Managing

How to effectively lead remote/telework teams.

Checklist

Create a culture of trust

• Set expectations for working in the open so the whole team is accountable to each other – and hold yourself to the same standard.
• Make sure your telework policies and team agreements focus on outcomes and results, not just time spent working.
• Be vulnerable and human with your team – show them by example that it’s okay to struggle with a problem or ask a question.

Set expectations and norms

• Establish work assignment logs or other tracking tools to provide specific and attainable performance expectations for all employees — those in the office and remote workers.
• Create and write down team agreements to establish baselines for things like:
  • Appropriate response times for different communication channels
  • When to use email vs. group chat vs. other tools
  • Remote meeting etiquette
  • How to submit work, track time, ask questions

Empower your team

• Acknowledge challenges out loud (via group chat, video call, etc.) and give your team a safe platform to talk about any strain they are experiencing.
• Normalize failure and encourage people to acknowledge and learn from their mistakes. This will not make your teams fail more, it will empower them to succeed.
• Encourage “distributed leadership” – rather than trying to micromanage everything, allow natural leaders to emerge and let teams self-organize when they are comfortable doing so.

Over-communicate

• Make sure policies, plans, and other important documents are easily accessible to teams through a “Single Source of Truth” or central location.
• Use multiple channels to communicate important information (i.e., email, group chat, video call announcement).
• Hold virtual “office hours” where anyone can drop by with a question or concern.
• Schedule regular All Hands calls where you can share updates with the whole team, or invite team members to present on their projects.
• Establish regular check-ins for project updates or smaller teams:
  • What I did yesterday
  • What I’m working on today
  • Questions / concerns / action items

Understand everyone’s context

• Take some time to learn about various work styles and communication styles and how they will affect each individual’s remote work approach.
• Be aware of cultural differences that may affect distributed team dynamics (i.e., speaking up to participate in the conversation vs. remaining silent on video calls)
• During check-ins with direct reports, specifically ask about any concerns they have, and see how you can support them.

Build human connection

• Schedule topic-based social video calls to build connection and camaraderie for team members (i.e., favorite movies, funny pet stories, family traditions).
• Develop remote rituals for celebrating with the team and acknowledging contributions.
• Create virtual spaces for “water cooler” and non-work interactions (i.e., group chat channels focused on music, gardening, or other commonly shared interests).
• Encourage everyone to take a few minutes at the beginning of virtual meetings to acknowledge “humanness” by asking about the other person’s day, weekend plans, or other topics of general interest.

Resources

Guidance

• Telework Manager FAQs (U.S. Office of Personnel Management)

Posts

• The manager’s manual for remote work (Slack)
• Remotely Managing (Stella Garber on Medium)
• How to build a remote team (GitLab)
• How to lead a distributed team (Range)
• A guide to managing your (newly) remote workers (Harvard Business Review)
• Managing distributed project teams (Project Management Institute)

Videos

• Remote Work How To: Tips For Managing A Remote Team
• The 21 Rules for Managing Remote Teams

Related

• Communications
• Meetings
• Project management
• Security