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The top skills needed to manage remote teams

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May 02, 2023

It seems Australians are still in love with remote work. More and more people are looking for work-from-home opportunities, as seen in the latest data released from SEEK, which shows that ‘work from home’ is the number one search term used by job seekers.

We regularly speak to clients who appreciate the benefits of remote work for their employees but lament the additional challenge of managing them.

To successfully manage remote teams, managers need to possess certain skills that are essential to the job. In this article, we suggest which skills to brush up on to get the job done.

Nearly half (46%) of all Australian employees now work from home to some degree, according to the ABS report from April 2022. 34% of Australian businesses use remote work for at least some of their team.

  • Get comfortable with technology
    No matter how many Teams Meetings we may have, it seems there is always some glitch with the video or the sound! If you aren’t already tech savvy, make a point of upskilling to improve your own efficiency and to be able to assist your team with any issues.

  • Communication skills
    When you are working remotely, there are fewer opportunities to pick up the nuances of casual communication than in a shared office. Body language is very hard to pick up via video and is non-existent on the phone. Ensuring that you are in regular personal contact with team members is essential to keeping them engaged. Our advice is to check in with people regularly, whether they have been in contact with you or not.

  • Goal setting and workflow management
    It is important to be very clear with expectations, deadlines, workflow and the time management of remote team members. It can be easy to assume things are being done if there aren’t regular milestone check-ins along the way. So, it is important to hold people to account, but this can only be done if they understand the expectations in the first place. Technology can be a great tool to help with this, and many of the regular programs we are already using have features that can be utilised to assist with this such as; Slack, Monday, Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Asana.

  • Organisational skills
    Effective management of teams demands strong organisational skills and great time management to stay on top of everything. It involves juggling multiple projects, different technologies, assigning tasks to team members, and monitoring their progress towards desired outcomes.

  • Develop personal relationships
    Don’t make it all about business! Make sure there is time for team members to talk about themselves. This helps to build trust and camaraderie within your team. Think of it as the conversation you might have in the kitchen while making a cup of tea, but online.

  • Avoid micromanaging
    Smart managers focus on outcomes and goals, rather than what individuals are doing every half an hour. Micromanaging is time-consuming for everyone and rarely achieves the desired outcome.

  • Ask for feedback
    What is working well for employees working remotely and what isn’t? You may be surprised by the answers and what improvements you can make. Similarly, let team members know the same from a management perspective for an open and honest conversation to achieve a positive outcome for everyone.

Managing remote teams requires a specific set of skills that are essential for success. Effective communication, time management, trust and accountability, flexibility and adaptability, and technological proficiency are all important skills that managers need to possess. By developing these skills and putting them into practice, managers can successfully lead their remote teams and achieve their goals.

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