Organizations familiar with team management based on employees’ visibility can struggle with monitoring the productivity of remote workers. Team managers need to be on top of things to evaluate the performance of onsite personnel operating in designated areas.

For this purpose, business leaders require mental and procedural shifts to understand the dynamics of modern workforce management practices. Similarly, they need to transform traditional HR procedures by leveraging the power of digital transformation to streamline operations and improve operational efficiency.

This article offers the five best remote team management practices for businesses to succeed in 2022 and beyond.

Understand Remote Work Challenges

First of all, managers need to understand remote work challenges that could impact their organizational performance. Remote workers lack face-to-face encounters which are important to assess productivity and dedication. Limited physical interaction creates troubleshooting thus asking employers to adjust for this lack of presence factor.

Similarly, a remote work environment is vulnerable to more distractions and interruptions. Managers may experience some uneasiness monitoring teams away from a physical workspace. Particularly, communication breakdowns can lead to misunderstandings and create problems due to misinterpretation of messages.

Identify Projected Goals

Project completion in a remote work environment within a tight deadline and a limited budget is like a relay race. Managers need to assign tasks from one person to the next and continually monitor progress to deliver the desired results. However, even the best remote teams often fail to meet the client’s expectations due to a lack of vision or goal.

It is, therefore, essential for project managers to identify projected goals so that all team members can see the end in sight. Each remote worker should be clear about his or her roles and responsibilities and the employer’s expectations to successfully cross the finish line.

Establish KPIs

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are the parameters used to analyze processes and assess improvements. They serve as key metrics to measure employees’ productivity as they work remotely on different sites. Besides, KPIs also help employers evaluate remote workers’ performance and identify areas that need further improvement.

Hence, remote team managers should monitor their onsite workers based on specific KPIs like the ease of communication, discipline, teamwork & collaboration, and time taken to complete the assigned tasks. Besides, remote employees should also be judged based on their knowledge and skills as well as their contribution to corporate growth and development.

 Use Workforce Management Software

The best way to evaluate remote workers’ performance based on certain KPIs is to use cloud-based workforce management software. These fully automated solutions are equipped with powerful features that allow managers to effectively monitor their onsite personnel and make informed decisions based on real-time data.

For instance, managers can set advanced schedules for their remote teams for the coming weeks or months in a few minutes. Besides, they can record accurate clock-in and clock-out times of onsite workers by accessing their GPS location within the designated service area. Automated check calls management feature helps employers to ensure the safety of staff members working in high-risk environments while patrolling management is useful to track workers’ location history.

Ensure Consistent Reporting

Finally, maintaining a proper record of activities performed by remote workers within a specific period is critical to tracking overall team performance. Employers can check these records in weekly or monthly meetings for better management decision-making and achieve operational efficiency.

For consistent reporting, managers can use the automated reporting feature of workforce management tools. This feature allows them to generate reports of hours scheduled and worked, calculate their expenses and employees’ salaries, and estimate approximate profits for weeks or months. Similarly, they can also access timesheets and download them in their desired formats.

Conclusion

There has been a paradigm shift to remote work in the post-pandemic era. Businesses accustomed to in-house work environments often struggle to manage their remote teams. Similarly, monitoring the performance of onsite teams also requires transformation because traditional methods fail to deliver expected results.

To address these issues, employers should use workforce management tools that streamline remote team management and reinvent HR practices. These fully automated solutions allow managers to monitor their remote workers’ performance, automate staff scheduling, and generate detailed reports and timesheets for weeks or months. Besides, team members can access these cloud-based solutions from anywhere to manage their shifts, show their availability, and record accurate clock-ins and clock-outs.

This way, automated WFM software can help business leaders increase their remote team’s productivity and improve their organizational performance without compromising on service quality.