Whether fully remote or hybrid, working from home is here to stay. As welcome as it might be, this trend has also brought a slew of challenges. For instance, office buildings had to go through a transformation process with many being converted into coworking spaces or even into apartments to deal with the fleeing workforce. Similarly, brick-and-mortar businesses also felt the ripples of the remote work trend, having lost a lot of their appeal in favor of e-commerce, which boomed.

On a personal level, individual lifestyles also suffered some changes with living spaces becoming a crucial component of a home. Remote workers, for instance, have been carving out space for home offices in their abodes. As a result, many people turned to storage away from home to deal with their less frequently used belongings, allowing their homes to stay uncluttered and breezy. This is one of the reasons behind the recent growth of the self storage industry, which has enjoyed unprecedented demand. In fact, about 20% of Americans are using self storage, based on StorageCafe recent estimates.

Another interesting aspect that many people have had to adjust to is managing a remote team. Working in the same environment with your team members can make it easy to interact with them to offer support, feedback and more. But when you’re doing it from behind the screen, you need to rethink your management style. And you’re likely to need to do so with about 12% of the workforce now working from home. If you’re among the managers leading a remote team, you’re likely to face new challenges. To help you navigate them smoothly, we’ve put together a list of tips for remote management:

Tips for Managing a Remote Team

1.   Know your company’s remote work policies and procedures.

Managing a team traditionally in person and doing it remotely takes two different approaches. Make sure you find out your company’s policies regarding remote work to model your management style accordingly. Think of the pre-pandemic culture and see what tools and procedures you can use to maintain it as you manage your team remotely.

2.   Establish clear guidelines and expectations from the get-go.

To successfully switch to a remote management model, it’s crucial to communicate expectations for your team from the beginning. This can help them clearly understand their role, responsibilities and performance expectations. Moreover, it can help employees achieve not only organizational goals, but also personal goals. You can revisit these guidelines from time to time to maintain clarity and ensure employees thrive while contributing to the success of the organization.

3.   Keep an open line of communication.

Communication is essential to keeping in touch with your team. Make it a daily habit to stay connected whether it’s through a short video call, email or instant message. Teams can set up their own communication style and frequency to streamline the work process and build relationships at the same time.

Apart from daily communication, make time for deliberate check-ins with your team and one-on-one conversations. Overall, one-on-ones help to address challenges, support career development and align goals. Focus on providing constructive feedback and encourage your team members to also provide feedback. There is research to back up the benefits of one on ones, too — according to a recent survey, employees who have regular meetups with their supervisors tend to be more engaged.

4.   Keep company goals in mind.

To help keep your team accountable, you need to consider metrics that you can quickly assess. Working remotely makes it vital that they be clear so that you and your team can assess their performance. For this reason, key performance indicators (KPIs) are an excellent way to keep tabs on your team’s work. This can include the number of sales made, hours spent with clients or other indicators depending on the industry.

5.   Use technology to facilitate remote work.

You can leverage plenty of technology to work remotely from project management tools such as Slack, Trello or Asana or tech that protects information such as remote monitoring and management software (RMM). Leverage videoconferencing tools such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom to create more opportunities for face-to-face time with your team, which can increase team engagement and help to cultivate work relationships.

6.   Cultivate trust with your team.

Trust lies at the basis of any relationship, and that principle applies to a work context as well. Create an atmosphere of trust by establishing clear and attainable goals, being available for support and communication and providing regular feedback. Avoid micromanaging your team and allow them time to develop their remote work style as they adapt to the new setting. You can also delegate tasks and involve your team in decision-making to further cultivate trust.

It’s estimated that by 2028 all teams will have some remote workers. Therefore, setting a working relationship based on trust is a surefire way to ensure that the remote work model is successful for employers and employees alike.

7.   Embrace flexibility.

Be prepared to be flexible with work schedules and other work arrangements to help benefit all team members. Being on different time zones or having to address needs of a family member are examples of situations that call for a flexible schedule. Offering support in these cases can help improve performance and keep the morale up. You can suggest a few core hours when the entire team is available to ensure meetings and communication go smoothly.

8.   Create socializing opportunities.

Just because you’re working remotely with your team, don’t skip opportunities to connect with them in person. Organize team-building outings and other casual gatherings. This helps the team catch up with coworkers and have conversations that would naturally occur in an office. Moreover, organize virtual gatherings to allow for small talk and games to play to bring the team together.

Managing a remote team can be a challenging venture, but as long as you establish clear expectations and build trust with your team, you can contribute to improved team performance, and increase worker satisfaction, too. This way, you help support a productive and motivating work environment for your team and increase your personal job satisfaction in the process.