Thanks in large part to the global pandemic, 2020 brought with it an exponential rise in telecommuting for businesses of all sizes and in virtually every industry. And while we could debate the advantages and disadvantages of this trend, one thing is certain: everyone attempting to manage a remote workforce has faced obstacles in trying to achieve that task. What follows are some of the most common challenges that come with managing a remote team and how to most effectively deal with them.

• Communication between team members – If you manage a staff of telecommuters, you probably already know how important it is for you to communicate on a regular basis with each team member. This can be done over the phone, via email or messaging and/or video conferencing. But remember not to overlook the importance of facilitating communication between your team members as well. While there may be a variety of communication tools available for this purpose, and each individual may have a preferred means of communicating, it’s important that you as a manager choose whichever one will work best for your team, then let your staff know what tool(s) they should be using for that purpose. Essentially, what you’ll need to establish is a communication policy for your remote team.
• Recruitment and hiring – Finding the most qualified people who would best fit into your existing staff is a challenge even at the best of times. But recruiting and hiring new team members remotely, in the midst of a pandemic, is arguably one of the greatest challenges faced by remote team managers. If your existing team is solid and productive, adding the wrong member to that mix can be disastrous. Bringing a new member on in a traditional office environment is easier for a variety of reasons: the new employee has the opportunity to meet and interact with other team members face-to-face every day; you can train your new staff member yourself and/or assign a mentor to guide them along; and your new employee has a chance to become accustomed to the culture of your business, slowly but surely becoming an integral part of your team. But when everyone works in a different location, none of that is possible. That’s why it’s so important to make sure that any new staff member has experience in working remotely – so he or she understands the advantages and limitations of telecommuting from the get-go. And rather than just conducting interviews on your own, involve your trusted team members in the process as well, giving them a chance to meet the new person and weigh in on whether or not the new employee would be a good fit for the team. Finally, it’s crucial to make sure that any new team member has adequate training material available to assist them as they perform their new duties each day.
• The impersonal nature of telecommuting – The fact is that no matter how much you and your team communicate, working remotely is never the same as working together in an office environment day in and day out. One of the unfortunate outcomes is that telecommuters have a tendency to feel less company loyalty than would otherwise be the case if they were working on the company premises. Over time, that can lead to the remote worker feeling less like a team member and viewing the job as simply a paycheck.  And even the best manager can end up thinking of team members as a means to an end rather than as individuals. To overcome this, it’s essential to build trust with your remote team. One excellent way to do just that is through accurate, transparent, productivity measurement – which is exactly what MySammy provides. Our cloud-based software is specifically designed for managers of remote teams. It allows you to accurately assess how productive each team member is throughout the course of a workday, and it ensures your employees that their efforts are seen and recognized by management.

Managers of remote teams face obstacles, without a doubt. But with some careful planning on your part, and effective tools like MySammy, you can overcome those challenges and build a productive, cohesive, effective remote team. So what are you waiting for? Sign up for your FREE trial of MySammy today!