Having a remote team may be daunting at first. It has a different set of challenges compared to managing an onsite team. Despite the distance and maybe even time difference, there are plenty of ways to maximize team productivity and collaboration.

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 Here are some of the most common questions technopreneurs may have about running a remote team – and the answers and tips to help them manage their employees better.

How do you find the right people for your team?

What kind of skills do you look for in an employee? If you are hiring for an onsite team, that can be answered easily however, for a remote worker, there are certain considerations.

Aaron Vicks, Chief Strategy Officer for Cicayda, a legal tech firm that combines cloud-based eDiscovery software with legal expertise, has a recommendation. Vicks suggests that the most important quality to look for is being a self-starter.

This means that employees have to excel at self-management and communication. Remote working is also a solitary task. Entrepreneurs looking for remote members of their team should hire people who don’t mind the lack of daily, in-person socialization from the workplace.

Of course, to determine these qualities, you must create an in-depth pre-hire process or tasks around their possible role. You may also want to give them personality quizzes to answer. 

What kind of tools do you need to manage your team?

Large corporations may have customized software management tools, but startups and small businesses can also use free or inexpensive management tools, such as a kanban board.

A kanban board is a generic term for online boards that allow you to create task cards, assign them to different employees and set deadlines. Employees can make the stage of the task as they go along so that everyone can track the project’s progress. Examples include Trello, Slack, Monday, Basecamp, and more.

However, by using the free version of these tools, you may not have access to full functionality. Leila Bulling Towne of The Bulling Towne Group, LLC recommends that it would be better to invest in such tools and then develop clear processes within the organization when and how to use such tools.

Another handy tool is a time-tracking tool where you can set clear objectives, check on your employees’ performance, and increase productivity. This is especially helpful to businesses that pay remote teams by the hour. This makes payroll calculation more accurate. It eliminates the chances of underpaying or overpaying someone for their time.

By having a timesheet software, remote teams will be more mindful about how much time they spend on tasks, which can improve their concentration and fend off distractions.

How do you keep employees engaged?

Communication with remote teams should not just mean a thread of emails and texts over messaging apps. The key is engagement and making them feel like they are part of an onsite team.

Priyanka Prakash, lending and credit expert at Fundera, suggests having daily, check-in video calls. For her, video is key because it makes both parties take the call more seriously and come fully prepared.

“During the call, we discussed the previous day’s work, the current day’s agenda, and any questions or things the individual was blocked on. The video component and the fact that this meeting occurred daily made my reports feel like they were fully part of the onsite team,” she said.

Wayne Anderson from the Leadership Science Institute LLC also suggests giving your remote team to as much access to you as possible. This is because remote employees don’t see their managers in the halls, eat with you at lunch, stop by your office, etc. This could also mean scheduled one-on-one sessions with members of your remote team.

“The remote people don’t have that access and can feel distant. Respond to them as quickly as possible. Make your local people set appointments,” he said.

If possible, organize team bondings or outings when you get a chance to visit your team. If this cannot be done anytime soon, you can engage them some other way. For example, post fun questions on your chat channel to stimulate casual conversation. During video chats, you can also schedule a few minutes for an icebreaker games such as two truths and one lie.

Ryne Higgins, senior manager of ecommerce at Peacock Alley, recommends setting up a “Just for Fun” messaging channel in your organization’s enterprise social network.

Higgins said that by creating a team-wide messaging channel or email thread specifically designated for non-work related banter, it can create closeness among remote employees.

“This could include jokes, memes, new songs or videos, or any other topics that brings some fun to the workplace,” Higgins said

How do you keep track of progress?

Some entrepreneurs may feel comfortable setting up their remote team to work in a co-working space so that they could accurately log working hours. Usually, these co-working spaces are set up in another city or country with lower rent.

However, for individual remote employees who work from their own home, the real estate costs and office expenses are eliminated completely but there is no way to know how your worker spends his or her day.

Is this a big deal? For online business consultant Ilean Harris, the first step is to set clear expectations.

“Everyone has a different idea of what doing something “quickly” or “well” means. Whether showing examples of what you expect to be done, calendar sharing, etc., make sure you have clear expectations from those you work with online,” she said.

Consultant Donald Hatter believes the same thing. For Hatter, business owners should stay focused on goals and not on activities.

“Don’t worry as much about what is being done. Instead, concentrate on what is being accomplished. If we are meeting our goals, then great. If not, we need to look into the situation further. It is all about accomplishment, not activity,” he said.

For managers who want to be more hands-on with their team, Deborah Goldstein of DRIVEN Professionals suggests to arrange an appropriate number of weekly formal “report-ins.”

“Second, set guidelines about daily needs. Some people work better with a shopping list of questions and thoughts while others like a trickle,” Goldstein said.

According to her, an understanding of what is urgent will further mitigate inefficiency, allowing ultimate productivity. With these tips on managing your remote team, you can enhance productivity and also foster company culture.

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