Managing teams who are WFH - any hints & tips?
Discussion
Following on from the other WFH/WFO thread I'm interested in knowing how PH managers/Directors manage their staff who are working remotely, and particularly things you've picked up during lockdown. what challenges you've encountered, what's gone well, what's been an absolute disaster
I have 4 direct reports and am extremely fortunate that they are very competent which means I hardly need to do any day-to-day management. However we have a minimum 30 minute once a week catchup via Teams (I also ask that they do the same within their teams). We also have an All Finance 30 minute team session once a week and we meet up in the office once a month.
I am fortunate that the vast majority of the team have worked with me for over 5 years and everybody knows their job inside out. But I'm aware that WFH means you don't pick up the informal signs that somebody is stressed/disconnected/de-motivated.
In terms of what's gone well - retention levels are fantastic and applications for vacancies are through the roof. My guess is that's because we're offering lots of WFH.
So - looking to pick the brains of fellow PH'ers on the "Do's-and-Do Not Do's of remote management"
I have 4 direct reports and am extremely fortunate that they are very competent which means I hardly need to do any day-to-day management. However we have a minimum 30 minute once a week catchup via Teams (I also ask that they do the same within their teams). We also have an All Finance 30 minute team session once a week and we meet up in the office once a month.
I am fortunate that the vast majority of the team have worked with me for over 5 years and everybody knows their job inside out. But I'm aware that WFH means you don't pick up the informal signs that somebody is stressed/disconnected/de-motivated.
In terms of what's gone well - retention levels are fantastic and applications for vacancies are through the roof. My guess is that's because we're offering lots of WFH.
So - looking to pick the brains of fellow PH'ers on the "Do's-and-Do Not Do's of remote management"
Small regular catch ups, both as a team but also with individuals.
Use Teams or another chat tool to keep communication flowing throughout the day, like you would chatting over the desk etc.
Clearly articulated goals and regular check ins. You can't course correct if you aren't aware what's happening.
Get together in person regularly (we do quarterly) and make sure you spend the time doing people/soft stuff together rather than just normal working days
Use Teams or another chat tool to keep communication flowing throughout the day, like you would chatting over the desk etc.
Clearly articulated goals and regular check ins. You can't course correct if you aren't aware what's happening.
Get together in person regularly (we do quarterly) and make sure you spend the time doing people/soft stuff together rather than just normal working days
It sounds like you're going about it the right way already.
My one extra point is to be clear about being available online. Make sure that they absolutely know that if you're green on Teams then to treat it like you're all in the office and your door is open. They can't have any sense of 'ooh, I don't want to disturb them for this' or you'll lose the little interactions that are often the most valuable.
Similarly, be really clear with your own communications that you fully respect their online status. If it's busy or DND then there's no "I know you're busy but...", it is to be treated like they're in the office, sat in a meeting room with the door closed. No disturbing unless it's an absolute crisis.
I've seen from both sides how getting this wrong absolutely kills remote communications, not just WFH but I've worked in multi-site businesses where it just becomes a wonderful combination of half the people not saying anything ever for fear of disturbing someone and the other half just barging into peoples' teams chats whenever it takes their fancy.
The really hard thing will be to make sure your team of managers is cascading all this, and your existing management style, into their teams effectively.
My one extra point is to be clear about being available online. Make sure that they absolutely know that if you're green on Teams then to treat it like you're all in the office and your door is open. They can't have any sense of 'ooh, I don't want to disturb them for this' or you'll lose the little interactions that are often the most valuable.
Similarly, be really clear with your own communications that you fully respect their online status. If it's busy or DND then there's no "I know you're busy but...", it is to be treated like they're in the office, sat in a meeting room with the door closed. No disturbing unless it's an absolute crisis.
I've seen from both sides how getting this wrong absolutely kills remote communications, not just WFH but I've worked in multi-site businesses where it just becomes a wonderful combination of half the people not saying anything ever for fear of disturbing someone and the other half just barging into peoples' teams chats whenever it takes their fancy.
The really hard thing will be to make sure your team of managers is cascading all this, and your existing management style, into their teams effectively.
I managed a team remotely over COVID, now in a hybrid model (2 days in the office). I also manage another team based in Berlin. We're in software engineering.
Regular communication is key as others have said, both in the team and individually. We have brief (15 minute) morning 'standup' meetings to discuss progress on work and and fires that have sprung up. We also have weekly scheduled meetings for particular topics. I have 1:1s with engineers either weekly for 30 mins or fortnightly for an hour, depending on what support they need.
Be relaxed about meetings overrunning a bit where possible; if people are talking (regardless of the topic) they're building relationships with colleagues they won't get over a coffee machine in an office. They'll be more inclined to ask each other for help etc.
Ensure everyone has the right tools in place. Decent WFH setup, appropriate software for remote collaboration etc. If you're in a large company and tend to use a chat tool like slack, be in the habit of sending your team links to important comms they maybe missed.
If you're line managing teams across multiple countries, understand their labour laws and differing cultural expectations.
Have a very structured approach to hiring and onboarding new colleagues. We have a very mature process for this now and I still find it more challenging than pre COVID.
Finally, spend the time and money for some in-person meet ups occasionally unless it's completely impossible. In terms of engagement in the team and with your company, it makes a difference.
Regular communication is key as others have said, both in the team and individually. We have brief (15 minute) morning 'standup' meetings to discuss progress on work and and fires that have sprung up. We also have weekly scheduled meetings for particular topics. I have 1:1s with engineers either weekly for 30 mins or fortnightly for an hour, depending on what support they need.
Be relaxed about meetings overrunning a bit where possible; if people are talking (regardless of the topic) they're building relationships with colleagues they won't get over a coffee machine in an office. They'll be more inclined to ask each other for help etc.
Ensure everyone has the right tools in place. Decent WFH setup, appropriate software for remote collaboration etc. If you're in a large company and tend to use a chat tool like slack, be in the habit of sending your team links to important comms they maybe missed.
If you're line managing teams across multiple countries, understand their labour laws and differing cultural expectations.
Have a very structured approach to hiring and onboarding new colleagues. We have a very mature process for this now and I still find it more challenging than pre COVID.
Finally, spend the time and money for some in-person meet ups occasionally unless it's completely impossible. In terms of engagement in the team and with your company, it makes a difference.
As others have said, that sounds like a very good approach.
We did daily stand ups (IT team) but also used Teams to say hello & gooodbye and just chat during the day.
Schedule regular catch up calls with individuals but make it clear that your “door” is always open
Accept that some people won’t be as comfortable with cameras, but try and have them on by default.
In some ways having a hybrid team is harder as it can be easy for those not present to feel less involved.
We did daily stand ups (IT team) but also used Teams to say hello & gooodbye and just chat during the day.
Schedule regular catch up calls with individuals but make it clear that your “door” is always open
Accept that some people won’t be as comfortable with cameras, but try and have them on by default.
In some ways having a hybrid team is harder as it can be easy for those not present to feel less involved.
mattybrown said:
All of above, we also have virtual coffee breaks, just an open session for all whilst we either work or grab a drink and the opportunity to chat about non work stuff.
Do you have any tips on how you have made the virtual coffee breaks work? I've seen a few descend into "forced fun" and become counter-productive.Alex Z said:
As others have said, that sounds like a very good approach.
We did daily stand ups (IT team) but also used Teams to say hello & gooodbye and just chat during the day.
Schedule regular catch up calls with individuals but make it clear that your “door” is always open
Accept that some people won’t be as comfortable with cameras, but try and have them on by default.
In some ways having a hybrid team is harder as it can be easy for those not present to feel less involved.
Hybrid is the worst of all worlds IMO, especially if you have meetings where half the people are in person and half are not. I've even known someone be sacked for going on a rant about how remote people were treated in a hybrid setup. He did have a point because his team had completely excluded the people who worked remotely to the point that the in-office people had their own official team meetings.We did daily stand ups (IT team) but also used Teams to say hello & gooodbye and just chat during the day.
Schedule regular catch up calls with individuals but make it clear that your “door” is always open
Accept that some people won’t be as comfortable with cameras, but try and have them on by default.
In some ways having a hybrid team is harder as it can be easy for those not present to feel less involved.
I think when working remotely it is important for everyone to see what projects other people are working on, in my remote team everything is private so it is very easy to feel isolated. Anything people say on a phone call feels more formal/official so things have a tendency to bottle up until its worth stating officially and the manager knows very little of what is going on until it is too late.
I work for a software company and about 90% of staff wfh. I have worked there - as have many others - for over 10yrs and have never worked in a more collegiate, friendly, relaxed environment. We have rigorous onboarding and mentoring processes for new people, supply them with all the equipment they might need to support them, help them integrate and understand the way we work.
I would agree with what many others have suggested but would emphasise the importance of constant regular and irregular means of communication/meetings.
We have company wide meetups each year where everyone is flown to a single location to spend a week doing face to face things - not just work, but those activities that benefit from meeting personally.
Additionally we have team (UK) face to face meetings a couple of times a year where everyone comes together for a few days for partly work related HR stuff but also largely to go out, eat and drink and generally enjoy some downtime.
We have weekly team meetings via Zoom on Friday afternoons which are an opportunity to let others know what we have been working on and generally have a face to face chat before the weekend.
Lastly we have a company wide chat running constantly with various channels. Some work related (for all staff, developers, teams as well as project work) but many/most are informal subjects - cooking, gardening, TV, cars, war (and peace) - where anyone can just shoot the breeze. Anyone can create a channel and they are actively encouraged/attended by everyone including the CEO down.
I think the message is communicate, communicate, communicate.
And as someone above mentioned, only worry when people become uncommunicative. With us the only thing that is frowned upon is not asking for help when you need it.
I would agree with what many others have suggested but would emphasise the importance of constant regular and irregular means of communication/meetings.
We have company wide meetups each year where everyone is flown to a single location to spend a week doing face to face things - not just work, but those activities that benefit from meeting personally.
Additionally we have team (UK) face to face meetings a couple of times a year where everyone comes together for a few days for partly work related HR stuff but also largely to go out, eat and drink and generally enjoy some downtime.
We have weekly team meetings via Zoom on Friday afternoons which are an opportunity to let others know what we have been working on and generally have a face to face chat before the weekend.
Lastly we have a company wide chat running constantly with various channels. Some work related (for all staff, developers, teams as well as project work) but many/most are informal subjects - cooking, gardening, TV, cars, war (and peace) - where anyone can just shoot the breeze. Anyone can create a channel and they are actively encouraged/attended by everyone including the CEO down.
I think the message is communicate, communicate, communicate.
And as someone above mentioned, only worry when people become uncommunicative. With us the only thing that is frowned upon is not asking for help when you need it.
Simbu said:
We have brief (15 minute) morning 'standup' meetings to discuss progress on work and and fires that have sprung up.
In my experience daily morning standups are god awful and should be killed. But then the same could be said for Scrum in it's entirety. My general advice for the OP is a rather facetious but also true:
1) Hire the right people
2) Let them get on with it
Regular manager interference via meetings, 1 to 1s, Zoom/Team calls, and a fullish calendar is usually a pain in the arse that detracts from productive work.
Olivera said:
In my experience daily morning standups are god awful and should be killed. But then the same could be said for Scrum in it's entirety.
Everyone's mileage will vary. It gives us a regular opportunity to chat about our work and discuss relevant but not urgent news since the last standup. Even more important in a hybrid or remote working model. For the sake of 15 mins a day, it's worthwhile for us.biggiles said:
mattybrown said:
All of above, we also have virtual coffee breaks, just an open session for all whilst we either work or grab a drink and the opportunity to chat about non work stuff.
Do you have any tips on how you have made the virtual coffee breaks work? I've seen a few descend into "forced fun" and become counter-productive.To combat some of the hybrid in office out of office groups the one rule we do have is if one person is virtual we all go to our own p.c’s and go virtual rather than use the meeting room conference systems. In theory It means everyone has the same opportunity to contribute.
mattybrown said:
biggiles said:
mattybrown said:
All of above, we also have virtual coffee breaks, just an open session for all whilst we either work or grab a drink and the opportunity to chat about non work stuff.
Do you have any tips on how you have made the virtual coffee breaks work? I've seen a few descend into "forced fun" and become counter-productive.To combat some of the hybrid in office out of office groups the one rule we do have is if one person is virtual we all go to our own p.c’s and go virtual rather than use the meeting room conference systems. In theory It means everyone has the same opportunity to contribute.
We are a relatively small company with nobody younger than 37.
We use Teams, and consist of two directors, seven sales staff 10 operations staff and two accounts staff.
We went WFH as a company of 11 in February 2020 at zero warning - lockdown hit.
We then took over another company, including its MD, by mutual agreement in January 2022, and have been really busy.
Hiring is the only area we found difficult, we are in a niche industry and finding experienced new operations people as we expanded was impossible.
We had a couple of misfits, recruiting people who couldn't cope, plus a couple of definite successes. No logic to it.But no worse than face to face recruiting. As said above, we are thorough with our on-boarding and we fully equip and support them.
Sales people we have located by word of mouth in our industry, and all have been a success.
I feel that the age thing actually has helped us. I am not making a negative comment about young people, but being positive about older people. Our staff almost all have families and a stable background, average age is around 50, and we find you do get loyalty and a work ethic without having to watch their every move. They get the job done.
Contrast that with my son-in-law's team. He works for a mobile phone company, managing a team of young corporate cash collection agents handling some truly enormous household name accounts. He manges a team of 30, and regularly has to fire staff due to gross misconduct. Everything from logging on, starting the mouse jiggler running, and going back to bed, to just doing sufficient work to hit targets, to constant appointments in working hours. You name it, his team does it. He has to be an IT expert and has to watch their every move - he can see every key-stroke they make. I cannot imagine our company ever doing that.
I have worked from home myself for 31 years now, so none of this was new to me. I am the finance manager. I call people on Teams when I have questions, unless I think they need time to sort out an answer and wouldn't thank me for dropping a tricky question on them. I find the face to face conversations keeps the bond going and I pick up on issues that are troubling them.
We had a corporate meeting in November in Malta, along with our colleagues from Estonia (fellow subsidiary) and a Christmas lunch last month, and are planning a trip to Tallinn and Tartu in April - it is a beautiful country, if a tad close to Vlad the Impaler.
The teams within the company have regular meetings, some on Teams, some in the office we rent in a business centre. We have one room with 4 desks and computer docks, but the centre has meeting rooms and a cafe we can use.
I think my advice would be to keep your team motivated and rewarded, as more than ever you need to be able to trust your people to get on and do their jobs properly and conscientiously. As said above, keep people involved and communicate.
We use Teams, and consist of two directors, seven sales staff 10 operations staff and two accounts staff.
We went WFH as a company of 11 in February 2020 at zero warning - lockdown hit.
We then took over another company, including its MD, by mutual agreement in January 2022, and have been really busy.
Hiring is the only area we found difficult, we are in a niche industry and finding experienced new operations people as we expanded was impossible.
We had a couple of misfits, recruiting people who couldn't cope, plus a couple of definite successes. No logic to it.But no worse than face to face recruiting. As said above, we are thorough with our on-boarding and we fully equip and support them.
Sales people we have located by word of mouth in our industry, and all have been a success.
I feel that the age thing actually has helped us. I am not making a negative comment about young people, but being positive about older people. Our staff almost all have families and a stable background, average age is around 50, and we find you do get loyalty and a work ethic without having to watch their every move. They get the job done.
Contrast that with my son-in-law's team. He works for a mobile phone company, managing a team of young corporate cash collection agents handling some truly enormous household name accounts. He manges a team of 30, and regularly has to fire staff due to gross misconduct. Everything from logging on, starting the mouse jiggler running, and going back to bed, to just doing sufficient work to hit targets, to constant appointments in working hours. You name it, his team does it. He has to be an IT expert and has to watch their every move - he can see every key-stroke they make. I cannot imagine our company ever doing that.
I have worked from home myself for 31 years now, so none of this was new to me. I am the finance manager. I call people on Teams when I have questions, unless I think they need time to sort out an answer and wouldn't thank me for dropping a tricky question on them. I find the face to face conversations keeps the bond going and I pick up on issues that are troubling them.
We had a corporate meeting in November in Malta, along with our colleagues from Estonia (fellow subsidiary) and a Christmas lunch last month, and are planning a trip to Tallinn and Tartu in April - it is a beautiful country, if a tad close to Vlad the Impaler.
The teams within the company have regular meetings, some on Teams, some in the office we rent in a business centre. We have one room with 4 desks and computer docks, but the centre has meeting rooms and a cafe we can use.
I think my advice would be to keep your team motivated and rewarded, as more than ever you need to be able to trust your people to get on and do their jobs properly and conscientiously. As said above, keep people involved and communicate.
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