The modern workplace is undergoing a profound transition. Distributed teams — where members interact with one another across geographic, organisational, and other boundaries — are becoming commonplace in all businesses that operate on a remote or hybrid model.
However, leading these individuals and teams can be tricky. Many managers underestimate the complexity of remote and hybrid team coordination and are at a loss when they’re unable to use tried-and-tested management practices. Without constant in-person interactions, many find it challenging to monitor employees’ performance, provide feedback, or ensure work is completed to the desired standard.
Research shows that managers who cannot always ‘see’ their direct reports sometimes struggle to trust that their employees are indeed working. These doubts lead to managers developing unreasonable expectations of team members, including constant availability, and they start to micromanage their reports.
This directly impacts employee motivation. It disempowers individuals, impairs their productivity, and causes stress. As communication breaks down, employees may feel less accountable for their work.
Within the hybrid and remote workspace, most managers’ tasks remain the same — it’s the how that changes. When managed well, remote and hybrid employees will be just as engaged and productive as their office-bound counterparts (if not more).
The secret to successfully managing remote and hybrid employees and teams comes down to strong leadership skills, clear communication, flexibility balanced with structure, a strong virtual team culture, and the effective use of digital tools.
Let’s dig a little deeper into how managers can master these to create effective remote and hybrid teams.
Developing key soft skills
Management is more than just oversight — it requires genuine leadership abilities and demands key power skills that encompass strong communication, negotiation, collaboration, and decision-making capabilities. And because managers are now working in a virtual world, they need to refine their emotional intelligence and self-awareness, and show empathy to preserve the element of human touch. In tandem, they need to cultivate resilience to maintain direction for their teams in the face of change and uncertainty.
Hybrid and remote team managers must foster a culture of personal responsibility, autonomy, and accountability by striking a balance between ‘letting go’ and managing more closely. This will come easily when they are clear on the principles and values that guide their behaviour, decisions, intentions, and impact on others.
Communicating effectively
Messages can be easily misinterpreted without the non-verbal cues present in in-person conversations, leading to confusion and conflict. When assigning tasks, providing feedback, or asking questions, managers must be aware of their tone to avoid coming across as aggressive or flippant. The discretionary use of emojis goes a long way to project a friendly tone, as does throwing in a little praise before getting to a critique.
People also have different communication preferences — some prefer text instructions via emails and messaging apps, while others respond better to in-person video or conference calls and chats. Managers should be aware of that and, depending on the situation, work to accommodate them. Some companies have even gone so far as to create ‘working with me’ guides that they share with their direct reports, and encourage team members to create their own versions.
Create guidelines around communicating remotely so communication policies for and between fully remote and hybrid members are clear from the get-go. This could include preferred remote communication methods, expectations around employee availability, information regarding time zones, and guidelines for video meetings and access to recordings.
Create a bank of resources with clear documentation and processes so information can be easily accessed and shared so that people know exactly where and how to search for answers.
Building trust, not micromanaging
New remote managers often feel compelled to ‘check in’ on projects more frequently, inadvertently undermining trust and disempowering employees. To prevent this, discuss the expected timeline and follow-up points when assigning someone a task or project. This way, the employee is responsible for sending updates, and managers won’t need to interrupt their work by prompting progress reports.
Project management tools make it easy for everyone to get an overview of a project’s progress and due dates, and when everyone has access to this information through shared tools, it increases personal accountability.
A good manager is adept at balancing employee freedom and staying connected. Make it clear that the end results are more important than hours worked, and set the same expectations for remote, hybrid, and in-office employees.
Being aware of proximity bias
Proximity bias, where managers give preference to those working in the same time zone as them or to colleagues they see more often and work more closely with, is a real concern. A survey by Gartner found that 75% of respondents say onsite employees are more likely to be promoted than remote workers.
Managers can avoid this by intentionally advocating for remote workers, highlighting their work publicly, creating standardised performance reviews, and conducting audits on who’s being rewarded and promoted so it doesn’t skew toward in-person employees.
They can create an inclusive work environment by providing remote events for distant coworkers to connect with those who work in the office and establishing virtual mentor-mentee relationships between hybrid and remote employees.
Creating a cohesive team
A common concern among companies that have embraced remote and hybrid working is team cohesion and ensuring members don’t become isolated. However, thanks to the proliferation of communication technology, virtual teams can connect more frequently and on a deeper level than they would in person, so it’s up to managers to make good use of it.
For example, encourage group video calls for bonding and one-on-one calls between team members and when onboarding new staff. Create opportunities for non-work-related communication to assist in building relationships between team members. This can look like hosting a virtual team-building activity (there are loads of examples on the internet) to reinforce employee morale, maximise productivity, and strengthen team connections.
Finally, ensure there are feedback mechanisms in place so members understand what they are doing well and what could be improved, and provide incentives that benefit both the team and individuals.
Learn how to lead distributed teams
When managers gain the new skills needed to empower remote and hybrid workers, they give them greater autonomy over how they work and use their time. This, in turn, leads to increased motivation, engagement, health, and productivity.
Ultimately, the companies that invest in training employees in managerial positions to be strategic and purpose-driven leaders will best adapt to remote and hybrid work and maintain a competitive advantage.
