Handling a Remote IT Team: The Guide

Communication is vital in creating and managing any association. It gets even more crucial when handling a remote team as the team members working virtually start operating in the background and in the long run, feel left out. So, the organization must create an environment where the virtual team feels included. It can easily be achieved by formal or sometimes informal sessions through various mediums like online chat rooms and video conferencing via Skype, Google Hangouts or Zoom, and managing projects using project management software such as Basecamp, Asana, Trello or Azando. We understand that it’s easier said than done, so here is a quick guide to handle a remote team or hire remote developers in countries India:

Pick the right medium of communication: You must understand and utilize the different modes of communication judiciously. For instance, emails work best for quick interactions and all the formal records whereas chat rooms can be an option when you have to provide quick instructions or you need to do formal or informal interaction. Phone calls or video calls are best when you want to talk about an employee’s performance or address any personal or professional issues within or outside the organization. When discussing a sensitive matter, video calls are the safest bet as it provides visual cues to what the other person is experiencing and hence your reaction can be altered accordingly.

Have active group chat rooms: You should create team-wise chat rooms for each department or teams in the business. And you should encourage team members to keep the group chat alive without causing many distractions. Important issues, instructions, and feedbacks can be shared in the group to create a positive work environment for virtual employees.

Encourage the use of screen sharing tools: Screen sharing tools like Team Viewer, join.me or Zoom enables you to share your screen while the other person can see the exact information. Additionally, these tools allow you to control another computer and make changes. This can also help you in monitoring the work of your remote employee and at the same time will give you the flexibility to share and make changes in each other’s computers.

Have a project management system in place: While handling a smaller team you might often get tempted to manage it via email or hangouts, but this practice is dangerous in the long run because you might lose track of all the work accomplished and no records of any other system will be available. So, irrespective of the size of the team it is advisable to have a proper project management system in place to organize all your documents, project related conversations, assets or submissions at one place.

Implement processes and systems and keep refining them: It is important that you define crisp, concise and clear guidelines for every activity that your employees are performing. This guideline will help you to standardize your processes and thus the consistency in the output will not get affected. Also, ensure that you keep modifying your guidelines based on your changing needs or expectations.

Strike a balance between providing flexibility and ensuring consistency: Your remote employees will always seek flexibility in working hours which of course you must provide but at the same time make sure you are strict with the deadlines. You must ensure that the flexible working hours should not affect the quality of deliverables and also must meet the deadlines consistently.

Keep a track of productivity: Keep an attendance system in place that keeps a track of the employee’s work. For instance, if you pay per hour basis then ensure the number of working hours mutually agreed is met or if you pay per write-up basis, then ensure the word count, quality, and no. of submission matches the expected level.

Performance review and appraisals: Have clearly defined parameters to grade the performance of the employee and ensure that the remote team is aware and agree to the performance parameters. Rate them on its basis and provide feedback to enhance performance. Keep appraisal/bonus system in place to motivate your virtual team. Acknowledge their effort and value them