How can you manage a remote IT team effectively?

Are you managing a remote IT team? It can be tricky to navigate. Some employees might flourish in their own environment, while others struggle. Furthermore, there are mixed feelings from a management perspective. Is the team productive? Is company culture suffering? Would people want to return to the office?

So many questions! However, these are important questions to answer when you’re hiring IT talent. We thought we should share some advice on how you can effectively manage a remote IT team.

How to manage your IT team remotely

Whatever your personal feelings on remote working, you have to embrace the advantages. This is especially important for your team to feel valued and respected. From high productivity to better work-life balance, remember how beneficial it can be.

Another important thing to recognise are the challenges faced. Knowing what these are will help you identify issues quickly. Some common concerns are…

• Lack of face-to-face time
• Harder to access information quickly
• Home distractions
• Feelings of isolation

Now, let’s look at a few ways you can streamline the daily routine to help you manage a remote IT team.

Find out staff obstacles immediately

Knowing what effects staff morale, productivity and growth is vital to learn. You cannot create an effective remote management strategy without knowing this. Identify all issues and obstacles, putting a plan in place that will help the team overcome them.

Access to resources

Be it training, better equipment or more effective tools, you need to provide as much as you can to enhance the employees ability to do their job. It will stop any delays and avoid stress from the team if they feel they aren’t equipped with what they need.

Daily check-ins with a remote IT team

When you’re in the office, it is easy to check in with someone throughout the day. Remotely, it is not that simple. Many IT manager’s have been trialling a morning check in with the team. No more than 20 minutes, you can see how everyone is and reiterate the main goals. Make it clear that if anyone needs a one to one, your diary is open.

Make the most of technology

There are many ways to keep connected and making yourself available. Zoom and Teams, for example, have become staples in every business. For team chats, Slack and WhatsApp are great to diversify communications. Finally, calendar tools are also useful – we have mentioned making yourself open for catch-ups, so allowing the team to book appointments will streamline that process.

Make end goals more important than activity

In the office, daily activity was an important part of the office life. Now, you need to put less focus on this. Make it clear what the end goals are, allowing the team to plan a strategy and execute it. This enhances their ownership, productivity and positivity. They won’t feel micro-managed either, which is always a plus!

Are you managing a remote IT team?

You are doing great, we’re sure of it! If you want more recruitment advice, or help with hiring IT talent, submit an enquiry to the team and we will be in touch!