Roundup: A collection of the internet’s best remote team management tips
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As a general trend, the number of remote workers is on the rise. That was before the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak led some of our country’s biggest companies, including Google, Amazon, and Twitter to send their workers home for the foreseeable future. As coronavirus infections continue to increase and companies scramble to respond, it seems likely that more employees in affected regions will find themselves working remotely. That means company leaders must also quickly get up to speed on best remote team management practices.
How can managers keep up morale and productivity in this unusual and challenging time? Fortunately, many companies already have experience with remote team management, including us at Poll Everywhere. After a bit of digging, including through our own article archives, we’ve rounded up a series of useful articles filled with tips on how to make the most of your remote team. This advice can serve as an excellent refresher for managers of existing off-site teams as well as the perfect resource guide for new remote managers.
The pros and cons of building a remote team by Poll Everywhere
Are you considering creating a remote team or allowing employees to work from home? You may feel this is the prudent call in the wake of the coronavirus, or perhaps this is a move you’ve been contemplating for some time. Either way, this insightful article lists some powerful pros and cons of moving your team out of the office.
Pros include:
- Access to a broader talent pool
- The ability to offer your employees a better work-life balance
- Greater loyalty and less turnover from your employees
- Big cost savings, since you won’t have to rent an office, buy equipment, or pay utilities
Of course, hiring a remote team isn’t all rainbows and sunshine. Trying to manage a team scattered to the winds does have its challenges. Some of the cons include:
- Difficulty building a company culture
- A higher risk of communication difficulties
- Challenges switching to an onsite team if you change your mind
Keeping these pros and cons in mind can help you decide if creating a remote team is the right choice for your company.
How to work from home: 20 tips from people who do it successfully by HubSpot
Before you can focus on effective remote team management, you first need to learn how to thrive in your at-home office. HubSpot, a company that offers marketing, sales, and CRM software, relies on a big team of remote workers. In this helpful article, Erik Devaney collects the most useful work-from-home tips from his coworkers.
These tips include things like:
- Get started early
- Choose a dedicated workspace
- Work when you’re most productive
- Save calls for the afternoon
- And more
Yes, some of these tips are… simplistic, but together, along with each co-worker’s explanation, they can provide a solid foundation for setting yourself up for success at home.
Top 10 collaboration tools for remote teams by Online Tech Tips
As you and your team set up your new home offices, it’s important to use the right tools to stay connected. The marketplace is full of different team collaboration software, and it can be confusing to figure out which option is best for your team. David Trounce over at Online Tech Tips offers a short and sweet assessment of ten popular options, including:
- Asana
- Trello
- ProofHub
- Zoom
- And more
How to run a remote team by Zapier
If anyone can provide good advice on how to manage a remote team, it’s Wade Foster, a co-founder of Zapier. The app workflow company started in 2012 with three co-founders, including Wade, and has since grown to a remote workforce of over 200 people spread across 20 continents. In this highly detailed article, Wade gives readers a quick history lesson on his company and then explains the three most crucial ingredients to offsite working success: Team, Tools, and Process.
9 steps to a more engaging online meeting by Poll Everywhere
Meetings are a crucial part of any business and they become even more important for remote teams where co-workers aren’t able to simply drop by the boss’s office for a quick chat. In this article, we provide the most useful online meeting tips you need to know. These tips include things like:
- Prepare for your meeting early so you can check your tech
- Make sure you appoint someone in a tech support role to address any technical difficulties employees may have
- Appoint a community manager to gather and address questions, comments, and polls
- Invite feedback so you can make your next meeting even better
For even more great meeting tips, read the full article.
The best video conferencing software for 2020 by PC Mag
Meeting time is precious, so the last thing you want is slow, confusing, or buggy conferencing video software. Educate yourself on the available choices by taking a look at this helpful article by Molly McLaughlin and Daniel Brame of PC Mag. Molly and Daniel offer their take on ten of the most popular video conferencing software options, providing a helpful list of pros and cons for each option, along with a bottom-line assessment. Out of the ten conferencing software systems they reviewed, three received their coveted PC Editors’ Choice badge:
- Zoom
- Webex Meetings
- ClickMeeting
9 ways to celebrate wins with your remote team by Poll Everywhere
As we mentioned, one of the biggest challenges remote managers face is creating a strong company culture. That’s why we believe it’s so important to acknowledge your remote employees and celebrate wins. If your team is stuck at home due to the coronavirus pandemic, they could probably use as much cheer as possible.
In this fun and useful article, we offer an array of ideas on how to make your team members feel like they count no matter where they live. Our suggestions range from sending your employees gift cards to giving them a day off or even hosting an online party, complete with music and Poll Everywhere Competitions.
Embrace the remote team culture
Building a remote team offers a lot of great benefits, but that doesn’t mean you can afford to overlook the challenges. The articles in this roundup can help equip you with the top remote team management tips, but it’s only the beginning. To end our roundup, we want to offer you one more great resource, our recently released ebook Improving Employee Engagement.
This free ebook gives you even more tips and guidance on keeping your remote team engaged, productive, and committed to your company. Even if your current remote work situation is temporary, you may want to bring on remote workers or build off-site teams in the future. As the coronavirus is teaching us, it never hurts to be prepared!