Comments on: Are you a remote manager? A good one?

By: Jack Bicer

Jack Bicer — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 19:15:17 +0000

I have managed remote teams for close to 20 years, very successfully. Greg Elofson is correct in saying you need more structure than local teams (not significantly but everyone needs to be on the same page), crystal clear and frequent communications. And for important things an email after the conference calls, summarizing the decisions made and the action items.

It is certainly harder work to manage remote teams, but once you get it, it becomes a second nature.

By: yannis

yannis — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 18:15:36 +0000

fun fact: our team works most efficiently remotely than when all in the same office. is it odd to be in physical presence nowadays when emails, chat boxes, GIFs and emojis says it all so precisely?

By: Greg Elofson

Greg Elofson — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 18:11:29 +0000

I’ve managed teams completely remotely on more than one occasion, and have had very high levels of success (and in some cases, mediocre success). There was two large differences to remote vs in office.

First, respond *immediately* to communications…that keeps momentum going in the absence of your presence. Something like Slack is very good for that.

Second, you need more structure and not less. Everyone needs to know what their deliverables are, and how they’re measured. Making the environment Agile, with daily standups, and *proper* planning meetings, keeps the momentum in place.

If you do those two things, it will go very well. (is it more *work* than managing in office? Yes, it is.

By: Oli Thordarson

Oli Thordarson — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 18:00:51 +0000

This is a good column this week.

By: Arthur Lipper

Arthur Lipper — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 16:25:53 +0000

The highly successful franchise industry is a model for remote management by the franchisor of the franchisee. As described in my recent book, Off The Top (Amazon.com) the key to performance in franchising is the operating manual, where each element of the operation of a remote unit is described in detail. There is zero tolerance for variance from the procedures described, without franchisor approval. Whoever is in charge, as the remote manager, must be trained to know exactly what is expected and how to react in the event there is a change in macro issues. It is all a matter of thre being an understanding of communications and rules.