What do you do if you lack experience in managing remote teams?

If you lack experience in managing remote teams, start by educating yourself on best practices for remote team management through books, online courses, or workshops. Additionally, seek mentorship from experienced remote managers or join communities where you can learn from others' experiences. Emphasize clear communication, trust-building, and leveraging appropriate tools and technologies to facilitate collaboration and productivity among team members. As you gain experience, continuously solicit feedback and adapt your approach to suit the needs of your remote team.

Encouraging individuals to continually expand their knowledge and skills fosters a culture of innovation, adaptability, and resilience. By providing opportunities for learning and development, businesses empower their workforce to stay ahead of industry trends, master new technologies, and tackle complex challenges with confidence. Investing in employee learning demonstrates a commitment to their professional growth and job satisfaction, which in turn enhances retention and employee engagement. Whether through workshops, online courses, mentorship programs, or on-the-job training, organizations can cultivate an environment where learning is not seen as a chore but as a pathway to success!

- Upskill and don’t be shy of asking others first help/feedback. Leaders are human too - Leaders can be mentors, however leaders can have mentors too. But having the right mentor is key!

- Learning and Unlearning is important at every stage of Life and Professional Career - You may be good at managing Onsite teams but if you face challenge in managing remote teams, try to seek help and advise from someone who is already managing one. There is no harm in learning from someone, even if he/she is junior to you - Try to learn the various tools and techniques helpful in monitoring the progress of Team members - Try to learn how to read between the lines as many times, it won't be possible to understand the Body language in the virtual meeting

Invest time in learning about best practices and tools for remote team management like online courses, books, or workshops focused on remote leadership skills. Leverage the expertise of colleagues or mentors who have experience in managing remote teams by seeking their guidance and advice. Experiment with different communication and collaboration tools to facilitate effective remote team interactions. Emphasize transparency, trust, and clear expectations to foster a productive remote work environment, and remain open to feedback and continuous improvement as you gain experience in remote team management.

- Whenever I need to manage a Remote team, I try to put the expectations right for everybody in the team - My Communication always define the assignment clearly both in verbal as well as Written form - I don't put too much pressure on the team member, insisting them on quite frequent updates. I always fix up the time for updates and review and adhere to it unless and until, there is a requirement to get an instant update - Its not a hard and fast rule to pick up my call at the first ring. I generally give that flexibility to my team members - There is always a Doubt Clearing session (Q & A) in all our interactions

- I have always believed in having casual Chit Chats with the team members to lighten up the mood and ease out the stress in the working environment (if any). I make sure that I follow this principle in the Virtual environment too - I have experienced that its essential to build up that trust and cooperation among the team members and for that, you always need to be updated about their challenges in their professional as well as personal life, with proper care for maintaining the privacy of their Lives - It has always helped me in turning around the performances of team members who were facing challenges due to self inflicting doubts on their capabilities or some personal issues. They feel valued and give their best in all circumstances

The biggest downside to remote work is the lack of connection. But this is easy to solve! Virtual games and icebreakers can make you a beloved boss very quickly if you have a remote team. Take 30 minutes each week to play a JackBox game together - it will get you all laughing and connecting. Start each major meeting with a quick life update from each virtual team member of something going well in their life outside work. These little changes can transform the way your virtual team interacts, and creates trust and affection for you!

- Every leader should have the quality of Empathy towards others. It helps them in nurturing their team members better and also help them to create future leaders - I always ensure that everybody is listened to, both in offline as well as Online meetings. It creates a sense of responsibility among team members that they need to contribute and that too effectively - Also, It gives clarity to all team members that No one is biased while giving their inputs and feedback as everybody would be talking and everybody would be listened to - Many times, few team members are not keen to speak in the remote meetings though they contribute well in offline or one to one meetings. The leader has to cultivate the culture of equal opportunity for everyone