The advent of business owners, companies and corporations turning into thriving businesses using the digital world known as the internet created a demand for teams of virtual employees and contractors that work remotely. Locating employees that work remotely and hiring them is part of the requirements needed to fill this new demand and the second part of the requirements are figure out how to manage them remotely as well.

What does a company need to do to manage a team of workers that work remotely from home and do it well? What needs to happen communication wise to make certain all assigned tasks are understood, to make sure job responsibilities are spelled out and known and be sure that work that’s been assigned is being completed, instead of working on other client’s work and not working on your company’s assignments at all. What needs to be done to drive a remote team to do excellent work and be committed to completing tasks on time. How can communication be factored into a regular routine with remote team members, so they become engaged and connected to the company and its managers.

Here are a set of strategies to assist you in locating the resolutions to this set of needs and how to become good and improve at overseeing a remote team from any place on the planet on a regular basis. The strategies are as follows:

Promote Openness

Building a team, then leading it and managing it well requires team members and their manager absolutely need to work just as hard and communicate freely. Remote teams need a manager that is completely real with them. Teams work more effectively when a manager is available and communicates freely. Managers that are open and promote frankness, idea sharing and opinion sharing regarding current jobs, upcoming projects and pending proposal are more effective, productive, and successful. Team members work harder and feel committed to their work when they know their free to express their opinions and ideas about work and upcoming projects.

Be open. Act on being open by directly involving team members in each component of the company where it makes sense. Communicate with your team about the company’s goals, its mission, its current projects and its short- and long-term plans. From there, set down what your expectations are going forward and be sure to share some aspects about you and promote talking about subjects other than just work.  

When you have a remote team it’s easy to hold a meeting remotely through Google Hangouts or Go To Meeting applications.

Conduct Meetings Regularly

Remote teams are challenged with holding meetings because team members and their manager often work at different hours in different time zones around the world. Don’t let that stop you from conducting regular meetings. Set a time for your meetings that makes sense, then stick to it.

The best way to find out what type of folks are on your team is to conduct meetings at a minimum one time a week. Be sure to make the meeting upbeat, welcoming and open to create and atmosphere where all attendees can talk freely and feel comfortable doing it. Look at as if you’re team is meeting for coffee and make it feel that way.

The pluses of a virtual meeting are many. The upside of virtual meetings is that remote team members can be on the road, sitting at their home office or at a shared office space and still meet easily. The primary goal here is to have your virtual team log-in to its regular weekly virtual meeting program and then enjoy the meeting while catching up and communicating with each other and about what’s going on with the company and its projects.

By way of conducting regular meetings your team will create a camaraderie it didn’t have before, which will help create the bond your team needs to connect and in turn it will help the company be more successful.