Flexatal top tips: Managing Remote Teams

1.    Its all about the people!

May be obvious, but make sure that your team have the skills they need to do the job. It is also important that they are used to working in remote mode. It is not always easy to adapt to this and so one should go deep with individuals who have never worked this way – do they have the appropriate set up, what potential distractions might there be?

Luckily, with Flexatal, you don’t need to worry about this as we skill test and deeply interview everyone that we propose to you!

2.   Communication, Communication, Communication

Engage with your team on a regular basis using multiple communication tools. We advocate a regular face to face meeting combined with regular “touch points”.

Try to avoid “multi-tasking” – a video call will keep everyone’s attention much better than a phone call. Make it clear that when you are all “in the room” you should all be “in the room”!

You should ensure that your remote team are kept up to speed with the project – this can mean sharing challenges as well as positives – your team will appreciate honesty!

Coaching and training where appropriate should be built int o this schedule.

Bring your remote team in to stand-ups and team events.

Share your mission and values with your remote team.

If practical, a visit to your office occasionally, goes down well too.

3.   Set clear expectations

This starts with onboarding and continues through the engagement. It is important that you are ready for your worker to join – simple things like can they access what they need on your systems, are there email etc set up. Do they have what they need to start?

From their side, they should have a clear picture of what they are there to do, what are the deliverables, timescales and how will they be measured.

It is also important to communicate the “how we do things around here” – what are your team rules? (E.g. Email response time, phone call rules, how often to submit code, how often to check in). Often a robust agile management philosophy will make this natural for you (And if you don’t have a robust agile methodology….why not engage a Flexatal Agile coach!?)

Note: If you need support defining your project or your statement of work – talk to flexatal. We have a tool for that!

4.   Trust in the capabilities in the team

Your remote team will not work if you adopt the “have a dog and bark myself” attitude. You have hired a professional team to do a job. Trust that they will do this and give them the freedom and bandwidth to make this happen.

(As long as you have adhered to point 3 and set clear expectations and set rules of engagement!)

….And don’t forget, in the rare occasions you or we get it wrong, Flexatal offers a free replacement!

5.   Make sure the tech works!

When tech does not work, it causes frustration on both sides. Things to consider:

Can the team easily access the files and information that they need.

Have you got a reliable conference call provider?

Can they see the scrum board?

There are many tools out there to support this …. Trello, Slack, Teams etc

6.   Don’t miss the opportunity of “remote”

Many remote workers do so because they appreciate the flexibility that this work style affords. If you are hiring a remote team, make sure you are clear what level of flexibility suits your project, but remember that Letting people work remotely but then tying them with a fixed schedule can be, well… a little counterproductive.

However, having teams in different timezones can be a big advantage to your project if managed appropriately.

The key is to be clear on what you want from the start. There are freelancers who will happily follow your 9-5 and others who want to be given a task and a deadline and allowed to deliver on their schedule.

7.   Focus on the outputs.

The best way to get what you want from your remote team is to start with the end in mind. If you know what your expected outputs are on any particular task and you clearly communication this, you cannot worry about what is being done and when and just expect the target to be met. Often our Flexatal Freelancers will exceed your expectations!

Conclusion

If there’s one thing you should take away from this, it’s that the best way to manage a remote team is by building trust, fostering communication, and focusing on efficiency by utilizing technology.

Want to find out more about hiring remote freelance technologists? Go to www.flexatal.com

Or drop us a line at [email protected]