Team management is a complex topic which requires time to be mastered and errors are inevitable. Remote team management embeds the risk to amplify them.
This time we will go through common pitfalls and their handling.
As a general rule, it’s not a problem to make mistakes, it’s part of the growth path of each one of us. What you need to avoid is letting things settle which, if neglected, can lead to missed opportunities and sometimes to a reduction in trust and even deterioration of the relationship, some of the founding principles on which a team runs both in person or in a distributed domain.
So how can we avoid them and how can we address them?
Pace is better than sprinting
Regular meetings are important if you manage an organisation dispersed across the territory. And an important corollary to this good practice is that meetings should not only run because they need to be done, but also meet the needs of the group in terms of efficiency and content. Fundamental is sharing content before and after the meeting so that people are able to come prepared and apply the effort on selected and clear next steps.
Other vey important point is defining a precise timing and discipline: how to work during the meeting to make it perform at its best?
Not all persons perceive the same level of inclusion
Always ask yourself whether different team members need support. Being part of a remote team can lead to a state of perceived isolation, even if you run everything in the right way . While many may love the autonomy working from home or far away from the main team provides, that doesn’t mean they don’t need support. Be clear with the support needs for your resources, whether they are concrete linked to tools or perhaps linked to the need to personalise the relationship, for example through regular “1 to 1” meetings. This leads to understand and customise the best type of support different team members need. Team members are typically diverse and complementary, so your resources will likely need different types of support. Choosing the right tool or approach can be an important booster in productivity and in creating a more stable relationship.
Don’t reinvent the wheel all the times
Lack of communication and lack of inclusion may lead to misunderstandings and running in circles doing same thing many times.
One first tool available is to clearly identify the tasks to each person, the second one is to avoid people duplicating efforts: pay attention to this subtle effect by observing and acting immediately when you notice it. The fact that work is no longer efficient may be a sign that some changes are needed regarding roles and responsibilities, priorities or communication.
Prioritise and measure continuously
Continuously manage priorities so as to avoid them conflicting with each other. Consistently measure what goal achievement looks like across your team and for everyone in your organisation; will help achieve a common and aligned approach to the reward mechanism.
