Remote management for agency managers
With millions of people working from home, there is less need for traditional offices. Employees are turning to home desks as their preferred workspace, and managers need to adapt to this change. The same goes for agency business: remote management becomes crucial.
Without a conventional setting, engaging your advisors and keeping agency business on the right track may seem challenging. However, there are many ways to facilitate your remote managing efforts.
By following these tips, you’ll help ensure your sales development, customer relationship management, and other agency activities are just as efficient as before the transition.
What are the best remote management practices?
Many people prefer working from home due to greater flexibility. Managers can enjoy nearly the same level of freedom and still make sure everything’s running smoothly. Here’s how:
Take advantage of technology
Today’s technology-driven world offers an array of business tools that help managers in their everyday duties. They can suit office settings but are specially designed to optimize remote workplaces.
For instance, there are many cloud-based collaboration tools to enhance team productivity. They are ideal for managers since they combine features from budgeting, project management, and communication channels. Using their convenient functions, you can perform all sorts of managerial tasks:
- Hosting shared files
- Posting status updates
- Documenting crucial business decisions
- Overcoming project challenges
- Keeping track of employee activity
Hybrid or remote teams can also benefit from video conferencing software. It substitutes in-person interactions, delivers meetings, and one-on-ones. Many programs can also record your sessions for later use and provide other means of facilitating asynchronous communication.
Overall, communicating and connecting with your advisors across multiple locations allows you to fully enjoy the freedom of telecommuting. In addition, these tools provide you with the necessary assets to manage your team’s daily needs and make sure project deadlines are met.
Employ 5-15 reports
5-15 reports are named after one of their convenient features. You can read them in five minutes and write them in 15. As such, they serve as another powerful instrument in managerial toolboxes in terms of controlling remote operations.
Advisors use these reports, to sum up, their weekly priorities, accomplishments, challenges, bottlenecks, as well as lessons learned during this period. They simplify managerial duties and are especially useful for tracking multiple team members across various locations.
Another great thing about the method is that it encourages staff to take an introspective approach and focus on their activities. They can be effectively used in unison with productivity tools, where you can set reminders for your workers to hand in their 5-15 reports.
Show your advisors you care about them
Showing your team members that you care about them doesn’t require you to burn a hole in your pocket. Rather, small tokens of appreciation (e.g., holiday cards) go a long way in conveying your feelings. Other excellent options include gift cards, t-shirts, and birthday presents.
As you build even stronger relationships of understanding and trust, your remote staff will invest even more effort and perform better on a daily basis. Accordingly, make sure to reward them for their progress, whether with a raise or voucher.
Establish transparency and clear expectations
Effective remote managers must communicate openly and keep their advisors informed on all levels. Before making any telecommuting arrangements, be sure to discuss critical conditions to help your team fully understand what you expect of them:
- Work performance expectations
- Continuous skill development via LXP or LMS e-learning
- Communication channels
- Corporate policies
- Salary
You should also consider your working culture and region since they play a key role in your team’s availability and productivity. For example, managers from Delhi might experience a culture shock supervising remote workers from the South. Their previous organization may have had different corporate policies regarding time off, sick days, and shorter business hours. All of which should be thoroughly discussed.
While some enterprises are rigid concerning these policies, managers may want to display more flexibility. Suppose your workers from northern legions lose their Wi-Fi due to a blizzard, preventing them from completing their duties on time. A good idea would be to extend their deadlines even if you live in a region where blizzards aren’t a common occurrence. Advisors appreciate understanding managers and feel motivated to remain part of such a positive team.
Trust your team members and avoid micromanaging
Some managers can become too anxious and involved with their advisors’ activities. These feelings can only be enhanced in remote settings. However, micromanaging and monitoring every move your workers make is a sure-fire way to cause resentment.
Most advisors are people looking for a challenging job with ample opportunities to contribute. Micromanaging settings achieve the exact opposite, which is why you should avoid the practice. Instead, assert yourself as a strong leader without imposing on your team’s daily routines. It conveys a sense of trust, reinforcing your relationships.
Welcome feedback
In every supportive workplace environment, the staff should appreciate constructive criticism from their boss. To establish that environment, good managers must find a way to provide and collect feedback on their employee treatment.
While these skills apply to any business setting, they are amplified by remote arrangements. Since staying on the same page in these conditions can be difficult, managers who can listen to their advisors will reap the most benefits.
The easiest way to show your advisors you embrace feedback is to simply ask for it. Your direct reports should reflect you’re seeking feedback, and you should follow up the inquiries by incorporating them. This eliminates any frustrations associated with one-way dialogues. Over time, I help you establish a friendly culture, which is key to employee satisfaction and happiness.
Your advisors are your agency’s heart and soul
Remote management may seem like a daunting task, but you can turn it into smooth sailing by following well-established strategies. As previously mentioned, a range of tools can help you in this endeavor, and one of them is Learnsure.
Learnsure is one of the finest staff training solutions that can work wonders in preparing your team for real-life tasks. Our app utilizes the most relevant learning approaches, keeping up with the ever-evolving workplace. Book a demo and check out why integrating with our platform is one of the wisest decisions you can make.
