6 Tips To Make Sure Your Remote Team is Happy and Productive

Corporations are moving away from office spaces in droves, instead adopting the advantages of completely remote teams. Often built from members all over the globe, remote marketing teams tend to either thrive or crumble entirely in this fully remote setting.

Over 70% of workers find a better work-life balance when they work remotely. A happier staff should equal higher productivity. Interestingly, this isn’t always the case.

In this article, we’ve outlined six tips for managers of remote marketing teams to improve their team’s morale and relationships, boosting productivity.

6 Tips To Manage A Productive Remote Marketing Team

Cultivate a Healthy, Friendly Team Culture

Synergy is the force that binds remote teams — the largest detractor from it is poor communication. Without frequent, inclusive, and open communication between team members, you can expect:

• Poor productivity and collaboration.
• Team members feel disconnected or out of place;
• Intra-team issues and burnout aren’t communicated.
• Goals or deadlines missed completely.

Regular team meetings are a good start for getting your team to communicate effectively. When appropriate, one-on-one meetings help clarify any underlying issues with a single team member (as long as you avoid making them feel singled out).

Also Read: How Work Trackers Enhance Remote Marketing Teams

Set Clear Expectations, Goals, and Deadlines

As much as poor communication can be attributed to team culture, the blame can often lie with you, the manager. Even more than in-office teams, remote teams require crystal-clear expectations and goals.

Your team might span half a dozen time zones, so ensuring you’re all working on the same timeline is key. Deadlines can make or break, especially in marketing. 

As a remote marketing team manager:

• Define deadlines by time zone to avoid misinterpretation.
• Clearly express minimum working hours, weekly progress, etc.;
• Check in regularly to ensure goals are being met.

Equip Your Team with the Right Tools

A remote team is only as effective as the tools you equip them with. Productivity and communication apps are the obvious choices, but incorporating equipment deployment tools alongside cybersecurity measures ensures seamless operations and enhanced team efficiency.

Cyberattacks target marketing firms and teams of all sizes, stealing everything from client data to confidential business information. To enhance security measures, incorporating Windows remote desktop monitoring software can provide additional protection, especially for teams working remotely and using remote desktops for IT support. Malware, IP address hacks, and phishing pose the biggest threat to your team. Many companies are now providing the necessary hardware and software to ensure employees can work securely from home. This trend is especially relevant for work-from-home jobs that provide equipment, as it helps safeguard sensitive data while keeping teams productive.

At the very least, the tools your team needs are:

• Communication and team meeting platforms;
• Project management tools like Trello or Asana;
• Any relevant marketing, design, or research software;
• Cybersecurity tools such as antivirus, VPNs, and password managers.
• Accurate, non-invasive time-tracking tools.

Also Read: Ways to Enhance Productivity for Remote Employees

Understand the Nature of Remote Workers

Why do you hear of so many failed remote marketing teams? It’s often due to a manager who doesn’t understand the difference between remote and in-office workers. Assuming that what works for one also works for the other is a huge mistake.

Remote workers often feel disconnected and lonely. Strict managers often drive these individuals away with their overbearing management styles. The best remote team managers learn to compromise to suit their team.

This team chose to be remote for one reason or another — whether due to flexible working hours, the freedom to work from anywhere, or personal preference. By understanding and working with your team, you can improve productivity.

Investing in DEI training for hybrid workplaces is another key to managing a successful remote marketing team. Such training helps managers and team members alike to understand the varied dynamics and cultures that influence remote working environments. Through this training, teams can learn the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion, which is critical when team members span different geographies, backgrounds, and time zones.

Include Appropriate Team-Building Practices

Try as hard as you like, but forcing your team into boring team-building exercises will do little to improve productivity. However, this method can still make productivity gains, but only with extreme precision.

Team-building exercises work, but most existing exercises were designed for in-office teams. These workers already know each other personally, as they hang out and catch up daily at the office.

These exercises tend to fall apart when applied to remote teams. This is a group of individuals who don’t know each other, as well as an in-office team. Choose your team-building exercises based on:

• The kind of work you already do (e.g.: “sell me this tube of toothpaste…”);
• Promoting sharing and friendship between team members;
• Explore more casual options, such as virtual dinners and seminars.

Invest in Premium Onboarding and Training

No matter how rigorous your hiring process, poor onboarding and a lack of further training spell bad news for a remote marketing team. A well-trained workforce is paramount in an industry where the goalposts keep shifting.

Not only does a strong onboarding practice improve employee satisfaction and understanding, but it also makes employees up to 82% more likely to keep their jobs. Hiring is always costly and time-consuming, too, which hinders productivity.

In the beginning, powerful onboarding tools ensure your workforce feels confident in their roles. From then on, offering further training increases industry knowledge, trust in you as an employer, and, ultimately, productivity.

Also Read: The Best Tools for Remote Collaboration

Conclusion

With a remote team as nuanced as this, marketing managers need to stay on their toes and be ready to adapt to their diverse team. Through targeted improvements, team managers can see dramatic boosts to their team’s output, quality of work, and productivity.