5 Tips to Be a Better Remote Supervisor

It has been almost a month since I started working remotely. From my experience, if you are struggling to manage your colleagues in this new normal, chances are the problem is not with your colleagues but with you.

I say this because managing well in the new normal is 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 old management practices for an online environment, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 new practices for a new environment.

Here are five practices I am using, which I believe will also help you manage better:

1. 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀. In the remote office environment, supervisors can no longer rely on direct supervision to ensure that work gets done. Colleagues work out of sight and supervisors have no choice but to rely on KPIs to measure work done. Depending on the nature of work, bi-weekly KPI accountability sessions are ideal to keep colleagues productive.

2. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀. Working from home is generally more stressful as there are no clear “markers” for coffee and lunch breaks. Hard-driving supervisors will easily lose track of time and will in turn impose their personal work habits on their colleagues. Supervisors would do well to block off break time in their calendars and diligently respect similar times for their colleagues.