{"id":12444,"date":"2019-07-11T06:05:42","date_gmt":"2019-07-10T20:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/recruitloop.com\/blog\/?p=12444"},"modified":"2023-05-10T07:10:53","modified_gmt":"2023-05-10T14:10:53","slug":"three-biggest-mistakes-managers-make-with-remote-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/three-biggest-mistakes-managers-make-with-remote-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Biggest Mistakes Managers Make with Remote Teams"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Editor’s Note:<\/em><\/strong> This is a guest post by <\/em>Marina<\/em><\/strong> Vorontsova<\/em><\/strong>. She is a copywriter from <\/em>Soshace.com<\/em><\/strong>, a hiring platform for web developers. Her opinions are her own.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

Managing any team can be a daunting challenge. When it comes to remote work, it\u2019s even tougher: you\u2019re not physically present, you cannot communicate with co-workers face-to-face, there\u2019s lack of proper collaboration, and sadly, the subject is not yet extensively covered in management literature. However, thanks to an ample number of online resources presently available and our own expertise in building a fully remote company, we can share some of the mistakes that you\u2019d better avoid in managing a remote workforce.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

Unfortunately, we\u2019ve been there before and made some of those mistakes ourselves; nevertheless, we\u2019ve been able to overcome many challenges associated with remote work and we continue to strive for excellence sharing our experience with the other companies which undergo transitions to remote work. Let\u2019s address some of the major mistakes managers make in detail below.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

Micromanaging vs Leading<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n

At some point in time, everyone struggles with micromanagement. If you\u2019re slightly aware of the phenomenon, but not sure exactly what it is, let\u2019s briefly define the term. Micromanagement is an inefficient style of management whereby a manager closely observes and controls the work of their subordinates. While, at first, it might seem like a good idea — to oversee everything that happens within and outside the team — this approach bears negative connotations because it implies the lack of freedom in the workforce, the inexperience of a manager, lack of trust, and inability to focus on major details defining the business.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

If you\u2019re not sure if you\u2019ve been micromanaging your team all the way, then these are the major symptoms to watch out for:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

  • monitoring and assessing every step of the business process;<\/li>
  • being irritated when someone makes the decision without consulting you;<\/li>
  • asking for unnecessary and overly detailed reports;<\/li>
  • checking in on procedural trivia; and finally, showing off your narcissistic behavior. <\/li><\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n

    Even if you have noticed that you\u2019ve been slightly behaving in the ways described above, it\u2019s high time you thought of changing your management style from micromanaging your team to actually leading it.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

    Besides, remote work is a tricky one. You can\u2019t just walk to a person\u2019s desk to check in on them, you have to message them on Skype, Slack, Whatsapp, any other messaging app you use; but what if that person is in a different time zone, has a baby, or something else? Sometimes remote communication cannot be scalable, and some of the issues cannot be resolved instantaneously, you really have to learn to exercise patience and trust your employees.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

    There are a few suggestions on how to deal with those issues. Instead of being reactive, try to be proactive and prevent similar issues from happening in the future. To do exactly that, work on the workflow and procedures beforehand, establish a clear onboarding process, organize trainings, so everyone on the team knows how to deal with customers, partners, sponsors, and so on. However, even if you have all processes smoothed out and taken care of on paper, there will always be problems, no matter what. In this case, you need to have a fallback plan ready that will ensure everyone on the team gets timely updates, has time to catch up, respond, etc.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

    We understand it\u2019s really hard to trust employees, especially if they are based miles away from you, but we highly advise you to make everything possible to help employees earn your trust. These are a few suggestions of how you can benefit from establishing mutual trust with your coworkers.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

    While giving autonomy to your subordinates, try not to go overboard and give more freedom than your employees actually need. Supervision and monitoring still play critical roles in the management process, so it\u2019s essential to find your balance. Accept failure, guide through hardships, and celebrate achievements. <\/strong>Avoid checking in every hour or every day if need be; establish regular meetings where you ask for everyone\u2019s progress on a project; embrace recruitment software, where everyone logs into their daily activities; put time trackers on their computers; delegate supervision to other team members, etc.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

    Hours vs Output<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n

    Since we have already mentioned putting time tracking software on your employees\u2019 computers, it\u2019s worth noting that sometimes, tracking your employees is not the answer. At Soshace, we use an employee tracking system from Hubstaff, since all of the remote developers we work with are paid by the hour. However, most of the other employees\u2019 work is measured by output. Performance can be estimated based against monthly or weekly KPIs or any other milestones.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

    For example, for copywriting, it might be the number of articles published per week, for lead hunters — the number of leads taken care of, for sales – the number of successful deals, etc.\u00a0 The output is, as always, what truly means in business growth and development, not how many hours your employees actually work but how much they deliver.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

    HR vs No HR<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n

    If you think you can manage your team on your own or without qualified professionals who specialize in recruiting, on-boarding, and managing talent — then you\u2019re making a big mistake. Finding qualified talent, understanding the intricacies of the interviewing process, supporting new employees through onboarding — these are the things that are better be taken care of separately by a certified recruiter or an HR specialist. Besides, a professional will help you build and develop an inclusive diverse culture, scale your team as soon as you realize there are not enough resources, prevent conflicts or solve problems, advise on appropriate communication channels, recruitment software, and many more.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

    Conclusion<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n

    Instead of trying to micromanage every single process that happens within your organization, become a leader who actually leads and can be trusted. In return, learn how to trust others and make it easier for employees to earn your trust. Sometimes hours do not matter, what matters is the output or the value an employee brings to your company.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

    Not sure how to deal with all this? Hire a professional HR specialist or recruiter, who\u2019s going to help you find talent quickly, establish company culture, make onboarding smooth, and help manage your employees.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    With modern workplaces becoming distributed and workforces more commonly being located globally, managing remote teams can be challenging. In this post, our author lists 3 tips on how to successfully manage remote teams.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":291,"featured_media":12448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[147],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n3 Biggest Mistakes Managers Make with Remote Teams - Zippia For Employers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/three-biggest-mistakes-managers-make-with-remote-teams\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"3 Biggest Mistakes Managers Make with Remote Teams - Zippia For Employers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With modern workplaces becoming distributed and workforces more commonly being located globally, managing remote teams can be challenging. 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