Remote working has long been the norm for many companies and employees, but effectively managing a distributed team can be challenging even for experienced executives and project managers.
Without face-to-face communication, it can be more difficult to build trust, motivate employees, and ensure productive interactions. However, if you approach management strategically, a remote team can work just as effectively and sometimes even better than an office team.
The key to success is the right combination of clear communication, transparent processes, and trust between manager and employees. We’ll go into more detail below.
What Challenges Do Remote Workers Face?
When I first started managing a distributed team, it seemed to me that it was enough to simply set up work processes, choose convenient tools, and everything would work by itself. In practice, however, it turned out that even the most talented specialists can encounter difficulties if they lack clear guidelines and a sense of involvement.
Remote work opens up a lot of opportunities, but it also creates serious problems that are important to know about in advance. Here are some of them:
Difficulties in Communication. This is perhaps the most difficult part of working remotely. But it usually only threatens companies that don’t have an established communication process and effective collaboration tools.
For example, you’re used to being able to walk up to a colleague in the office and quickly discuss an issue. But in a remote team, even simple things become more complicated: starting with choosing a working communication channel and a suitable tariff, and ending with waiting time for a response. Add to that different time zones, different perception of the tone of messages, possible problems with Internet access, etc.
Differences in Time Zones and Cultures. From the problem of communication comes another – the difference in time, as well as in the style of communication and perception of information. When a team is distributed not only across different cities, but sometimes across different continents, it can be difficult to find a convenient time for everyone to hold meetings. And you also have to take into account cultural differences – approach to work, perception of responsibility, and even communication style may differ.
Self-Organization and Motivation of Employees. Not all people find it easy to work remotely. Some find it more difficult to maintain concentration, others cannot separate work time from personal time. Without proper support from managers, employee productivity can drop and stress levels can rise.
How to Solve Communication Problems?
If in the office small issues can be solved in a minute (come up, ask, sort it out), in a remote team even a simple ambiguity can turn into an avalanche of problems. The wrong context, the wrong interpretation of the message, a missed detail – and already a worker, and sometimes the whole team is working in the wrong direction. As a result, the deadline is derailed and the customer isn’t happy.
Let’s discuss some useful tips so that everyone works not only in their own way, but also cohesively.
Create Common Rules of Communication
Each employee in the team should understand which communication channels to use for different types of tasks. For example, Slack chats are ideal for quick questions, email can be used for official notifications and forwarding important documents. Google Meet for discussing complex issues and team meetings, and Trello for task management.
Make Information Open and Complete
This principle consists in clear descriptions of tasks and specifications, regular project updates, and open access to important documents and discussions.
This allows you to be aware of the current situation and not constantly distract your colleagues with huge messages with questions.
Have Regular Meetings
Weekly or even daily calls are important, but turning them into long discussions about nothing is a bad idea. Therefore, this issue must be approached without fanaticism.
In my opinion, short calls of 10-15 minutes work best in practice, where we share updates for the day, what blockers there are, issues and next tasks. Demo sessions where the team shows what has already been done and gets feedback are also good.
To discuss personal progress, motivation and support, have one on one meetings once a month or more often.
How to Deal with Different Time Zones and Cultures?
Remote employees can be in completely different parts of the world, with a time difference of 5, 7 or even 12 hours. And if this factor is not taken into account, the work will turn into endless waiting for answers, deadlines will be disrupted, and discussions will drag on.
First, document all important information in a shared folder (e.g. Google Docs) for easy access at any time. Next, set clear deadlines so the employee understands when they are expected to respond and by what deadline they must complete their work. And, of course, give the team more autonomy to make decisions on their own without constant coordination.
As for video calls, we try to find any overlap in time, at least a small time period when everyone can be online at the same time. For example, it could be the morning of one team and the evening of another. Unfortunately, sometimes the difference is too big, then we have to make compromises within the team. You can also agree to alternate times, for example, one week the team calls in the morning for one zone, another week the team calls in the evening for another zone.
Another problem is different cultural education and approaches to communication. What is a polite request to one person may sound like a demand to another. What seems obvious to one person may be unclear to another. So how can we solve this?
For instance, you can record video instructions instead of long descriptions, and you can add emoji and reactions to text messages. In any case, don’t be afraid to ask clarifying questions to your companion. And you can also conduct online team building on different topics. This way you can get to know each other better and build a friendly team environment.
How to Solve Self-Organization and Motivation Problems?
And the last problem, tips for solving which I want to give, is self-organization and motivation.
No matter how comfortable remote work is, it requires a lot of responsibility from employees.
Working from home can disrupt a person’s usual work balance, shifting their focus to household chores or other less important tasks. Plus, employees lose the feeling of teamwork, and motivation and involvement in projects decreases.
Step 1: Help Organize the Workday
To establish working boundaries at home, we help the team structure their workday. In addition to daily short calls, we introduce a flexible but clear schedule (times to be online), and use the practice of specific hours to work without chats or meetings.
Of course, it is additionally up to the worker’s own discretion to use whatever methods for organizing work that suits them best. This could be the Pomodoro technique, using services to temporarily block notifications from social media, taking regular short rest breaks, or even listening to meditations during tasks. All of these things can help an employee maintain personal productivity and avoid burnout.
Step 2: Share Even Small Successes
To easily track progress on projects, you can visualize tasks with the help of task management services. Break down large projects into micro-tasks, share achievements, and celebrate each other’s successes on calls.
When the team sees success after each stage, not just at the end of the project, it is more motivating and shows what kind of work everyone is actually doing.
Step 3: Maintain Social Connections
Remember that team self-organization also doesn’t come without quality time off and face-to-face communication between employees. When you don’t have an office where you can discuss the weather or a movie episode at any minute, when you work remotely, part of your social life is lost. Colleagues stop feeling like part of a team, which means motivation decreases.
Create non-work chat rooms for informal communication between coworkers, hold virtual sit-downs or quizzes. Create your own team challenges or interest groups (e.g., a book club, a chat room for fitness or running enthusiasts, or a chat room for practicing Spanish).
Step 4: Encourage Employee Learning
Ask employees not only about their work plans for the next week, but also about their personal goals. Find out what the person would be interested in learning to feel more confident in their job.
Reimburse part of the training or language courses fees. If it isn’t possible to support everyone financially, think about the necessary internal resources, organize mentoring from leading managers, or hire a teacher for collective foreign language learning.
Step 5: Reward Employees Financially
Sure, virtual badges and employee progress bars are nice, but let’s be honest, nothing will boost motivation like monetary rewards.
Companies that care about their employees find ways to bring comfort and care even from a distance.
Why not give your team a chance to relax after a day of work? Paying for a Spotify or Netflix subscription is the best reward for those who find music and shows great for de-stressing.
Some companies allocate a budget to set up a home office (headphones, monitor, chair). Alternatively, reimbursement for renting a co-working space for those who find it difficult to work from home.
Conclusion
Remote work can be not only convenient but also effective if a company cares about its employees, providing all the tools and technology they need to work.
Remember that a strong distributed team isn’t built on endless zooms and task-tracks, but on trust, care, and comfort. If employees feel that they are thought of not only in moments of deadlines, but also in everyday life, they work with greater dedication.
I wish you to find the right balance between efficiency and comfort, between discipline and motivation, which will work for your company, even if your employees are thousands of kilometers away from each other.
About the Author – Nionila Ivanova
As the CEO of IT Creative Labs and creator of IT Project Management Training for women, Nionila exemplifies the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in the tech industry. Nionila has 15+ years of experience managing tech teams and leading projects with Agile and Waterfall methodologies. PMP Certified and a Certified Scrum Master. Tech Entrepreneur with an MBA in Computer Information Systems. Connect with Nionila on Instagram for insights into tech project management.
