You're managing a remote team of over 50 people. How do you keep everyone motivated and productive?

Let's be clear- If you have 50 direct reports, you shouldn't worry about keeping them motivated/productive. You should be looking for a different job! Hopefully, you have at least 5 managers keeping the gearing ratio to no more than 10 to 1. 5 to 1 is way better if that person is also in a producer role. If that framework is set, it is critical to work through managers, not over them. The worst leaders helicopter in with no strategy and cause more harm than good. Build robust scorecards/KPIs on what great looks like and empower your managers to drive those initiatives. If there is tough news from higher up, make sure you own that and give the managers all the positive/wins to own. Lastly, over time try to get to know each member!

Whether a team is remote, in the office next door, employees, 1099s, part-time or full time, it is the establishment of clear goals for all and a regular process to measure performance that keeps everyone productive. And in this regular process, you reinforce your values of accountability, teamwork, teamwork and discipline (which happen to be ours at TLE). Measuring with consistency to performance - regardless of where they are - is the foundation for performance.

Imagine a playground with team playing without knowing the rules of the game and their role in a team ! Chaotic and funny right ! Same applies to managing a remote team.Therefore, it is imperative that every team member is aware of his/ her role aligning with the organisational goal . ?? SMART GOALS : Define clear goals(specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time bound) ?? FEEDBACK AND SUPPORT: Ensure regular feedback on progress. Feedback has to be both ways . Enquire about concerns , challenges, suggestions team has to offer and render support ?? COHESIVE ENVIRONMENT AND OPEN COMMUNICATION: Foster working environment where team feels safe and free to reach out ?? CELEBRATE MILESTONES: Celebrate achievements with your team.

You have to have clear communication channels and should set clear goals and expectations right from the start for any mode (onsite,hybrid or remote). There are many ways to keep the spirits high: 1. By Recognition and Appreciation 2. By offering Flexible Work Arrangements 3. By providing Professional Development Opportunities 4. By having Virtual Team-building Activities 5. By Providing the Right Tools and Resources 6. By Regular Check-ins and Feedback

The number one rule of thumb when it comes to building any kind of team, no matter the quantity, is to establish an effective communication system. This is crucial to the success of a remote team because there are a variety of individuals possessing different communication styles. Supervisors and managers should establish office hours and dedicate time for employee check-ins. Employees want to be seen and heard and when you take the time to do that in a remote setting, remote employees take that to heart. Most remote employees consider themselves to be out of sight, out of mind, so, a simple acknowledgement of their need to for human 'connection' will help to create a successful remote team of any size.

In managing a remote team of 50+, trust and rapport are vital. Here's why: * Empowerment: Trust empowers ownership and initiative. * Communication: Rapport fosters open collaboration. * Respect: Mutual respect builds a strong team foundation. * Adaptability: Trust enables resilience in challenges. * Safety: Rapport encourages idea sharing. How to build them: * Lead by Example: Demonstrate trustworthiness. * Encourage Vulnerability: Welcome open sharing. * Invest in Relationships: Foster team connections. * Provide Support: Recognize and assist team efforts. * Promote Collaboration: Facilitate teamwork. In short, trust and rapport fuel remote team success through empowerment, communication, and support.

In my experience it boils down to two things, maintaining healthy communication and being human. Healthy communication will allow you to in front of potential obstacles, maintain confidence in leadership vision and identify any future roadblocks within your team. Every conversation shouldn’t be about the job at hand and seeking to understand what motivates your team will allow you to impact on a greater scale. Like minds will present themselves and utilizing these perspectives can help across multiple areas of the business

Give your team a stake in the outcome, a voice at the table, and even be allowed to disagree with a good argument. If you want a powerhouse team, give them the authority to make decisions, contribute with their unique skills, and a place where they can grow. Everything listed above gives people a place to create and evolve ahead of the competition, rather than just 4 walls they have to work in, called a job.

Making trust and rapport building a priority from the onset is essential, and it's important to remember that team building is an ongoing and ever-evolving process; therefore, dedicating consistent time to continue building is imperative.

In managing a remote team of 50+, trust and rapport are vital. Here's why: * Empowerment: Trust empowers ownership and initiative. * Communication: Rapport fosters open collaboration. * Respect: Mutual respect builds a strong team foundation. * Adaptability: Trust enables resilience in challenges. * Safety: Rapport encourages idea sharing. How to build them: * Lead by Example: Demonstrate trustworthiness. * Encourage Vulnerability: Welcome open sharing. * Invest in Relationships: Foster team connections. * Provide Support: Recognize and assist team efforts. * Promote Collaboration: Facilitate teamwork. In short, trust and rapport fuel remote team success through empowerment, communication, and support.

I can't say this enough...MAKE TIME FOR YOUR PEOPLE! Take the time to make the time. Ensure you have check in's one and ones and connection with each member. Every single one of them bring a different approach, background, skill, and value to a company. Get to know them so you can speak to that value and those specifics. The best leaders I have witnessed slow their day down to take the time to speak with their team members and choose a listeners approach. This can impact a business in a deep way if the leader is able to create an environment where their team can share gaps they observe in the business without fear of being viewed in a certain light. Create an environment that includes EACH team member and ensures they know they are valued.

Managing a team of 50+, embracing diversity and inclusion is crucial. Here's why: * Innovation: Diverse perspectives drive creativity. * Engagement: Inclusion empowers and engages. * Resilience: Diversity boosts adaptability. * Market Relevance: Inclusion ensures relevance. * Retention: Inclusivity fosters satisfaction. How to promote it: * Respect: Cultivate fairness and respect. * Perspectives: Encourage diverse voices. * Education: Offer bias training. * Inclusive Policies: Adapt policies. * Recognition: Celebrate diversity. In brief, embracing diversity and inclusion is key to team success, fostering innovation, engagement, resilience, relevance, and retention.

Bridging differences is an essential skill for leaders looking to embrace diversity and inclusion, especially in remote settings. We know that diversity is a value add for team performance and innovation. Bridging differences is a specific activity where leaders recognize that differences may be getting in the way and thus, intentionally seek to find common interests, goals, and values that unite the team. A strong focus is placed on areas of common ground in communications, goal setting, and team activities. This enables the team to rely on their shared goals and values as a unifier rather than allowing their differences to separate them. Caution: leave your assumptions at the door and find out directly from your employees what they value.

The first step as a leader is to do YOUR internal work on your bias. If you are not actively working to address your own assumptions, bias, socialization, etc. you cannot create a safe space for DEI. This may mean ongoing trainings, working with a coach, reading books, etc.

In my experience autonomy is vital. People need some control over their working lives and to have the authority to make thing easier by improving processes, policies, working practices. A system of continuous improvement (Kaisen) is priceless if you want people to be motivated, engaged and loyal... even when you are not there.

One of the most common and under-discussed drivers of burnout is employees not feeling valued or seen. Recognition and rewards in a formal sense can be great, but most often what employees want is for you to listen to them, value their input, take their feedback seriously, give their work or ideas credit, etc. It's the week to week recognition that matters most, not the annual awards.

The 3A s are very important to anybody - Acknowledgement, Appreciation and Acceptance. This must always be there at the root of all interaction. Therefore, Rewards and Recognition are important

Eu acredito que fornecer reconhecimento e recompensas podem funcionar como uma forma de estímulo. O trabalho remoto pode ser solitário. A falta de intera??o com os colegas de trabalho e, com isso, a falta de senso de pertencimento, inevitavelmente, resultam em quedas progressivas na produtividade. Propor metas e premiar quando atingidas, funcionam como um motivador para o colaborador remoto. E, tais recompensas podem ser: dinheiro, um encontro em grupo em um restaurante para promover a integra??o da equipe, um curso, uma palestra, entre outras.

Establish a learning culture within your team. You can do this by sharing relevant articles, hosting knowledge-sharing sessions, and encouraging participation in online courses such as LinkedIn Learning. Set clear quarterly milestones with your team member; these could be completing specific courses or obtaining certifications and then encouraging them to integrate the skills learned into every day tasks and projects. Provide constructive feedback and positive reinforcement of the skills applied during performance reviews, reinforcing the value of continuous learning and its direct impact on work quality.

The organization that learns grows. It is always important to have a learning organization so that continuous learning and development keep happening

Often, the stresses of work culture get in the way of prioritizing learning and development; however, the teams that dedicate time to doing so often flourish.

I found it helpful to regularly review my team’s responsibilities and discuss how those responsibilities connected to each team member’s personal mission or passion - in team meetings and 1x1 meetings. We held regular team web conference meetings to celebrate successes, review our progress toward goals, and help each other with problem solving. Team members teaching each other tips and tricks was also helpful as they each had opportunities to show off their strengths as well as continue to learn and get better.

In any team, it's great when leaders promote learning and growth. Encouraging everyone to learn new things and improve their skills makes the team stronger. Support, sharing knowledge, and celebrating achievements create a positive environment. It's a win-win, benefiting both individuals and the team as a whole.

Based on my experience, a task manager is one of the core pieces of technology needed to manage a sizeable remote team efficiently. Monday or Asana are good software options. Even more important than the choice of the tool is establishing a clear structure and a disciplined process around working in a task-oriented manner. Leveraging a task manager will make meetings much more effective and increase transparency.

Coach and train the company on how to use remote tools the most effectively! Everyone is a little different in how they absorb information and feel connected and some of the most used tools like slack can feel really overwhelming. Choose a group or point person to do a spotlight on how to organize and set up slack to be productive, make decisions as a company about when a meeting vs async etc. I did a remote best practices write up and spotlight that helped a lot of my colleagues just from some simple ways to set up their slack workspace or some tips on how to communicate their learning styles etc

Know your people. Not just their name and what they do. Learn about their personal life as much as they're willing to share. Understand that makes them tick. Be flexible to their needs. Ultimately people like working in remote environments for a reason. If you understand that you can support that person their way but also develop an overall plan to create cohesion within the team. Is there someone else on the team that they can learn from? Is there someone else on the team who they can collaborate with? Is there someone on the team who can better support them? Building and encouraging the relationships within the team empowers everyone to grow and the team to purposefully function as a unit regardless of location.

Be willing to take the time to engage over video if that staff is not at your location. If the other employee doesn’t feel ok with that it is totally acceptable, but by you doing it your employee knows that you are giving your full attention to them and they know you aren’t multitasking.

To keep my remote team of 50 motivated and productive, I would prioritize clear communication and transparent goal-setting. Regular virtual meetings and one-on-one check-ins would help foster a sense of connection and ensure everyone is on the same page. Implementing flexible work hours and acknowledging individual achievements publicly would boost morale. Encouraging collaboration through digital platforms and providing opportunities for skill development would also contribute to sustained motivation. Lastly, I would strive to create a positive remote work culture by promoting work-life balance and actively seeking and valuing feedback from team members.

Everything said, the question is... why do you need a team of 50 people. what does that exist to do? The answer should be the same for everyone... ie... the team members should know why they exist as a team and what is the larger purpose and goal. Once that is there, then everything else can be managed.

We need to understand what motivates each individual. Everyone in your team is different and has different drivers, so creating an environment where people can spend as much time as possible doing what motivates them is critical for their ultimate happiness, success, productivity and effectiveness.