The year of the pandemic has taught us the importance of team building, beyond any other thing! Looking at the ways in which workforce and operations have been shaped, remote teams are the need of the present. However, what managers at the higher level are unable to do is comprehend the ways in which they could master the craft of remote team building and management.
After all, the world before Covid was used to indoor team building activities, focusing majorly on developing and bonding with their in-house teams. While there’s no doubt behind the fact that this covid pandemic has re-defined the age-old concept of a “team.”
Today, instead of people gathering around in groups at a round table, teams are now a group of people who are present at different locations but connected over the cloud. Having said that, let’s look into the multiple challenges faced by remote managers and how they can master them.
Challenge 1: Ensuring Productivity As An Individual and A-Team
While technology has helped us bridge the gap that was present between virtual teams, productivity is still in question. While digital teams now have multiple options like group chats, video calls, and document sharing, there is no such measure to mark the overall productivity of employees.
While in many instances, these tools provide real-time options for communications, it becomes difficult for managers to account. Therefore, besides being in real-time communication with their teams, managers should also take unique measures to keep productivity in check. However, using weekly or daily targets in such situations might help.
Challenge 2: Ensuring Proper Technological Equity In The Team
Another shortcoming of the current scenario is that managers of such teams need to ensure that their teams have the right equipment, training, and security needed to ensure seamless operations. Further, the hurdles in connectivity can be a real struggle as not every employee lives in areas with excellent communication.
Here, managers should understand the importance of team building at the base level and don’t let any of their members feel left out. They must ensure to find out better ways, in order to compensate.
Challenge 3: Developing Improved Work Routines
There’s a difference between staying at home and working at the office. The work environment, ethics, and habits are different. This is where the need to develop an improved work routine comes in. It majorly signifies that team members need to move beyond indoor team building activities and embrace going virtual.
New work routines also signify that team members need to adhere to punctuality and connect in real-time to their managers. A great solution could be platforms like Trello that allow real-time availability of information around a joint project.
Challenge 4: Managing Things Differently
Another notable challenge that managers need to adapt to in the WFH era is to learn and implement new methods to manage their teams. Managers need to move beyond their role in-house and take active participation over virtual meet-ups.
Managers of the current workforce should understand that team building is more than just assigning tasks and follow-ups. The need of the situation is to reach out to colleagues and participate in team-building beyond the office tasks. Remember, these are tough times for everyone and managers need to ease operations for everybody.
Conclusion
While there are many hurdles in the process, we have tried to come up with the major hurdles that will help you ease the operations. Remember, being a manager, it’s your job to ensure that your team is relaxed and enjoys their new roles. All the best! You too can learn and put to use new team building activities.