Remote work isn’t some mystic model anymore that only a few people get to experience. It’s how a lot of people work now ever since the pandemic. And if you’re leading a remote team, you already know the line between being helpful and being annoying is thin.
You want your team to meet deadlines, stay focused, and work efficiently together. But you also don’t want to turn into a micromanager who’s always watching. Getting this balance right is more important than ever, especially with people becoming more selective of work culture.
Let’s see what you can do to keep your team productive without crossing the line and maintaining a healthy and prospering workplace.
1. Set Clear Expectations and Rules
If you do it right, setting rules help your employees feel steady and stable. Remote work isn’t about being chaotic and working without any rules or responsibilities. On the contrary: well-developed rules allow your team to have a great work-life balance.
Start by setting clear work hours, goals, and communication standards. Let your team know what “done” means for every task. This way, you’ll remove a lot of guesswork and potential misunderstandings.
Instead of asking “What are you working on?” every day, use dashboards like Asana or Trello. These tools show progress without needing status updates 10 times a day. Also, it allows you to plan weekly or monthly tasks so everyone knows what they’re supposed to do.
Keep things honest and simple. If someone’s falling behind, it’s easier to talk when the expectations are already laid out.
2. Respect the Home Office
Not everyone has a perfect home setup. Some work from kitchens, others from bedrooms, and some from shared spaces. You shouldn’t expect office-like settings, especially if you don’t provide a budget for home office setup.
If possible, you should avoid requiring cameras to be on all the time and let people show up how they’re comfortable. Sometimes people can have busy days at home and not have time to visually prepare themselves for a meeting: maybe their dog is making a mess, maybe they slept poorly, or maybe their toddler is constantly climbing up on them. If they’re getting their work done, that’s what ultimately matters.
Finally, instead of tracking time, track results. Once people have more freedom, they learn to plan their time better and get more work done in shorter or more varied periods of time. However, that doesn’t mean that you should pile them up with endless work.
Give them freedom, a stable workload, and trust them to handle it. If they don’t, there’s always the possibility to talk and see what’s going on.
3. Use the Right Tools
Software can help or hurt, depending on how you use it. Apps that track keystrokes or take random screenshots are a hard no, unless you want to kill trust.
Choose tools that support your team and make them feel trusted and productive. For example, think of Slack for chats, Notion for notes, Trello for planning, and Google Meets for face-to-face check-ins when needed.
Use shared calendars and set quiet hours so your team doesn’t feel like they have to respond to pings 24/7. Once the defined work hours end, pinging should end, too.
4. Create a Great Work Culture
If your team feels guilty every time they walk their dog, pick up their kids, or go to the dentist on company time, that’s a red flag and you will most likely lose these team members sooner than later.
If you’re satisfied with their work, that shouldn’t be a problem. But if you notice that the work quality and quantity is falling, then it may be time to have a conversation about expectations, motivation, and freedom during work hours. Just don’t make it toxic by throwing guilt and blame around. Good communication can fix a lot of things without making a scene.
You can also make space for conversations where you celebrate small wins, ask how people are doing and show that you care for them as human beings, not just employees.
People can feel when they’re cared for and that gives more motivation during stressful and chaotic times than micromanagement, hold-handing, and tracking,
If you want to build a long-lasting team, you should focus on the things that make people want to work together, not have to.
5. Give Feedback That Helps
Feedback matters, everyone knows it. But how you say it matters even more. The worst thing you can do is scold somebody in public, in front of colleagues, even if it’s online.
Not only does it completely demotivate the person in question, it also shows everyone else what kind of person you are. And it doesn’t resonate with the qualities that ultimately create a great and efficient team.
Use one-on-one check-ins to talk through what’s working and what’s not. Keep the tone light but clear, and if you’re correcting something, tie it to the goal, not the person.
For example, “Let’s find a way to make this process better” works way better than “You’re doing this wrong”.
It’s only natural that people make mistakes, and the best way to fix those mistakes is by discussing them privately and without looking for someone to blame.
6. Keep Security a Priority
Remote work means that people connect from everywhere: cafes, airports, home Wi-Fis, you name it. That makes security a big deal.
You can start with the basics and use strong passwords, two-factor authentication, and regular software updates. These might seem small, but skipping them could open the doors to security issues.
To take it even further, you may want to consider enterprise-level VPNs or proxies that block access if not connected through them. It helps protect sensitive information from unknown traffic and improves security a lot.
7. Encourage Breaks and Downtime
Remote work easily blurs the line between personal and work time, which can lead to burnout. It’s essential that your team takes scheduled breaks during their day for both their well-being and productivity. Taking a 10 or 15 min break every couple of hours can give the mind a break and help to relieve stress. Encourage the team to step away from their computer, stretch, or walk around. If they can’t step away and are on a deadline or have other commitments, encourage a culture where taking a break is not seen as being lazy, but as part of a working day.
8. Foster Professional Development
Probably the best way to keep your team engaged and motivated is to help them develop professionally. Offer professional development opportunities (i.e., online courses, webinars, and access to resources to keep their skills and knowledge current). Not only does it benefit the company by upskilling the team, but it also makes employees feel valued when your company invests in their growth. Having a mentorship program internal within your team – can develop close relationships and improve learning.
9. Celebrate Milestones and Achievements
Recognizing both small and large milestones will help your team feel recognized and valued. Whether you’re celebrating a target being hit, a challenging project being completed, or even an employee anniversary, just make the effort to recognize it. You can acknowledge milestones and accomplishments by holding a virtual team gathering, company-wide chats with shoutouts, or giving personalized rewards such as gift cards or vouchers. Recognition of accomplishments will increase morale and make employees feel as though they are a part of the company culture.
10. Encourage Flexibility with Hours
Remote work allows flexibility around the 9-5 model of work. Letting your team choose when they want to work and outside the 9-5 standards may allow them to have better productivity and outcomes. Some employees may be early risers, while others may work better in the evening. By concentrating on outcomes instead of hours worked in a strict schedule, you are relaying the message that you trust them to get work done and that you respect their personal and living circumstances. However, you should always keep core hours for the team to come together and work. This allows the team to combine schedules to sync together.
11. Promote Open Communication
Working remotely can sometimes limit communication which can lead to misunderstandings. Encouraging your team to be open, honest, and transparent about their work and what they are dealing with can help your team feel more cohesive and solid. Creating a space to share when team members are feeling overwhelmed or hitting blockages is crucial. Consistent check-ins and feedback loops keep crystal clear boundaries, and creates belonging and trust. The more open and honest communication periods are in the workplace the less space there is for assumptions and confusion.
Conclusion
Managing a remote team is all about being flexible, fair, and focused on the right goals. If you’re going into it with the mindset “I must know what everyone is doing at every step of the way so they don’t waste company time”, the work model is doomed from the start.
Remote work should be based on trust and mutual respect. Your team doesn’t need a manager constantly breathing down their neck. They need a leader who trusts them, respects their time, and helps them grow.
