How to manage a remote team. 5 tips to collaborate remotely.

Collaborate with each other remotely. It is seen as the new way of working. And that remote working need not be limited to your own team. You can also hire extra manpower. A team of remote software developers who take work off your hands. From face-to-face to screen to screen interactions. Learn how to manage remote collaboration.

How do you collaborate with your remote team?

A good question. Because managing a team in the office can sometimes already be quite challenging, it’s not different with a remote development team. But if you focus on certain things, you can positively boost productivity – regardless of where work is done from. And not just productivity. It also gives the team spirit a big boost. Our tips for working with a remote team:

#1: Small talk

When you work with your team remotely, it creeps in that you only talk about business instead of small talk. And this very small talk is essential for effective remote collaboration. Even though you may feel that sometimes you don’t talk about anything, it is very important when it comes to building relationships with each other. So if you have funny GIFs, jokes and weekend talk, sharing is caring!

#2: Calling is faster

Slack, email and other ways to be in touch digitally, as a remote team you can’t live without it. Just invest some time every now and then to call each other. Not only is it much faster, you can more easily avoid misunderstandings. We all know emoji’s can cause interpretation errors. If you want to go one step further on the calling front, go for video calling.

#3: Communication, communication, communication

We’ve dropped it many times before in CC.Talent’ blogs, but communication is key. Since you are working together remotely, being in constant contact and updating each other is crucial. Involve everyone in the choices being made. Why are they being made? What are the further plans? And what is going on internally that needs to be shared with the group? If you don’t share this information, team members will start filling in things themselves. Include them in the story, which creates a sense of belonging to the in-house team. In the end we are social beings, we all just love that.

#4: Rituals for bonding

Digital collaboration is one that can often be labeled as ‘detached’ and ‘impersonal’. And that has its impact on one’s motivation. To maintain that motivation, not only is it good to communicate openly, but building rituals is also a good one. Whereas a Friday afternoon drink is often organized in the office, it can also be facilitated online. Or how about a real Swedish fika moment in the morning? Create rituals that the remote development team can look forward to. Rituals that are important in building relationships, and strengthen the sense of belonging to a group.

#5: Daily check-in.

Rhythm. We can’t live without it. If remote team members don’t have some structure to their “home office days,” little can come out of anyone’s hands. Therefore, the motto: schedule conversations with the team that are repeated every day or weekly. At CC.Talent, we do that through daily stand-ups, an effective Scrum meeting we like to keep. Zoom and Google Team Hangouts are ideal for that. The rest of the day the remote developer can do his/her own thing, but those set moments in a day provide structure.