Remote working: Mistakes to avoid for effective employee management

Relying too much on email

Emailing is arguably the most common form of business communication. However, to effectively manage employees when working remotely, email should not be your primary form of communication.

Email limits open discussions. They don't meet everyone's emotional needs. While this is a quick way to communicate, try other means that encourage more interaction to form a strong working relationship.

With free online calls, you can talk about anything with the team and get instant feedback. It's also a great way to communicate because you'll learn visual cues that aren't expressed verbally.

Micro management

Many remote managers confuse micromanagement with necessary monitoring activities. Calling your employees once a minute or sending an email every hour will only lead to unnecessary pressure, affect work, and inevitably lead to a toxic work culture.

Instead, you should be flexible when setting schedules or deadlines, as long as employees get the best results. Also, offer a maximum response time so employees don't feel obligated to respond to every text or call right away, especially when they're on an important task.

Not giving direction and setting clear expectations

When you give employees a task, you know exactly what you want from them, but that doesn't mean your team will understand it as well.

To effectively manage employees working remotely, it's always important to give a detailed direction and set clear expectations with the remote team. If you're not communicating expectations effectively, you're putting people at a great disadvantage. The productivity, efficiency, and deadlines of your remote workers can only be achieved if you have clear, concise instructions.

Whenever assigning tasks to a remote team, you must be extremely clear and prompt employees to repeat their verbal instructions to make sure everyone has understood exactly what you are expecting.

Don't set standards for the group

Perhaps the biggest mistake you can make when managing remote teams is saying no to doing.

Do you tell your team to be on time for online meetings but then show up 10 minutes late? Would you say you respect your employees work-life balance but then email them all weekend? If you want your remote team to thrive, doing such actions will not bring success.

Your team will look to you to set standards for what is and isn't acceptable. So you need to demonstrate the values ​​you want your employees to carry.

Making remote work means more work

Your employees may be handling a variety of tasks, both work and childcare. Besides, they always want to please you and have a hard time saying "no", especially in an environment where they think they have to prove their worth to the business. All will make the line between work and personal life much harder to maintain.

To avoid this, encourage employees to end the workday on time and not overload their day with anything out of control.

Forget that you are human too

You can only effectively support and lead your team if you yourself feel good.

While you may not want the emotional support of your subordinates, make sure you have someone to share any concerns you have during difficult times to work remotely.

A small conversation will remind you that you are not alone and give you the strength to go a longer way.

For many managers, managing remote teams is still something they're trying to figure out how to navigate as it's an uncharted aspect and management mistakes happen quite often. However, with recognizing and correcting the mistakes outlined above, you will be able to effectively manage your employees and steer your business in the right direction.