MBA2564 Q&A Wednesday: How Can I Effectively Manage My Remote Team?

Summary

Podcast Summary: The $100 MBA Show – Episode MBA2564 Q&A Wednesday: How Can I Effectively Manage My Remote Team?

Host: Omar Zenhom
Release Date: December 25, 2024
Podcast Description: Awarded Best of Apple Podcasts, The $100 MBA Show delivers practical business lessons for the real world. Host Omar Zenhom shares over 20 years of entrepreneurship experience, offering actionable insights on everything from validating ideas to marketing, sales, and reinvestment—all tailored for individuals with minimal resources.

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Introduction

In the MBA2564 Q&A Wednesday episode of The $100 MBA Show, host Omar Zenhom addresses a pressing concern from business professionals: How to effectively manage a remote team. With the surge in remote work becoming the new norm, Omar delves into strategies that ensure remote teams remain productive, cohesive, and aligned with business goals.

Understanding the Shift to Remote Work

Omar begins by highlighting the significant shift towards remote work. Citing a study by Owl Labs, he notes that 74% of professionals expect remote work to become the standard. This shift necessitates a reevaluation of traditional management approaches to suit a virtual environment.

"Remote work has exploded in the last few years... managing a remote team requires different approaches." – Omar Zenhom [01:08]

Key Strategies for Managing Remote Teams

Omar outlines six essential strategies to manage remote teams effectively:

1. Set Clear Expectations

Establishing clear expectations is paramount. Without them, remote teams can easily lose direction and fall out of sync.

• Define Success: Clearly articulate what success looks like for each role. For instance, an audio editor should know that flawless and timely edits are critical for podcast publication.

• Action Step: Create a document or use a project management tool to outline each position's goals and deliverables. Transparency ensures team members understand their responsibilities and what is required to excel.

"This is what it looks like to win in your company... give them the rules of the game so they can win." – Omar Zenhom [03:45]

2. Over-Communicate

Effective communication compensates for the lack of physical presence in a remote setup.

• Regular Check-ins: Implement daily or weekly meetings to stay updated on team progress.

• Use Communication Tools: Utilize platforms like Basecamp for daily check-ins where team members can report their activities and progress.

• Trust but Verify: Establish systems where employees verify their work without the need for micromanagement.

"Over communicating doesn't mean micromanaging. It means ensuring clarity and making sure everybody's aligned." – Omar Zenhom [05:10]

3. Use the Right Tools

Selecting appropriate tools enhances collaboration and productivity without overwhelming the team.

• Simplicity is Key: Opt for streamlined tools like Google Workspace for document management and Slack for communication.

• Recommended Tool: Omar recommends Basecamp for its ease of use, affordability, and comprehensive project management features.

• Action Step: Audit your current tools and streamline them based on team feedback to ensure they support your established systems effectively.

4. Build a Culture of Trust and Autonomy

Fostering trust and autonomy empowers team members and boosts morale.

• Empower Decision-Making: Encourage team members to take initiative and make decisions within their roles.

• Focus on Outcomes: Evaluate performance based on the quality and impact of work rather than hours logged.

• Action Step: Delegate responsibilities and allow team members the freedom to manage their tasks, reinforcing trust in their capabilities.

"Remote teams really thrive when they feel trusted, when they feel empowered, when they feel like they have ownership over their work." – Omar Zenhom [07:15]

5. Foster Team Connection

Maintaining team cohesion is crucial to prevent feelings of isolation among remote workers.

• Team Building Activities: Organize virtual hangouts, games, or even in-person retreats to strengthen team bonds.

• Create Friendships: Encourage interactions that allow team members to form personal connections, enhancing collaboration and job satisfaction.

• Action Step: Schedule regular team-building activities to nurture camaraderie and a positive work environment.

"One of the number one reasons why people stay in a job and don't quit is because they have a friend at work." – Omar Zenhom

6. Provide Feedback and Recognition

Continuous feedback and recognition ensure that team members feel valued and motivated.

• Celebrate Wins: Acknowledge individual and team achievements regularly to boost morale.

• Constructive Feedback: Offer feedback that helps team members grow while also recognizing their contributions.

• Action Step: Incorporate a feedback loop in meetings to highlight successes and provide constructive insights, fostering a culture of appreciation.

"People want to feel valued. People want to feel like they're important, that they're cared for, that people actually appreciate them." – Omar Zenhom [14:30]

Conclusion

Managing a remote team effectively transcends mere oversight; it involves building robust systems, cultivating trust, and enhancing communication. Omar Zenhom's strategies provide a comprehensive framework for leaders to navigate the complexities of remote team management, ensuring sustained productivity and team satisfaction.

"Managing remote team effectively isn't about constant oversight or micromanaging. It's about building systems... fostering the right connections." – Omar Zenhom [15:20]

Omar encourages listeners to embrace remote work by implementing these strategies, ensuring their teams not only survive but thrive in a virtual environment.

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Transcript

[Ryan Reynolds]

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[Omar Zenhom]

See full [e-mail] got a 7am meeting on a Monday expensing breakfast because it's in policy wasting all afternoon submitting an expense report for that breakfast. If your company used Ramp, you could submit expenses with just a text. Yay.

[Ramp Voiceover]

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[Omar Zenhom]

How do you know if your remote team is actually working? If they're actually doing what they need to do to grow your business? That's the topic of today's Q and A Wednesdays episode, A Question from Aaron where he asks, how can I effectively manage my remote team and make sure they're doing what they need to do to stay on track? This is such an important question by Aaron because remote work is becoming the norm now. This is the standard people are expecting to work from home. This is becoming more and more important, more imperative for you to know how to manage a remote team without chaos, without not knowing if people are doing what they're supposed to be doing. I'm going to share with you what has worked for me in my experience of running remote teams for over 15 years. Yes, I've been doing this for a very long time. Before it was a normal thing, before it was popular, and I've done all the mistakes you could possibly imagine so you don't have to. We're going to make sure that you have the strategies in place to build trust with your team, maintain productivity, and lead your team to success. Don't forget, if you got a question you want to ask on Q and A Wednesday, go ahead and submit it [e-mail] Q remote work has exploded in the last few years. According to a study by Owl Labs, 74% of professionals expect remote work to become the standard. That means 74% of the people that are going to be looking to work for you are expecting to be working remotely. But managing a remote team requires different approaches. It requires a different approach, different plan than working in person. Let me give you a very clean example. When an Employee works in an office, they pick up on cues. What other people are doing, what's expected, the culture, what should be done, what shouldn't be done. Just by sitting there at their desk, they're aware of your presence, your physical presence of being in the office. They're overhearing conversations. They understand the gravity of the deadlines that are set. There is the sense of obligation they have because they're in person. All these things that we kind of leaned on and relied on, just go. They disappear when you're in a remote work setup. What we want to do instead is have some strategies, have some techniques to make sure that we're not missing out on anything just because we're running our team remotely. What I found to be the first step in this process is to set clear expectations. So that's step one. You gotta be able to tell your team members what it looks like to win, how to succeed at their job. Without clarity, remote teams and team members can quickly fall out of sync. They don't have any clear expectations around what your goals are. Deadlines, communication. This makes it very hard for them to actually succeed because they don't know what the rules are. They don't know what success looks like. Here at the $100 MBA with all our team members, we make it very clear from day one and we repeat this over and over. This is what it looks like to win in your. For example, if you are audio editor Carl, who edits this podcast, in order for you to win at this team, you have to edit the podcast flawlessly, in a timely manner so that we could publish on time. This is kind of the most critical thing you need to do to make sure that it sounds brilliant, it's done properly, and that everything is published on time, it's done in a timely manner. You hand it over to your team members, you work together with them to make sure that things are published the way they should be, when they should be. Now. There's other things he's responsible for, there's other things he does, but that's kind of his North Star. He knows this is how I win at this company. So as an action step, create a document or a project management board where it clearly states what each position's goals are, right? What does winning look like for that position? What are the deliverables? Can you clearly state to them, hey, if you do this thing right or these few things, this is really what makes or break your job, right? This is really what makes you succeed. You don't have to overcomplicate this, you could just do this in a Google Doc. You don't even have to use any kind of project management tool. But as long as it's clear to your team members, hey, if you want to win at this business, if you want to win at my company, this is what winning looks like. It's only fair you give them the rules of the game so they can win. Step two over communicate. One of the rules we have at our company is that you cannot over communicate. Okay? The reason why we say this is because we're a remote team. And when you, you are not in person, there's a lot that is lost because you're not getting other forms of communication by just being in the same room as somebody. There is communication that's happening that is not verbal. So let me give you an example. Like in real life, imagine you met with your team every Monday at 10 o'clock and everybody shows up to the office at 9. Or they show up to work remotely at 9. If John doesn't show up to the meeting, you don't have to wonder if he's at work today or not. If he didn't show up at his desk at 9, he's probably out sick. But if it's a remote team, it's a little bit of a mystery. Is he at work, is he not? Did he check in? I haven't seen any messages. Let's ping him. Let's figure out if he has a link to the call. Maybe he's lost, maybe he's lost Internet connectivity. See how there's so much communication that needs to be done in order to avoid confusion? This is not bad or good. This is just different. When you're in a remote team, you have to over communicate a whole lot more than when you're in person. This is why we always have to have regular check ins. And that's why we have a habit in our team to say good morning when you start your day. So we kind of know what's going on, where you're at. Let me make something very clear. Over communicating doesn't mean micromanaging. It means ensuring clarity and making sure everybody's aligned. One of the things I really believe in business is that you have to trust but verify. And the verification is not on you, it's on them. You need to create a system in your business to make sure that they verify that they are doing what they're doing right? Because if you do it, it's a micromanaging. It's you, you know, kind of hovering over them. So say, for example, you set up a system for check ins. We do check ins in our team. We use a tool called Basecamp that every day they do a check in. This is what I did today. I worked on this project. I did X amount of customer support, tickets, whatever it might be. And this allows me to know what they did without me asking. I don't need to hover all over them. I trust them and they verify that they are doing their job. So as an action step, establish some sort of cadence for these check ins, whether it's asynchronously like we do online, like they do it themselves just by typing at the end of the day, or whether it's a standup, a daily standup. I used to do that when I was running my software company, Webinar Ninja, or a Slack message, whatever it might be, a zoom call, whatever. What is the cadence that you're going to have in your team regularly so that you can trust them? And they verify that, hey, I'm actually on track, I'm doing what supposed to do. And it's a good way for them to know that they're moving in the right direction. And here's the truth. Our team members are fine with this because they know that they're getting the flexibility and the freedom to work in the comfort of their home the way they like. And they have a lot more autonomy. Asking somebody to check in once a day is not asking a lot.

[Ramp Voiceover]

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[Omar Zenhom]

Step 3 Use the right tools. Now, I'm not a big believer that tools are a silver bullet. Tools are just as useful as the way you use them. So I like very simple, seamless, streamlined tools. Things like Google Docs, Google Drive, the Google, you know, Workspace suite is very easy to use. Another tool for just back and forth communication that's easy to use is like Slack or Google Chat, which is free. But if I was going to choose one tool to use and invest to run a remote team, I'd probably say Basecamp. I've Been using Basecamp for maybe about eight or nine years now. It's one of the easiest tools to use. It's one of the easiest tools to learn. It's great for project management, it's great for to do lists, it's great for chatting, and it's incredibly affordable. I mean, I think it's like $100 a month no matter how many users you have on your team. Pretty crazy. But the point here is, is that it doesn't do every single thing under the sun, which is good because it could be confusing. It does just enough to keep you organized. So as an action step, audit your current tools, ask your team which tools are actually using, make it streamlined, make it simple, and have the system that you've built work for you and the tools supplement that system. You want to make collaboration easy for your team without overwhelming them. Step four. You want to build a culture of trust and autonomy. I hinted at this earlier, but here's the bottom line. Micromanagement kills morale. It just really kills the whole vibe of your company. Right? You want to make sure your team members feel like you trust them, that you believe in their skills, you believe that they can make decisions, that they can do the work that you're asking them to do. Right? And that's why when you put the ownership of them to verify, you could put the ball in their court. And as long as they verify, they can have the autonomy they need. Remote teams really thrive when they feel trusted, when they feel empowered, when they feel like they have ownership over their work. Right? For example, I encourage my team to take initiative and solve problems on their own. Okay? The chances of them making the wrong decision and that decision being irreversible are very slim. Knowing that they have my support when they need it, this really builds a lot of confidence in our team. It makes them feel independent. It makes them feel like they're part of this company. It also allows me not to have to worry about every single decision. It allows me to delegate a lot of that, you know, painful day to day, small minute decisions that really take up a lot of time. One of the things I use as a rule of thumb, and I encourage you to do as well, is to focus on outcomes, not the hours they put in. Judge your team members based on the quality of their work, based on what they actually produce, how they contribute to the success of the company. Trust them to manage their own time effectively. You want to put some guardrails maybe at the beginning, and some positions are a little bit different than others. For example, like Customer support. They have to be online and be ready to answer a question from a customer via chat or email or something or phone call that there's no kind of negotiation around that, right? They have to kind of be present. But outside of positions like that, you can give them tasks to complete and have them do it in a timely manner. Give them the autonomy to do it the way they want to do it. Step 5 Foster a team connection. Remote teams can feel isolated. Creating opportunities for a chance to connect with one another helps build camaraderie, helps build team spirit, helps improve collaboration and morale. Host a virtual hangout, do some games, have some fun. I remember during COVID we did our team retreat online. It was throughout the week and we had some competition and we sent gifts in the mail and goodie bags and it was a lot of fun. And if you can do a team retreat in person, fantastic as well. But understand that a lot of people stay in a job because they enjoy it. I learned this from Scott Galloway. One of the number one reasons why people stay in a job and don't quit is because they have a friend at work, right? So allow them to become friends. Facilitate the ability for them to bond with each other. So as an action item, schedule regular team building activities, games, fun. If you can do an in person retreat, that's amazing. Even if it's just a weekend or even a one day off site, it makes all the difference. When we do our team retreats, people come back full with energy. And yes, there's an investment and there's a cost to running these retreats, but it's a great retention tool. My sixth and final step is provide feedback and recognition. Listen, we're human beings and people want to feel valued. People want to feel like they're important, that they're cared for, that people actually appreciate them. So it's important to give feedback to help them improve, but also to give them positive reinforcement. Use a feedback loop that acknowledges wins. Start your meetings with saying, hey, let's talk about our wins this week. What did we win this week? What are some milestones? Did we get mentioned in a blog post? Did we, you know, hit a certain milestone of traffic to our website or revenue this month? Celebrate a new hire, whatever it is, Seek opportunities to celebrate. Seek opportunities to praise. I actually learned this when I was a manager in education. I was leading a team of 30 teachers and I had to give feedback a lot. I had to boost morale, especially if there was some low moments during the year when we didn't have a lot of breaks, you know, and we're trying to like kind of slog it through the semester. And we'd have a team meeting every month and I would really make it a point to find a reason to praise all the different people in the department so they can know that I appreciate them. And usually that appreciation will be enough fuel to push them through till the end of the semester. Managing remote team effectively isn't about constant oversight or micromanaging. It's about building systems. It's about building trust and communication and setting clear expectations, using the right tools, fostering the right connections. Right, and recognizing your team's ability to do it on their own. Right and praising them for their efforts. Aaron, who asked this question? And everybody who's listening and watching. I hope these tips have helped you create a better understanding of how to manage your remote team that thrives. Thanks for tuning into the $100 MBA show. Don't forget, remote work is pretty much here to stay, so we might as well embrace it and build systems around it. If you found this episode useful and you want more helpful business lessons, subscribe to the show to get the next episode automatically. It's the best way to support the show. It takes two seconds just to click that subscribe button. Thanks so much in advance for doing that, whether you're listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or watching on YouTube. I'm Omar Zenholm and I'll see you in the next episode. Take care.

Got a 7am meeting on a Monday expensing breakfast because it's in policy wasting all afternoon submitting an expense report for that breakfast. If your company used Ramp, you could submit expenses with just a text. Yay.

[Ramp Voiceover]

Free your team from expense reports today. Switch your business to ramp.com.