitably end up micromanaging the team. And that’s not a good thing. The first and most important thing is to remove the need to micromanage: set clear and established communication guidelines and communicate regularly.
Micromanagement is not only a potential problem but is a necessity. If you don’t know what micromanagement is, it’s when you have a manager who is constantly checking in with the employee to make sure they’re doing their job right. It can be really stressful for both the manager and the employee.
Although it’s inevitable that some people will want to micro-manage your remote team, most managers don’t have time to deal with every little detail, especially when they have a large team to manage. If you’re one of those managers who would rather keep the managers of your remote employees in check, then you’ll find that it’s much easier to manage your remote team if you have a few guiding rules that you consistently follow.
Trust Your Team
For some time now, managers have been fighting the good fight by trying to keep their teams happy, productive, and on top of everything. Unfortunately, this means that they are often micromanaging their teams.
Micromanaging means acting as an overlord to the people on your team. It is the job of the manager to ensure that everything is running smoothly, but it is actually doing more harm than good.
A lot of employers say they want to give their workers the freedom to do their jobs, but they have an issue with delegating work when it comes to managing remote employees. Does that mean you have to micromanage everything? Not at all, in fact, when you trust your employees they will work harder, be more efficient, and have better communication skills.
Set The Expectations From The Beginning
For many years, I have been a proponent of using a remote worker model, and working from home. The key to this being successful is to set expectations from the beginning by having a clear, objective plan.
Set Clear Expectations
A remote team has to have clear expectations from day one. If they don’t, then the team will constantly try to guess how the manager expects them to work, and will beat themselves up trying to meet those expectations. If a manager lets a team figure out their own workflow, then the team will naturally evolve to match the needs of the project, and the manager will have less work to do, and fewer headaches.
Communicate Consistently
Remote workers have a lot going on in their lives, and it’s hard to get everything done. That’s why you should learn how to communicate clearly and consistently with your remote employees.
Whether you’re a manager who is responsible for the success of your team or a remote worker who must objectively manage each and every one of your teammates, if you can’t make your presence felt, your team will start to believe the remote work myths and the remote working practice will start to wane, and ultimately, your remote team can even begin to fail you.
Provide Feedback
Good managers must provide consistent and clear feedback to their employees. Without feedback, employees don’t know what they’re doing well and what they need to improve. Feedback is important, but only if managers use it to learn and provide it.
Don’t Focus Too Much On The Progress
It may seem like a good idea to micromanage your remote workers. But actually, you’re just setting them up for failure. Why? Because you’re too focused on the work and not the person. When you over-supervise remote workers, you run the risk of hurting their self-esteem and confidence. You also create a situation where they can’t really make progress on the task at hand. When you don’t micromanage your remote workers, you can spend your time focusing on the key things they need to know to do their job well.
An Open Door Policy
The best way to manage your employees in today’s business environment is to adopt an “open door” policy. This means that your employees are encouraged to come in and talk to you whenever they need to, without having to ask for permission. Not only does this encourage communication between management and subordinates, but it also encourages communication between managers and subordinates.
Stop Pursuing Perfection
Perfection is a general term for any system that is designed for efficiency or effectiveness. However, in any given company or project, there are probably many systems that are not perfectly effective, efficient or effective. The problem is that these systems are often referred to as being “perfect” by the people who are responsible for maintaining them.
The term perfectionism has become synonymous with micromanagement. The process of constantly supervising or controlling projects or employees to the point of being harmful to productivity. The same term is also used to describe the practice of being too controlling with employees to the point of being counterproductive.
Create A Reasonable Update Process That Everyone Agrees To
When working from home or from a remote location, everyone has to get along. This means that all the remote workers should reach a common goal and get along at the end of the day’s work. If you have a situation where you have remote workers who have a different opinion about the best way to move the project forward, it may be a good idea to have a discussion with them about a reasonable update process that everyone agrees to. This way everyone can get a fair chance to contribute to the project and to reach a sensible goal.
Use Check-ins To Verify Progress
For many of us, the only way to make sure our remote workers are doing what they are supposed to be doing is by continuing to check up on them every few hours. This is the old micromanaging approach, which is too time-consuming and unnecessary. Instead, why not use check-ins to verify progress? Instead of checking on co-workers every few hours, ask them to send an email with a few key stats that you can then analyze on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. By using this method, you can remain hands off, while still making sure your remote workers are productive.