5 Tips For Building A High-Performing Remote Team
Developing the right skills and setting up the right processes to hire, manage, and retain top talent within a remote team can be a challenge, especially when you’re just starting out. For example, how do you know if your remote workers are high-performing? And what makes them that way? Do you need an employee tracker or other software to monitor performance? If you feel like your company could benefit from employing more virtual workers but are unsure where to start, this 5-step guide will give you everything you need to build a high-performing remote team.
5 Tips For Building A High-Performing Remote Team
1) Define Your Work Ethic
The first step to building a remote team is to clearly define your work ethic. What are your core values? What working hours do you expect employees to keep? What is your policy on communication? By setting the tone for what you expect from your team, you'll be able to more easily find and onboard employees who fit with your company culture. It is really important to share your vision with employees to help understand the work ethic too. When recruiting people for your remote team, make sure they understand how their role fits into the bigger picture and why it's important to them personally. Lastly, create accountability and responsibility. It's important to create an environment where employees feel accountable to their goals and responsibility towards their colleagues in order to build trust among all members of the team. One way you can do this is by establishing regular check-ins or reporting processes that involve managers and individual contributors alike so that everyone feels like they have a stake in the business' success.
2) Communicate
One of the most important things you can do when building a remote team is to over-communicate. Because you’re not in the same physical space, it’s easy for things to get lost in translation. So err on the side of over-communication and make sure everyone is on the same page. If there are any unanswered questions or something was missed in a conversation, repeat yourself until you know that they understand what you want them to do.
3) Set Goals
Defining and setting goals is critical for any team, but it's especially important for remote teams. Without clear goals, team members can quickly become disengaged and feel like they're not contributing to the overall success of the team. Establish checkpoints or milestones at specific intervals so that all team members know where they are in relation to achieving the desired outcome. It also gives you a chance to assess progress as well as offer feedback and guidance if needed.
4) Encourage Collaboration
Building a remote team takes careful planning and execution, therefore you must ensure your team members can work seamlessly with each other. Encourage collaboration by using tools that facilitate communication and allow for easy sharing of information. Set clear expectations and goals for each team member. Schedule regular check-ins and check-ins with individual team members. Foster a culture of transparency and trust. Celebrate successes and learn from failures together.
5) Hold Each Other Accountable
One of the most important things you can do for your remote team is to hold each other accountable. This means setting clear expectations and then following up to make sure those expectations are being met. It can be easy to let things slide when you're not in the same room as your team, but it's important to stay on top of things to ensure everyone is doing their part. It also helps to establish a routine for meetings, where everyone knows what time they need to attend and how long they'll be there. Meetings are great opportunities to get feedback or clarify expectations so that no one is ever left wondering what they should be working on next.
