Guidelines for Managing Remote Workers in the Tech Sector

The rise of remote work has led to a significant transformation in the world of work, especially in the IT sector, where around 43% of developers now work remotely. This shift has created a wealth of opportunities for businesses to access a vast pool of talent worldwide, while also granting employees the freedom to work from any location. 

Despite its many advantages, managing a remote team can be challenging. It requires the right tools and strategies to keep track of tasks, maintain productivity, and ensure effective communication. However, with the right approach, you can successfully manage your remote tech team and lead them to success. 

In this article, we’ll share some best practices for managing remote workers, based on our experience as a remote recruitment agency. You’ll learn how to overcome the unique challenges that come with managing a remote workforce and set your team up for success.

What Is Remote Workforce Management in the Tech Sector?

Remote workforce management in the tech sector involves the use of strategies and tools to manage employees who work remotely, such as software developers, IT support personnel, and project managers. To keep remote tech sector employees engaged and productive, managers must prioritize communication, collaboration, and task management.

How to Effectively Manage Remote Workers?

The way you manage a remote workforce will have long-term consequences for your company’s growth potential advantages, like saving money. Morale and productivity will suffer if you do a poor job; if you succeed, a remote workforce can build loyalty and boost engagement. Here are the top 7 tips for managing remote workers: 

1. Understand Common Work-from-home Challenges

Managers are left wondering how they are supposed to manage people they rarely see in person as more employees work remotely.

To understand the tips in this article, let’s start by looking at some of the problems they seek to solve.

Lack of Clear Expectations and Boundaries

It would be a mistake for a manager to believe that because people already know what to do in the office, it should be obvious to them what is expected when working remotely. As a result, it is critical to ensure that everyone understands what is expected of them in terms of remote working. 

For example, how quickly team members are expected to respond to communication and when virtual meetings should be held. Boundaries must also be established regarding working hours and communication methods.

Communication

When employees arrive at the office in the morning, it is simple to discuss ideas with them while waiting for a meeting to begin. However, when they work from home, it is easy to overlook such engagement.

Thus, managers of remote employees must consider how they will replace face-to-face interaction at the office with various forms of communication.

Loneliness and isolation

Although it may be exciting at first, remote workers may eventually feel isolated and lonely. If the manager does not devise methods to deal with this, it could become crippling.

According to a Harvard Business Review study, “remote workers can feel shunned and left out.” Isolation and loneliness, if not managed properly, can lead to physiological and physical health problems. Check out to learn how to avoid isolation in a remote team. 

Burnout

When people go to work every day, there are clear distinctions between work and home life. Because remote working removes this boundary, many people end up working longer hours, which can lead to burnout or decreased productivity.

2. Optimize and Streamline Your Onboarding

If you think effective onboarding is difficult when people are close together, imagine how difficult it is in a remote setting. Onboarding new employees into a remote team is crucial. It involves introducing new employees to the team and providing them with the necessary equipment, access, and technical support to perform their duties efficiently. 

As mentioned earlier, a smooth and hassle-free onboarding process is essential in establishing trust with new employees and optimizing their time and resources.

3. Set Clear Remote Work Productivity Standards

Best practices for managing remote teams will vary depending on individual company culture and industry, but establishing clear guidelines for what you expect from your team is critical.

Maybe your company does not adhere to a strict 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule, but you expect your employees to be available for eight hours every day.

Perhaps signing off in the afternoon to pick up the kids from school and cook dinner, then returning later in the evening to resume their work tasks is acceptable in your organization. Make that clear if that is the case. Don’t put your employees in a situation where they have to guess what times they need to be available.

4. Identify and Provide the Right Tools

When it comes to managing remote workers in the IT industry, having the right tools and resources is critical. Remote employees require the same tools that onsite employees do, such as policy manuals, presentation templates, and apps&software programs. Furthermore, giving remote workers access to digital communication tools, dependable internet, and digital video conferencing tools can help them stay productive.

What are the best tools to manage a remote employee?

Looking for the best tools to manage your remote team? Since It requires the right tools and strategies to track your team’s performance. We’ve compiled a list of some top options to consider for your remote working journey:

• Real-time communication: Slack
• Workflow management: Asana/Trello
• Time tracking: Toggl/Top Tracker/Harvest
• Performance tracking: Insightful/ActivTrak
• Collaborative documents: Google Docs/Xtensio
• File sharing: Dropbox/WeTransfer
• Virtual meetings: Zoom/Microsoft Teams
• Virtual private network (VPN): NordVPN/ExpressVPN

Remember that the best tools for managing remote employees are specific to your team’s needs and workflow. 

5. Prioritize Cybersecurity and Data Protection

Cybersecurity is a top priority for remote teams, and strong security measures must be implemented to protect sensitive data. Using secure virtual private networks (VPNs) and two-factor authentication are examples of this. Additionally, ensure that your team adheres to best practices such as using strong passwords and avoiding phishing emails.

6. Encourage Teamwork and Collaboration

It is critical to encourage teamwork and collaboration in order to create a positive work environment and achieve business objectives. Here are some tips:

Establish a common goal

Begin by establishing a clear and specific goal for the team to work toward. This gives the team a common goal and helps to align efforts toward that goal.

Promote open communication

Encourage team members to communicate openly and honestly. Allow team members to express their thoughts, concerns, and feedback. Regular meetings, brainstorming sessions, and virtual collaboration tools can help with this.

Build trust

Trust among team members is essential for effective collaboration. Create an environment in which team members can freely express their opinions and ideas without fear of being judged or criticized. Set a good example by being open and transparent in your own communication and decision-making.

Encourage diversity

Embrace diversity and promote different points of view and ideas. This can be accomplished by assembling a team of people with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and skill sets. Teams can benefit from a broader range of ideas and approaches by embracing diversity.

Celebrate successes

Celebrate team successes and recognize individual contributions. Acknowledge and reward team members who go above and beyond, and share the success with the entire team.

7. Follow Up with Remote Employees Regularly

As with the rest of this advice, there is no one-size-fits-all answer for how frequently a manager should communicate with remote employees.

However, the most effective one-on-one calls aren’t just for tracking productivity. They can also be an effective way to keep remote employees motivated and engaged.

A great initiative would be to schedule one-on-one calls on a regular basis, whether daily, weekly, or biweekly. This can help a manager:

• Determine whether the employee is performing well overall.
• Collaborate with the employee to identify and eliminate bottlenecks.
• Discuss the employee’s professional development plans.
• Answer a variety of questions about the employee.

How to Hire Remote Developers?

Managing a remote team can be challenging, but building one from scratch can be even harder. One of the biggest obstacles is finding the right talent. That’s where Gini Talent comes in. 

As a leading recruitment company specializing in tech, Gini Talent has a proven track record of helping businesses find and hire top remote developers from around the world. So if you’re looking to build a remote team, contact us today to find the talent you need to succeed.