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The Dos and Don’ts of Managing a Remote Team - SAN Softwares

Remote Business Solutions
Advancements in technology have brought convenience to our lives. It has also enabled businesses to operate remotely. While working remotely has become the new norm due to its numerous benefits, businesses all over the world have been struggling to meet their objectives. If you’re looking for an answer to how to manage your business remotely, you are not alone. Managing a remote team can be difficult, and business owners are always looking for hacks and tools to make it easier. The most difficult challenge for managers when managing a remote team is ensuring productivity. When your entire team is working remotely, managing a large number of employees and exceeding targets appears to be more difficult. It's difficult to recreate the same environment that exists in the office. However, even though adapting to remote work can be difficult, there are several tools that can ease this transition for businesses. The right tools make it possible for virtual businesses to thrive. Although achieving good efficiency is more challenging in the case of remote teams, it is not an impossible feat to achieve. There are several things that business owners need to keep in mind while managing a remote team. While businesses can come up with well-thought-out strategies, the real challenge lies in the effective implementation of these strategies. Effective implementation can only be done with the help of the right tools and solutions. With the help of the right software solutions, businesses can manage themselves and get their teams to be productive, irrespective of where they are located.  

Remote Work: Advantages, Disadvantages, and Challenges 

Even though the recent trend of remote work has surfaced due to the pandemic, businesses have found it to be a feasible option. Various small businesses and startups have embraced remote work because of the many advantages it offers. It also serves the employees as it allows them to work from the comfort of an environment of their choice. Both businesses and employees save time and money. While businesses are able to avoid infrastructural expenses, their employees are able to save valuable time that is otherwise spent on a monotonous commute. Above all, it allows people to be more productive.   As for the disadvantages, business owners have a hard time managing remote teams, and as a result, overall productivity suffers. When the entire team is scattered across different locations and, in some cases, across different time zones, it becomes difficult for managers to manage projects and ensure accountability. There are several other disadvantages of remote work for businesses, such as a lack of communication and trust, and the inability to monitor their employees effectively. Employees working remotely find it difficult to stay motivated and avoid distractions. They may feel unheard and isolated as working remotely can be more difficult in comparison to working in an office. This is because, generally, office environments are charged with energy and motivate employees to do better. This is one of the biggest disadvantages experienced by remote employees. Overcoming these challenges is the biggest challenge faced by both parties. At the same time, several businesses prefer to have a hybrid team that has both regular and work-from-home employees. Managing a hybrid team has its own set of challenges. However, these can be overcome with the help of the right tools and the right strategy. Businesses must look for cloud-based software solutions that can make remote work easy for them. While there are several options available to choose from, it is important to settle for the right solution that can be customized to suit your requirements.

Remote Team Management Tips: The Dos and Don’ts of Managing a Remote Team

Managing a remote team is challenging and requires you to come up with a smart strategy. However, there are several mistakes that managers tend to make with remote teams. It is important to know the dos and don’ts of remote team management in order to come up with a viable strategy. In fact, knowing the things that you must avoid doing is more important as it prevents you from taking actions that will prove to be counterproductive in the long run. Listed hereunder are some important steps you should take, along with the ones that are best avoided, especially when managing a team of employees working remotely.  

Do’s 

Before we discuss the useful remote team management tips you are supposed to follow, we must discuss the mistakes people often make while managing a remote team. While some of these may feel like the right things to do, they end up doing more harm than good. People often make these mistakes for a number of reasons. Some of these are:  
  • Say No to Micromanagement 
While the worries of working with a remote team are understandable, it is very easy for managers to cross the fine line between monitoring and micromanagement. Managers in conventional offices have the luxury of keeping an eye on everything and everyone. This is not the case with remote teams, and it gives rise to the urge to micromanage everything. Many people don’t even realize when they are micromanaging their employees. While it is acceptable to ask for follow-ups on tasks and get timely updates, you do not need to ask for hourly updates or track every single activity of your employees. Micromanagement can be extremely stressful for the people who are at its receiving end. It is a counterproductive thing to do, as it tends to demotivate people who are on its receiving end. Instead, set small but realistic targets and encourage your team to ace those.  
  • Expecting 24/7 availability 
While it should go without saying, many employers expect employees to be available at all times. It tends to be exhausting and stressful for the employees, who find it difficult to Just because your employees are working from the comfort of their homes, do not expect them to be available to work at odd hours. Expecting employees to work beyond their schedules will be inconsiderate on your part. Respect your team’s time and personal space and do not disturb them at odd hours. Your employees need time to unwind and manage other things. They need to strike a good work-life balance as this will help them come back to work rejuvenated. This is necessary as it allows people to give their best at work and be more productive.  
  • Not setting clear goals 
Not setting clear goals is a mistake you don’t want to make, especially when working with remote teams. Tell your remote employees about your future plans, goals, and vision. This makes them feel valued and fosters a sense of belonging and responsibility. Set realistic and achievable goals for them to help them stay motivated. You should also acknowledge and appreciate them when their performance exceeds your expectations, as this encourages them to outdo themselves.    
  • Not planning your interactions 
Since effective communication is the only way to manage a remote team, it goes without saying that you should plan your interactions with your staff. Since your remote employees may have different schedules, not all of them will be available at the same time. Activities such as meetings and even team-building activities should happen in a planned and systematic manner. Set a meeting schedule, inform your teammates beforehand, and urge everyone to come prepared. This is crucial as not having a set agenda results in a lot of valuable time getting wasted in virtual meetings. A remote working software solution can help you plan your meetings better.  
  • Being inconsiderate 
Good leaders need to be accommodating and understanding. Better yet, you need to be accommodating and understanding to be called a good leader. While it is understandable for leaders to push their team members and urge them to do better, they must be sensitive and understanding when an employee ends up under-delivering. We all have good and bad days, and even though we try to give our best, occasionally we encounter hurdles that prevent us from doing so. It is not uncommon for some managers to dismiss explanations as excuses. A high-handed approach may not go down well with your employees, and you may end up losing some of them. In the end, it will be more detrimental to the overall productivity of your company. Therefore, you should be considerate of your employees’ problems and offer support. This helps you to build trust with your employees and has proven to be profitable in the long run.  

Don’ts 

There are several things that you must do to effectively manage your remote team. Some of these are:  
  • Build trust within your team 
While adjusting to remote work can be challenging for your company at first, it is essential that you have faith in your staff. For some people, the concept of not having direct control over things is disconcerting, and it leads them to micromanage everything. Micromanagement may appear to be beneficial to them, but it actually causes more harm than good. For your staff, working in isolation may already be tough and stressful, and micromanagement only adds to their stress. This is why you should refrain from micromanaging them and give them the independence they require to perform well. Instead, be available to assist them whenever they need help. This goes a long way toward developing trust and is beneficial to your business as it encourages employees to perform better.      
  • Ensure seamless communication 
How to manage a remote team effectively?  The answer lies in establishing good communication. Communication suffers the most when working remotely. Miscommunication and a lack of communication can lead to misunderstandings and have a detrimental influence on productivity. By not paying special attention to communication within the team, businesses set themselves up for failure. It is critical for businesses to maintain open lines of communication among their employees in order to build team spirit. The lack of appropriate tools is a major obstacle that businesses encounter in establishing seamless communication with their teams. Communication must be planned ahead of time. It is advisable to schedule meetings and set an agenda in advance so that you and your team may come prepared. This helps businesses save valuable time, which otherwise gets wasted in the absence of well-established communication channels.      
  • Foster a sense of responsibility 
When building and managing a remote team, it pays to have employees that have a sense of responsibility in them. Such employees are an asset as they prove to be instrumental in the growth of your business. The best way to get the most out of your remote team is to instill a sense of responsibility in them. Some people may develop a negligent approach toward their work. This is a common problem faced by employers with remote employees. Although remote work allows your employees to work from the comfort of their own homes, they are still supposed to be accountable. It's essential that they develop a sense of personal responsibility and stick to the schedule. You can keep track of your team's activities and performance by investing in the right software solution.  
  • Ensure Employee Well-Being 
The current remote work trend arose largely as a result of the pandemic and has had a negative impact on people's mental health. Working in isolation can make people feel demotivated, which further hampers their productivity. Looking after your employee's well-being is crucial, as it helps you build trust. There are several steps you can take, such as scheduling team-building activities on a regular basis, connecting with employees individually, and offering assistance to those who are struggling. When your employees are not stressed, they can work more efficiently. This will further assist you in increasing productivity and profitability.  
  • Invest in the right tools.
Managing a remote team is far more difficult than managing a regular in-office team, especially in the absence of the right tools. It is important for businesses to invest in the right remote team software in order to streamline operations and optimize processes. While a good strategy will help you manage your remote team, the right tools will help you implement your strategies effectively. In addition, your remote employees need to communicate with each other in order to share crucial information. They also need a robust cloud-based software solution that can help them collaborate and work together as a team. All of this tends to get complicated when all teams are not in the same office building. A reliable remote team software solution will help you ensure that the exchange of information among different departments is carried out seamlessly and accurately. This can only be achieved with the right software solution that can handle multiple processes.  

Need for Remote Working Software Solution 

The success of a remote business is determined by how it manages its team. Management is responsible for a large percentage of a company's operational expenses and has a direct impact on profitability. It's crucial to create a management system that can effectively monitor and track your remote team's activity and progress. It is difficult to achieve operational efficiency unless the appropriate software solutions and tools are integrated into the existing setup. Businesses are gradually shifting their focus to smart software solutions that address multiple concerns at once. Enterprise management software allows businesses to do away with multiple software solutions.  

How to manage your business remotely with VedaERP? 

 VedaERP, developed by SAN Softwares, is a reliable enterprise resource planning software solution. It is an ideal solution for managing sales, inventory, leads, accounting, taxes, teams, projects, and much more. It effectively eliminates the need for separate software solutions for each of these. It is a cloud-based software solution, and therefore, ideal for managing a remote team. It can help you simplify and streamline your business operations and management. It is an ideal solution for accounting, sales, e-invoices, GST return filing, purchase management, project management, inventory, and team management. VedaERP can be easily integrated with your existing CRM.   The VedaERP is a multipurpose and multi-featured solution that makes it easy for you to manage operations.  
  • Lead Management 
VedaERP is a powerful lead management system that simplifies lead monitoring and scoring. It's an intelligent lead management solution that allows you to register new leads, update databases, measure progress, and get more control. The lead dashboard gives you quick access to all of your leads and all of the information you need.  
  • Target Management 
With the target management function, you can quickly assign and manage targets. You can track an agent's progress and access agent-specific target reports once you've assigned a new target to them. You can also calculate the agent's margin. This is quite beneficial in terms of meeting goals and efficiently managing operations.  
  • Project Management 
VeaERP makes project creation and management easy. You can create multiple projects, assign tasks to different team members, and monitor progress. You can also update tasks, make adjustments, and track how much time each team member spends on each one. It helps you track the efficiency and productivity of your remote team.  
  • Sales Management 
The VedaERP makes it easy to manage sales orders and invoices. You can also create credit notes and generate e-bills. With the dynamic field feature, it is easy to send personalized messages to customers. You can also export invoices to other apps.  
  • Sales Team Management 
You can use the sales team management function to track leads, monitor client balances, review active and expired contracts, and more. It provides you with information on the targets that your agents have achieved. It can also be used to calculate the incentives earned by each agent.     Apart from these features, VedaERP can assist you in managing your entire team. You can organize your week-off rosters using the leave management feature. Your staff will be able to use the mobile apps to submit leave requests. VedaERP is a one-stop-shop remote working software solution for managing finances, leads, projects, sales, and inventories. It can make managing your remote team a breeze and will help your business unlock its true potential.    

Frequently Asked Questions

The key "Dos" include setting clear expectations, maintaining regular communication, fostering team collaboration, providing the right tools for remote work, and showing trust in your team’s ability to deliver. 

Productivity can be ensured by setting clear goals, tracking progress through project management tools, providing necessary resources, and maintaining flexibility while expecting accountability. 

Flexibility is vital, especially with team members in different time zones or with varying personal schedules. Allowing flexibility shows respect for individual work-life balance while still meeting deadlines. 

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SAN Softwares is a company dedicated to providing complete software solutions to Corporate and end-user customers.

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