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If you are new to remote teams (post January 2020), you are grappling with the concept of productivity and your own ego of knowing where everyone is at any moment, which was simple enough when you had the “OFFICE”

The new working landscape has not just thrust you into a relatively new way of working yourself, but also to manage teams under you while trying to stay competitive, innovative and cutting edge in an increasingly digital world.

Buffer released a report on the State of Remote working which touched upon what remote teams struggled with the most. Understanding some of these key points can help create strategies towards keeping and motivating your stellar team! 

Your team is the foundation on which your product is created or serviced. Look after your foundation and your product & client will be just fine! So here’s a crash course on keeping your remote teams motivated.

Over Communicate

Considering 90+% of communication is done using body language, you now have to make up for this using chat or VC platforms. Don’t assume your team has understood the tone in which you’ve communicated it if it's on chat (Non Verbal / Non Visual). Less misunderstandings lead to better team dynamics

Check in with them frequently

Every personnel has different living conditions. Some may be living in an apartment or a shared accommodation where they don’t have common access to a park or nature as a result may feel very disconnected. Make sure you have daily or weekly check ins that cover more than productivity

Create a virtual watercooler

Work and impromptu discussions occur seamlessly within a workspace however, its not the case in virtual world. Create chat channels where non related work chats are encouraged. Sharing of activities, books or music can help team members get to know one another better. Running virtual quizzes and workouts also help stimulate the brain and body.

Take Personality Tests

Strength Finder, Myer Briggs & Kolbe Index’s are all great tools to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of your team along with suggestions on how to address the right tasks to certain personalities for the best results. 

Accountability & Trust over How Much

Understanding distractions are common place with individuals working remotely, it's important to focus on what has to be achieved (result) and a realistic time to achieve it rather than how much has to be done within a day.

Right Tools for the job

Only too often do we see team members use the wrong tools to execute a job. It’s paramount that your team has the appropriate tools / software to run the task at hand & ensure you get the desired result. This can range from Chat software to Document Management or presentation tools on the soft side to the right hardware - Computer, Desks, peripherals or hardware tools required to piece a product together.

Be Fair & Kind

It’s easy to be misunderstood among remote teams and end up with a very different result. This can occur because two team members may not share a common language, have very different experiences if they live in different parts of the world or possibly distracted for a number of reasons. Be sure to address the issue by identifying the cause of it, where this could have occurred & set processes in place to ensure it never repeats.