Managing a team over distance

Managing a virtual team means using on a daily basis phones, e-mail, webinar tools and maybe something like Slack (or another collaboration platform) to get work done. But are you using these tools effectively?

Using appropriate tools

For example, if you feel uncomfortable delivering bad news, you may prefer to deliver it via e-mail, which is fast and at the same time convenient since you aren’t at risk of having to deal with emotions and forced to endure an unpleasant conversation. Ultimately, however, doing things this way will damage the dynamics within your team. So don’t always choose to take the easy way out.

Illustration

E-mail is appropriate only when you need to communicate as quickly as possible and the message must be consistent. However, even in urgent cases, you should consider the possibility of also providing something like a Q&A forum, or a page where employees can vent their feelings, share information and you can react to their concerns.

Don’t reject tools that may help your team

Effective leadership is all about communicating effectively even across long distances. So if you do not use a tool because you think it is too complicated or because you just don't like it, think about the consequences this decision might have for your team. You may be depriving them of an ideal tool which could save much time and effort.

Furthermore, if you are deliberately refusing to use a certain tool, the rest of your team probably won’t want to challenge your decision and just won't mention it to you. These cautionary words are from an article on the management-issues.com website.

Need interaction? Organise smaller sessions

Sometimes you really should listen to your employees. Especially in the case of remote workers, you should be familiar with their opinions or you need to learn of their concerns so as to be able to answer them. In this case, one-way webinars or town hall conference calls with only limited interaction won’t really help.

So even if the platform is good, it may not be sufficient at a particular moment. In that case, it would be advisable to arrange smaller sessions which will be more interactive.

-jk-

Article source Management Issues - British website cntaining practical information, tips and advice to managers
Read more articles from Management Issues