What to Look For in a Remote Manager?
Skilled workers are turning to their home offices and kitchen tables as their preferred workplaces at a rate that we’ve never seen before. Many people have realized that remote work has many benefits. However, it has hampered the career plans of some promising professionals. You can work with the correct remote manager to avoid this problem.
What should you look for in a remote manager? Read on for the essential things you should look for in a remote manager.
Self-Awareness
Self-awareness is a trait that in-person and remote managers require. The attribute is highly critical for trust and relationship building.
Your employees want to achieve their career goals, but some of their flaws hinder them from doing so. A self-aware remote manager understands this and knows what can limit them. So, the manager can create work plans that consider each team member’s unique communication and learning style preferences.
Self-aware remote managers are approachable.
So, if you choose skilled ones with this trait, your employees will interact with them without ambiguity. This ability is helpful for enhanced productivity in the workplace.
Don’t forget that most managers who work from home struggle to track work progress remotely. They resort to micromanagement to remedy this issue. Since this management practice is destructive, the managers end up causing more harm than good.
As for you, find a self-aware remote manager that can come up with work styles that suit all parties, and you’ll be much happier and more productive.
Servant Leadership
The humility that remote leaders require so that they can achieve their goals is rare. Many in-person managers think they are bosses. Most remote managers have been in-person managers for a while, so the leadership style of some of them might not suit you.
Skilled remote managers lead by example. They are also proactive.
Remember, most remote workers often feel guilty asking their managers for step-by-step guidance. These individuals think they are bothering their managers, who might be busy attending to their home responsibilities.
Remote managers should be happy to receive many requests for help. They should ensure everyone in their remote team now this truth.
All great remote leaders show empathy at all times. They acknowledge stress, listen to the employees’ concerns and anxieties, and empathize with their struggles.
You should look for a remote manager looking for opportunities to help others succeed. If the manager needs to deliver critical feedback, they should strive to address the issues and express their willingness to help further. That’s servant leadership.
Staying Lighthearted
Distance between the workers can cause a disconnection between the manager and the remote team under their care. Without establishing a connection with the members, a remote manager comes across as overly strict. This perception can hinder them from mentoring or managing the teams.
Remote managers who stay lighthearted don’t face this issue often. From my experience, there is a place and time for this attitude. However, you can achieve more if your everyday discussions are easy to understand and lighthearted.
Remember that you might not convey certain emotions when communicating via email or chat. Sometimes, if you try to look lighthearted when using these platforms, it backfires on you. An excellent remote manager should use the right collaboration tools to let everyone know their true personality.
In short, other than staying lighthearted, the best remote candidate should know how to write concise and clear sentences. They should stay relaxed, stress free, and open every time they engage with remote employees.
Experience Using Amazing Apps
Knowing a few tools and the ability to use them may not be enough. Let’s look deeper into this mark of a great remote manager.
A great remote manager knows how to use various amazing apps to get the work done.
Most experienced remote managers have already used Slack, Trello, and a few other project management tools. They are great options for businesses. So, if you’re looking for an experienced manager, you can find out whether they used some of these tools and can choose the right one for your project.
Some great apps that your experienced remote managers might have used already are:
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Google Drive
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Slack
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Loom
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GitLab
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Slab
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Asana
Your remote manager should also be open to lifelong learning. Amazing collaboration apps that offer outstanding service emerge in the market every few days. Managers with this attitude are skilled and knowledgeable.
Amazing innovative apps can help your manager connect and manage your team from different locations. They can also rely on it to have a clear look at your completed tasks, the level of progress of the remaining ones, and the exact identity of the team members working on different projects.
Positive Communication
Managers who work from home or their private offices can forget to keep in touch with their teams. Some can go for several days without communicating or connecting, particularly when no urgent deadlines are approaching.
If you are looking for a remote manager, ensure you hire one that’ll take the time to reach out to the employees under their care. A competent manager can share exciting information or send a hello to keep the communication lines open.
Some remote managers understand the importance of maintaining communication. However, they use email to achieve their goals. This means of communication is the go-to method for many companies. However, email often seems formal or impersonal.
One way to make sure the proper communication happens is by letting your manager know what works best for you. Some prefer to have more frequent touch points, and certain preferred collaboration tools. Expressing what works successfully for you will allow you and a Manager to work better together.
The Bottom Line
Looking for a remote manager can seem drastically difficult, but you can change that. Use the tips we’ve shared here to choose a manager who knows how to build and maintain strong relationships with employees that work remotely. That’s a good start to reap all the amazing benefits of remote work that are exciting millions of employers and employees worldwide.
