Be it through principle, design, or necessity, remote working is no longer a foreign concept to businesses around the world. While some companies may have already adopted a secure and efficient remote working infrastructure, other less adaptable enterprises have spent the past year learning about new working methods with little knowledge, experience, or time for training.

Switching to remote working has been, quite simply, a matter of survival in an extremely difficult year for businesses.

But if one thing is for sure, home working is here to stay – pandemic or no pandemic. That being the case, we believe that every business should learn how to manage remote teams successfully and maintain productivity away from the traditional office environment.

These are just a few tips that will help you keep on top of your IT configuration, support your employees, and manage your team in a positive way.

Ensure Your IT Network Provides Everything You Need

Your remote working set-up is only as good as the IT platform that it’s built on.

How many meetings have already been disrupted by poor communication? How many tools have let you down, and how many work procedures have been restricted due to basic, incompatible equipment or technology?

Your IT system is worth investing in. Make sure that your Wi-Fi is up-to-scratch and that your team has all the equipment they need. Headsets and modern computers will keep your team working effectively, while the appropriate seating and monitor mounts will look after their health and wellbeing.

Your IT network should include some form of cloud working in order to share live documents remotely, and network security should always be a top priority as well. Get your IT right and your team will have a much greater chance of working successfully.

Adopt Clever Communication Tools

Nothing says ‘remote working’ more than video technology. Whether it’s Zoom, Teams, or even Google Meet, you need to use the communication tools that are suited to your business.

Each communication tool comes with advantages and disadvantages, and there’s always a cost to consider with premium packages. However, similar to a capable IT configuration, powerful communication platforms will allow you to coach, guide, and interact with your colleagues in real-time. This is essential for successful remote working.

Make Time to Support Your Team

Everybody handles change differently, and this is no different in the workplace. As a manager, you still need to use your mentoring and support skills with a team that’s working from home.

If certain employees seem to be struggling or if their productivity levels have inexplicably dropped, make time to pick up the phone (or make a video call) and discuss their work with them. Support them, listen to their feedback, and make changes based on their thoughts. Just by taking the time to speak to your team and checking in on them, you’ll learn about different ways you can improve their remote working experience and get their contribution back-on-track.

Manage Expectations

Just because you’re working remotely, it doesn’t mean that you need to abandon all of your usual management principles from the office. In fact, many of the most important elements of managing your workforce come under the spotlight with remote working.

First of all, set clear and realistic expectations for your team. There’s no need to add unnecessary stress or anxiety with unrealistic targets – design achievable objectives and put a simple structure in place.

Remove obstacles, schedule daily check-ins, and create a platform that allows your team to communicate early-warnings or raise concerns about a deadline. Quick communication doesn’t always require a call – use instant messaging to check-in and update progress efficiently.

Trust Your Team

With a powerful IT configuration in place, clear objectives, a flexible approach, and communication tools that make reporting and scheduling simple, it’s time for you to get on with your day job. In other words – trust your team!

You wouldn’t watch over your team’s shoulders in the office, so there’s no need to do it from home. Micromanaging can be intimidating and disruptive: let your team do what they do best.

Should problems arise, you’ve already created a structure which allows problems to be logged and communicated. And when your business delivers the goods, remember to celebrate and identify positive results.

Remote Working with your IT Support Company

When it comes to finding a company to partner with for your IT support, you need one that is experienced in helping clients to quickly adapt to the remote working environment and implementing powerful and secure IT solutions. You may only require a few changes to get the most out of your system, or you might be considering a complete cloud-based overhaul instead.

If your staff are going to work remotely, it means you’re going to need a remote IT support service that can offer features like telephone assistance, 24/7 monitoring and maintenance and remote connectivity, as it would be impossible for an IT company to be able to visit the site of your remote working employees.

Whatever you have in mind, make sure they have the right credentials, and they are able to tailor their IT solutions to your needs.