With the rise of virtual teams, there are common mistakes to avoid when managing remote teams. And as a Physician, you must know these so you’ll no longer stumble. If you are building your remote team, then finish this article to know what you need to avoid!
Benefits of Working Remotely
Working remotely can be an incredibly beneficial arrangement to both employers and employees. For companies, it can help reduce overhead costs. This is because they don’t have to provide a desk for every employee or manage the office space itself.
Additionally, working remotely has the potential to increased productivity. With fewer distractions from colleagues or office chatter, employees are more likely to stay focused on their tasks. In some cases, it might even lead to better relationships between workers and supervisors. All in all, the advantages of working remotely are apparent. If you haven’t formed your virtual team yet, you’re missing out. However, to be successful you need to stay away from these practices
Here are the mistakes to avoid when managing remote teams!
1. Lack of communication
One of the mistakes to avoid when managing remote teams is a lack of communication. As any manager would know, communication is vital for any work team. Without it, there is no trust or connection between the employer and the employee. Absence of effective connection impossible to move forward with successful outcomes.
For remote teams, managers need to make a conscious effort to ensure all lines of communication remain open and active. Through regular check-ins, video conferencing, and using collaboration tools like Slack or Trello, an employer can ensure the whole team is connecting effectively.
2. Absence of team goals
It can be a challenge to manage remote teams effectively, and one of the mistakes that must be avoided is not setting clear team goals. This can lead to confusion among team members and a lack of direction in completing the task at hand. Without proper unity on the goal of a project, each individual can push for their agenda. Eventually, this could lead to wasted time and effort with no results.
Along with setting achievable goals for the team, it is essential that everyone understands their role. It is also crucial that they know how it coincides with reaching the end goal.
3. No team-building activities
Working with remote teams can include a unique set of challenges. This is especially when it comes to ensuring a cohesive and productive office environment. One of the mistakes to avoid is having no team-building activities. These activities are essential in promoting collaboration, improving communication, and strengthening relationships between your remote employees.
Taking proactive steps towards creating this sense of community can help foster better morale among all employees. Additionally, it also leads to increased engagement, productivity, and overall team success. Even simple activities like virtual game nights or video conference get-togethers can go a long way. Ultimately, it helps create an environment that promotes camaraderie, creativity, and trust among team members despite being miles apart.
4. Micromanaging your remote team
Managing remote teams requires a different skill set from managing in-house teams. In working remotely, one of the mistakes to avoid is micromanaging. Micromanaging can feel stifling and create a lack of autonomy and freedom over how/when a task needs to be completed. When team members are operating remotely, they need to be trusted. Employees working from home should also be allowed to manage their workflows without constant oversight.
Instead, trust should be built into the workflow by setting clear expectations. Providing timely feedback that encourages individual accountability and ownership over tasks is also a must. In doing so, remote team members will be better equipped to meet their objectives. All while still maintaining some control over how they complete those objectives.
5. Insufficient onboarding process
Proper onboarding is key to successful remote team management. One of the mistakes you can make is not having an adequate onboarding process in place. Without a proper process, it becomes much harder for them to get up to speed and be productive. It’s important not only to ensure that they have access to all the necessary tools. They also need to understand the organization’s culture and their expectations as employees.
An effective onboarding process should include everything from introducing them to different teams within the organization. It also includes making sure they are familiar with workflow processes and organizational policies. Remote leaders should also clarify the roles and responsibilities and expected work hours and goals.
Essentially, it consists of guiding them through all aspects of their role with your company. Skipping or not properly executing a crucial step such as this can have obvious negative consequences in the mid-to-long term.
6. Unconstructive Feedback
The mistakes to avoid when managing remote teams are plenty, but one of the most important ones is unconstructive feedback. By providing only criticism without any explanation on how it should be improved, you may serve to demoralize or confuse employees. It would be more beneficial for the team to use positive reinforcement that encourages a team member’s growth and improvement, rather than dwelling on negatives.
Unconstructive feedback can also lead to a lack of confidence from the employee in their work and cause their work performance to falter. To create a successful remote team atmosphere, managers should strive for impartial and constructive criticism instead of making pointless criticisms riddled with negativity.
7. Hiring the wrong people
When managing remote teams, it is important to make sure that you have the right people for the job on board. And mistakes in hiring team members can be potentially disastrous. For example, if someone inexperienced in working remotely is hired then they may struggle to effectively communicate from home. This could possibly lead to a massive loss of productivity.
It is therefore crucial to hire those professionals who are well-versed in making the most out of working remotely. You should choose people with the appropriate problem-solving skills required to succeed in a virtual environment. Doing so will ensure that your remote team has a strong foundation set for success and harmony.
Find the right people here at Core Virtual Solutions!
With our meticulous process, we ensure that you get the best people possible on your team. Our highly vetted Virtual Medical Assistants (VMAs) have the right skills suited for your medical practice. Book a discovery call with us to know more!
