In an office environment, it’s easy to manage the performance of employees because of proximity. That’s not usually the case in remote work or hybrid work environments. First, it’s not easy to monitor output unless there are concurrently defined metrics. For example, it’s easier to turn in work at the end of a 9 – 5 workday versus waiting for output from teams with different start and stop times. So how do you manage the performance of distributed teams in a hybrid or remote work setting?

1. Define success – without concurrently defined metrics (e.g. 1, 1500 – word article per day vs. 5 articles per week), employees won’t even know what targets to hit much more so if they are successful at all in hitting these targets.
2. Regular check-ins – having regular check-ins mean that employees know when to expect feedback and can more easily manage their workload. Manager’s shouldn’t wait until they see a dip in performance before checking -in on their teams. More often than not, employees will only initiate a meeting when they already need help. That means they are already struggling with a task or project. Nip this problem in the bud by proactively scheduling regular check-ins. Regular doesn’t have to mean daily. Work out a schedule that won’t interfere with any of your scheduled tasks.
3. Use tools – to eliminate the need to guess the productivity of an employee, tools should be used to automate the monitoring process. Project management tools can help underperforming employees with the following:
   

• Manage their workload by laying out the requirements and deadlines of each project (checklists and deadlines can help underperforming employees to organise their tasks and manage their time)
• Provide visibility to the manager and the rest of the team who are working on the same project (for projects with dependencies, visibility for all stakeholders is a must)
• Provide shareable resources (e.g. Team A may have worked on a similar project and could provide a process outline, backgrounder information or a market scan of vendors)
• Identify bottlenecks in the task or project (e.g tasks that require more resources than usual, tasks that require skills that need to be outsourced, projects that have too many redundant processes, etc.)
• Track the tasks that the employee is struggling with (e.g. if he spends too much time on one task, identify the problem, what resources are needed and how you can help).

Eliminate the guessing game and use technology to your advantage. Project management tools can help gie direction to a distributed team as they are able to work from a central environment regardless of proximity. The importance of communication and clearly defined metrics also couldn’t be stressed enough. Make sure that you have a handle on all three when managing a distributed team. What are your tried and tested management tips for working with hybrid or remote working teams? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp