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8 Actions for Managing Teams Working from Home – Managing Remote Teams · Enhance.training

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Managing teams working from home is harder than managing teams working in the office.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: You don't get to see, for instance, the pace of their work, when they are struggling, how they interact with others, and where their development needs are.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: When managing remote teams effectively flexing how you manage others is needed.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Most management principles and key skills remain exactly the same, just applied in a slightly different way.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: To help you with managing remote employees, we're going through eight actions for managing teams working from home.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Firstly, set crystal clear expectations.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, establish team rules.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Third, six ways to over-communicate.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, focus on goals, not activity.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Fifth, show flexibility.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Sixth, mentor more than manage.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Seventh, prevent burnout, and eight, encourage social interaction.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: There is an increasing focus on mental health and well-being as more of us are working from home without regular access to historical support networks.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: How to provide support, a chance to socialise and be a team together has become more important with greater homeworking.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I take you through 10 ideas to help towards the end of the podcast.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Jess Coles, and I've had a 25-year management career in corporates and household names such as Innocent Drinks, EY and Foster's, all the way through to SMEs, from professional level to board director level.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: And in my career, I've managed team members working abroad and whole teams remotely.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: The skills and approach needed are slightly different to get the best out of everyone in your team.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: If you're new to this podcast, Enhanced.training shares business and people management expertise to help you improve your performance and that of your team and business.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: And do visit us at enhanced.training and take a look at the courses and resources for you to improve your management skills and the outcome your team delivers.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: The first action for managing teams working from home is to set crystal clear expectations.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever you're asking others to achieve a goal, solve a problem or do a task, being very clear with what you want from them is super important.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: When the team member is working from home, setting crystal clear expectations is even more important.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: When setting work, a good place to start is to ask what their current priorities are and what they are working on.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: This helps you work out where in the priority list your latest request should sit.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Then you can ask them to complete pieces of work in a specific order.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Always set clear timeframes when managing remote employees.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Check your team member is able to deliver to the time frame you request.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: And take the time to explain why you're asking for this piece of work.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Explain how this piece of work fits into the bigger picture.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: And if you can connect the work to the individual's career goals and into the team and company goals, even better.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure you always set smart expectations, you know, specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: And for higher performers or more experienced team members, think about delegating problems rather than tasks.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: This gives them a lot more to do and helps them build a range of skills that you just don't get doing tasks alone.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: Ask people to summarise what you have asked for.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: This gives you feedback on how clearly you have set expectations.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: And do follow up the conversation with an email so you both have a clear reference point.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: The second action for managing teams working from home is to establish team rules.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Establishing team rules when managing a remote team is a lot more important.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Team members are not able to see your decisions and actions as they would be able to in the office.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: This makes it harder for them to judge what the rules are.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: To compensate, spend more time establishing the rules with the team.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: You could tell them what you expect from them.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: You could coach them to a collective agreement so they have more input and ownership, or anything in between.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Capture these rules in writing and share them.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: Also, put the procedures the team undertakes into writing and into process diagrams.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Also share timetables of meetings and deadlines.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: These steps provide everyone with reference information to cover the basic expectations and rules expected of them.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Essential when managing teams working from home.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: And as always, only set rules that you are happy to live by personally.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: If you are not willing to follow the rules, no one in your rules, no one else in your team will take them seriously.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: The third action for managing teams working from home is to over-communicate.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: Communication is important in the best of times.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: It is consistently one of the biggest problems in any company.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: So spending even more time on communication will help in managing remote team members.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: And when managing teams working from home, I suggest you double-ish the time you spend communicating.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: When working remotely, you miss out on lots of communication methods available in the office.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Examples are, firstly, your background conversations and all the questions and answers that go on.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, conversations by the water cooler, third, ad hoc conversations in meetings or by people's desks, fourth, whiteboards on the wall, etc.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: This drop in the level of communication can leave people feeling isolated and cut off from all the information they would normally have in the office, which in turn can create problems.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: Here are six actions to over-communicate when leading a remote team.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: Firstly, share diaries within the team.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: Then everyone is able to check when team members are available.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: Sharing what you're working on helps foster open and honest working practices within the team too.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, book in a daily check-in meeting.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: Make the meeting short and cover, say the top two to three priorities for each person that day or the week and then look at progress against each of these priorities.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Third, create collaboration opportunities with team members and between teams.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, make extra time to praise great work, decisions or actions.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Positive reinforcement works and everyone enjoys receiving well-deserved praise.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: Use team meetings, emails and software to share the praise publicly when appropriate.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: Fifth, provide feedback through multiple mediums when managing remote team members.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Call them, email them, text them, make a fuss of them at team meetings.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: Make the time to give extra feedback to individuals.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Sixth, use project management tools to create visibility of activities and projects that everyone is working on.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: Creating visibility using software makes up for some of the lack of visibility that working from home creates.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: And when managing a team while working from home, make more time to communicate.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: Tell the team what is progressing around the wider business.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: Give them context and explain to them where they and their work fits into the bigger picture.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: Show progress towards goals wherever you can.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: Overcommunicate.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: The fourth action when managing remote team members is to focus on achieving goals, not track activity.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: When you're managing a remote team, you can't see what activity is happening as you would if everyone were in the office.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: If you try to track activity, you know, say by requiring everyone to update progress daily in project management software, you risk micromanaging everyone.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're managing a group of skilled employees, then any hint of micromanaging is the last thing you want.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: Focus on achieving goals.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: Focus your team on achieving goals.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: If you set crystal clear expectations and use SMART goals within these expectations, everyone should be clear on what goals need to be achieved.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: A very useful approach as a manager is to focus on how you can help the individual or team achieve the goals.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: Through helping, you have huge amounts of opportunity to find out exactly where progress has got to and what the issues are without a hint of micromanagement.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: So spend time mentoring, coaching, supporting each person and getting the right resources in place at the right time for them to do a great job.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: Focus on achieving goals, not tracking activity.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: The fifth action for managing teams working from home is to show flexibility.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: Working from home gives everyone more opportunity for flexibility and to work in a way that suits them.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: Think about those who rise late and work late, those who prefer to go to the gym at lunchtime, and those with school drop-offs, etc.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: Working from home makes fitting all the non-work commitments and interests in a lot easier, providing their manager is flexible in their approach to these absences within typical working hours.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: The flexibility working from home offers is a big perk to employees.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: For managers, this flexibility is a strong talent attraction and retention tool.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: And lastly, checking when individuals are actually working when at home is very hard, without, for instance, your Big Brother software which would really destroy trust.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: Show flexibility.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: Focus on goals rather than when the activity is done.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: Trust your team members to meet the goals agreed in their way.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: And if certain employees consistently miss deadlines or don't provide the output quality needed, then you can start more formal processes to get them back on track, such as a performance improvement plan.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: Be flexible in your approach.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: The sixth action for managing teams working from home is to mentor more than manage.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: If you are managing skilled individuals in office environments, I think taking a mentoring more than managing approach is a must.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: If skilled individuals have worked hard to acquire those skills, they are likely to be self-motivated, self-disciplined and have ambitions.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: Focusing more on mentoring rather than the traditional managing is a better way of harnessing your team members' talents and keeping their motivations high.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: Some of the features of taking this approach include, firstly, providing support and help so that they can get the task, activity or project completed quicker or better.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, sharing your experiences and learning so they can develop their skills quicker and to a better level.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: Third, a focus on developing their skills and career, which helps you as a manager in a whole range of ways.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, you extend trust until they give you reasons to withdraw it.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: And then fifth, flexing your approach to the individual and the situation to best meet their needs rather than doing what you enjoy most.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: In my view, most employees want to do a good job.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: And as a manager working to create the right environment with the right resources, etc., so team members have the best chance of doing a good job is a no-brainer.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: So when managing remote employees, this supportive approach becomes even more important, especially as there are different problems to overcome and you can't see what is happening with each employee nearly as easily.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: The seventh action for managing teams working from home is to prevent burnout.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: With more employees working from home more often, burnout has become a bigger issue.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: When you leave work to go into the office, you cross a clear barrier between home and work life.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: And over the years, technology has blurred this barrier.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: Increasingly, working from home and hybrid working has practically removed this barrier.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Where does work stop and downtime start?
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: As a manager, it is in your interest to stop your team members burning out.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: If your team members do burn out, they're going to be off work much more, and when they are in work, they're going to be less productive.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: Burnt-out employees are much more likely to leave your team too, which will cause you headaches and incur a lot of time and costs replacing them.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: When thinking about how to manage remote employees, encourage employees to firstly create downtime in their schedules, particularly in the evenings and at weekends.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, ask them to help you in managing their workload and stress levels by giving you realistic feedback about them and their workloads.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Third, encourage them to ask for help sooner rather than later, which reduces their pressure and stress.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: I would definitely recommend booking in a weekly one-on-one meeting with your remote team members and chat with them about their workload and pressures.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: Get the insights you need to help manage their workloads and help them with their working practices.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: And think carefully about the work you give your team members and when you set deadlines.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure you are not the cause of your team members burning out.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: The eighth action for managing teams working from home is to encourage social interaction.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: With a lot more teams working from home, we don't have as much social interaction with colleagues within and outside of our teams.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Humans through time have existed in groups.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: We need social interaction.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: Forming personal and professional relationships at work helps with firstly teamwork and general happiness at work.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, getting things done because we're more likely to help those we know and like.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: And third, getting promoted.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: Promotion is as much about relationships as it is about being able to do a great job.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: So when managing teams working from home, it is really important to work at overcoming the barriers to forming personal and professional relationships.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: Book in more non-work events and activities to encourage people to mix and socialise.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: Include a range of physical and online at different times so that everyone can attend some of the events.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: Here's a range of ideas for you.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: Firstly, you can do things like arrange quizzes with prizes.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, you can get the team involved in problem solving activities.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: Thirdly, you could set challenges and activities such as doing a cook-off where everyone cooks a recipe online and then compares the results.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: Or it could be scavenger hunts around the house.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: Or it could be a kind of campfire exercise where you're sharing stories, icebreakers and similar.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: Or it could be simple exercises to find out more about other people.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: For instance, you know doing two truths and a lie, and then working out which one's a lie for each person.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: Or it could be taking a picture of your refrigerator or desk and then asking other team members to match the picture to the team member.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: Or it could be something like online bingo.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever activities and events you organise, make sure they are fun, team orientated, and help everyone get to know others on a personal level.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: Keep work firmly off the agenda.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: And don't forget to bring in people from outside of your team too so you can have some cross-team socializing.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: Keep it fun and inclusive.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: In summary, managing teams working from home uses all the normal management skills adapted to a slightly different working environment.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: Adjust how you use your management skills to be successful in managing a team while working from home.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: And just as a reminder, we have covered firstly setting crystal clear expectations, secondly, establishing team rules, thirdly, six ways to overcommunicate, fourth, focus on goals, not track activity, fifth, show flexibility, sixth, mentor more than manage, seventh prevent burnout, and eight, encourage social interaction.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions, please drop me an email at support at enhance.training and I'll get back to you.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening, and I look forward to speaking to you again soon.