Leading at a distance: managing remote teams

7 tips for distance leadership

The challenges of managing remote teams are complex. They range from purely technical requirements to the right level of control and trust to crisis management and the achievement of company goals. Read our 7 tips for distance leadership to find out what is important when leading at a distance and how you can successfully lead a team at several locations or in different time zones.

1. Lead at a distance – prepare for the new normal

According to current statistics, a quarter of all employees in Germany are already working entirely or partially in the home office. According to a recent study by Upwork, by 2028, 73 percent of all teams will have remote workers. Distance leadership is not a temporary phenomenon, but will be normal in the long term. Very different scenarios are conceivable: from teams at one location, whose members work in the home office 1 or 2 days a week, to teams that work across several locations and time zones and no longer have a fixed office. However, the basic requirements for remote teams remain the same. As a manager, it is therefore already worth investing in sustainable structures for managing remote teams and planning them well.

2. Managing remote teams without technical hurdles

Remote working teams will communicate and work to a large extent via digital media. This requires a well thought-out and flawlessly functioning digital infrastructure – starting with the hardware, through the digital folder structure, to the right software. Make sure that you and your employees have all the work equipment you need for a smooth everyday working life. Offer training and guidance to strengthen and expand media literacy and employee know-how. Questions or problems should be clarified as quickly as possible – this requires professional IT support.

3. Communication Rules and Meeting Checklist

If you’re managing remote teams, you’ll need to pay a lot of attention to communication. Much of the communication will take place virtually, whether internal discussions, team meetings or customer contact. For this you need working agreements and rules. For remote teams in different time zones, with flexible working hours and part-time models, there are already best practices for asynchronous working.

It is important for good distance leadership to find a balance between availability and quick exchange on the one hand and the opportunity for concentrated work on the other. Your employees should communicate clearly when they can be reached via instant messaging or email and when they can and cannot be expected to respond in a timely manner. This can be communicated very well in the personal profile settings in instant messaging services such as Teams or Slack. Fixed working hours and availability can also be recorded in e-mail signatures. That way the other person knows when to expect an answer.

Also determine which content is to be communicated via which channel. To avoid too many virtual meetings, you should e.g. B. Establishing rules as to when a face-to-face meeting is necessary and when an exchange via chat or e-mail is better. Under no circumstances should you do without joint team meetings and individual exchanges with your employees. Set regular appointments for this.

Consider that there is no tea kitchen and no spontaneous exchange on the office corridor for remote teams, and find suitable virtual substitutes, e.g. B. drinking coffee together in the morning or remote lunches.

4. Trust and independent work instead of presence and monitoring

A central prerequisite for successful leadership at a distance is trust in your employees. It is not possible to constantly monitor a remote team and control every work step. Be willing to delegate tasks and responsibilities to individuals or a team. In order for the independent, location-independent work of a team to work, you have to set up clear rules that ensure that the company goals are achieved.

5. Target agreements instead of control

Replace the permanent control of each work step with verifiable target agreements. Determine exactly what results you expect from your employees and how much work it will take to achieve them. If you regularly call up sub-goals or the work status, you have the opportunity to identify problems at an early stage and adjust the workflow.

6. Feedback and motivation

How do you manage to permanently motivate a remote working team, to encourage excellent work and to remain attractive as an employer? Especially when leading at a distance, you have to pay attention to recognition and praise from your employees. Be it as a short chat message in between when accepting a task or a personal conversation after a project has been completed.

Establish a feedback culture that is open in both directions in order to constantly optimize your work processes. Schedule annual reviews and end each project with an evaluation to find out what went well and what needs improvement.

7. Remote crisis management

Whether it’s having trouble solving work tasks or discord between employees, develop a crisis management strategy for remote leadership. With a strong virtual feedback culture and a well thought-out digital communication strategy, you can also react to the first signs of conflicts and successfully manage crises when managing remote teams.