When your team works remotely, you need quick responses from IT support when you bring on a new hire, lose data, or experience a security vulnerability. You also need to think about management and accountability issues differently. A business with staff members who work from home can’t operate in the same manner as a traditional office. Here’s a brief guide with tips for managing off-site employees.

How to Manage a Team Working Off-Site

1. Interact With Employees

Check in each morning via video conferencing to review agendas, set objectives, assess progress, and troubleshoot problems. Remote workers should never feel isolated. Confer with IT support about options to ensure compatibility and system requirements.

Businesses should have the technology to host conferences and request one-on-one meetings. Most apps — like Google Meet, Webex and Zoom, for example — provide a basic level of service for video calls and chats for free, but you may need a more robust solution.

2. Leverage Technology

High-performing teams need to communicate and collaborate. Using technology to keep communication channels open helps teams build trust and achieve goals. Every group has a preferred mode of staying in touch, whether it’s through email, text, chat, Slack, or a combination of those options.

When working remotely, however, everyone needs to know where to find information and get announcements. Your team of remote workers may rely on one channel over another for formal versus informal correspondence. To ensure engagement and participation, understand which tools and protocols to use for communication within the team and externally.

3. Focus on Results

If your team works remotely, you shouldn’t focus on time-clock punches. Instead, give remote employees some autonomy to accomplish tasks on their own and set their own hours. They’ll be happier and more productive as a result.

You have to rethink how you run your business when your employees work from home. To keep employees motivated, give them flexibility, not constraints.

4. Lean on IT Support

Teams working remotely need more resources than just a high-speed internet connection. They need business-savvy security solutions and capable management of their networks and cloud-based assets. Building a strong relationship with your IT support staff will help your team stay productive regardless of where they work.

The support teams at Reliant Management Consultant serve clients throughout the Washington D.C. region from their base in National Harbor, MD. Entrepreneurs and established businesses rely on them to keep their operations running smoothly and their networks and data safe. Visit them online to learn more about the advantages of outsourcing network and IT support services to a trusted partner or call (443) 775-3963 to schedule a consultation.