How to manage a remote team: 15 best practices

Remote work was once a niche trend. But no longer—it’s now a cornerstone of how modern businesses operate. However, with this shift has come a unique new set of challenges. Even the most seasoned managers are having to adapt in the digital age, because the landscape of remote work often requires a fresh approach—one that acknowledges the potential pitfalls, like communication breakdowns and maintaining employee morale when your team is distributed across time zones, while also leveraging all the opportunities remote work offers.

While remote teams rely on technology to work successfully, their success can also hinge on thoughtful management practices that foster collaboration, trust, and a sense of shared purpose despite the distance between teammates. If you’re looking for strategies to overcome the challenges of remote work while building up your team’s efficiency and cohesion, you’ve come to the right place—this article will dive into some best practices for managing a remote team.

The challenges of managing remote teams

Managing a remote team comes with challenges that can differ significantly from those you might encounter in a traditional office environment. From keeping communication seamless to making sure your organization complies with laws and regulations across different jurisdictions, remote work demands careful planning and strategic thinking to keep everything running smoothly.

Communication barriers

One of the most significant challenges of managing remote teams is overcoming communication barriers.

Without the benefit of in-person interactions, misunderstandings can easily arise, leading to confusion and delays. Time zone differences can further complicate communication during remote work, making it difficult to find overlapping hours for team meetings or quick check-ins.

To ease communication issues, it’s often up to managers to implement clear communication protocols and leverage tools that make it easier for their teams to communicate—both in real time and asynchronously.

Ensuring data security

With a remote team—especially when team members are distributed around the world—data security becomes a more pressing concern as employees access company resources from various locations and devices. The risk of data breaches or unauthorized access increases, especially if employees are using personal devices or unsecured networks. 

Maintaining data security with a remote workforce can take a combination of a few important strategies from your company’s leadership:

• Strict adherence to established and documented security protocols
• Regular training on cybersecurity best practices
• Using best-in-class security tools to protect sensitive information

Managing work-life balance

Remote work is often done from home, which can blur the lines between personal and professional life, making it challenging for employees to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Without clear boundaries, remote employees may find themselves working longer hours, leading to burnout and decreased productivity. Managers must encourage their teams to set boundaries, take regular breaks, and prioritize self-care to avoid stress and overwork.

Managing payroll and benefits

Handling payroll and benefits for a distributed team can be complex, especially when team members are located in different states or countries. Varying tax regulations, currencies, and employment laws add even more layers of complexity to payroll management (more on that below). 

To navigate these challenges, companies need systems that can seamlessly handle multi-country payroll, benefits administration, and compliance, ensuring that all employees are paid accurately and on time. With Rippling, you can compliantly hire and pay global employees—Rippling does the calculations and money movement for you, so you’ll be free to focus on what matters.

Maintaining compliance across states and countries

Whether your team is local or remote, staying compliant with local laws and regulations is crucial to avoid potential penalties and fines. But with a remote team, compliance can be complex—employment laws, tax obligations, and benefits requirements can vary significantly from one region to another. It’s often up to managers to stay informed about the legal requirements in each location where their team members operate and make sure that their company’s policies and practices align with those regulations.

With Rippling, automate your global compliance. Double-checking compliance risks takes time. Rippling runs securely in the background, continuously flagging potential risks.

Managing remote teams: Best practices

Effectively managing a remote team requires a combination of clear communication, smart planning, and the right tools to keep everything running smoothly. Here are some best practices to help you manage your team in a way that keeps them productive, engaged, and working together toward your company’s big-picture goals.

1. Set clear expectations

Setting clear expectations goes beyond just defining roles—it’s up to managers to create a culture of transparency and accountability where each team member knows their objectives, understands how their work aligns with company goals, and has a clear roadmap for success.

Best practices:

• Develop detailed role descriptions: Break down each role into specific tasks, expected outcomes, and the resources you have available. Share these descriptions during onboarding and review them periodically.
• Create a shared project roadmap: Use tools like Asana or Trello to create visual project roadmaps that detail timelines, milestones, and responsibilities. Make sure each member of the team knows how their work fits into the bigger picture.
• Set SMART goals: Use the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) framework to set goals for your team. Regularly revisit these goals in 1:1s or team meetings to track progress and adjust as needed.

2. Schedule regular check-ins 

Regular check-ins keep lines of communication open between remote workers and make sure everyone stays on track. Check-ins should be more than a routine touchpoint; they should be an opportunity for meaningful dialogue, problem-solving, and relationship-building, structured to provide value to both the manager and the employee.

Best practices:

• Use a 30-60-90-day cadence for new hires: Within the first 90 days, schedule 30-, 60-, and 90-day check-ins to discuss progress, address any issues, and set long-term goals. Tailor these meetings to help new hires feel supported and integrated into the team.
• Structure your 1:1s: Use a template or agenda to make sure individual check-ins cover key topics: workload, personal development, challenges, and feedback. Leave time at the end for open discussion or non-work-related conversation to build rapport.

3. Organize virtual team-building activities

Building a strong team culture in a remote environment can be challenging, but virtual team-building activities can help bridge the gap.  Effective virtual activities can replicate the camaraderie of in-person interactions, helping to reduce feelings of isolation for remote workers.

Best practices:

• Create recurring social events: Schedule a monthly virtual event, such as a game night, virtual escape room, or themed trivia. Rotate who organizes the event to keep it fresh and give everyone a chance to contribute.
• Host cross-departmental meetups: Encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing by organizing virtual meetups between different departments or teams that don’t usually interact. This can spark new ideas and strengthen the company culture.
• Create informal channels: Set up non-work-related Slack channels or virtual coffee rooms where team members can chat, share hobbies, or discuss topics of interest. This helps build a sense of community.

4. Celebrate milestones

Celebrating milestones is about creating moments of recognition that reinforce the value of each team member’s contributions. This can help build a positive work culture where remote employees’ achievements are acknowledged and appreciated.

Best practices:

• Create an employee recognition program: Give team members the ability to give each other shout-outs for milestones or exceptional work. Make this a regular part of your team culture.
• Personalize your celebrations: Tailor your celebrations to the individual. For example, send a personalized gift or handwritten note for work anniversaries, or highlight personal achievements in team meetings.

5. Unify employee data

For most remote companies, employee data is siloed across different apps and modules, which requires managers and HR teams to constantly have to re-enter data and do other tedious, time-consuming manual work. When your employee data is unified, you can automate all those manual tasks, saving your team time and reducing your risk of human error.

Best practices:

• Use Rippling HCM: While most HCMs consist of siloed modules, every application in Rippling is built to work together. Rippling’s integrated HCM removes barriers between key HR functions, including payroll, benefits management, headcount planning, and learning management, for a seamless experience.
• Unify your remote team: With Rippling, you can finally bring all of your employee data from around the world into a single system. Rippling dynamically localizes everything—from fields and documents to currencies—based on work location.

6. Offer professional development

Professional development should be a continuous, dynamic process that aligns with both the company’s needs and the individual’s career aspirations. Providing growth opportunities for remote employees not only helps them build their skill sets but can increase employee retention and satisfaction.

Best practices:

• Build a culture of regular learning: Host quarterly webinars, lunch-and-learns, or skill-sharing sessions where team members can learn from each other or external experts. Make these sessions interactive and relevant to current projects.
• Implement a learning management system: With Rippling Learning Management, you can use pre-built courses, create your own, automate compliance with required training in different jurisdictions, and more.

7. Encourage work-life balance

Work-life balance: from setting boundaries to promoting practices that support mental and physical well-being. There are many good reasons to want your remote team to strike this balance—studies show it will make them more productive, creative, and engaged. This can be difficult in a remote work environment, where the lines can easily get blurred between work and personal time—so it’s extremely important for managers to lead by example and create a culture that allows their remote workers to unplug.

Best practices: 

• Implement flexible working hours: Allow team members to set their own working hours within a general framework, so they can manage their time effectively while meeting business needs. Have everyone set their work hours on their calendars, so coworkers know when people are available—and when they aren’t.
• Promote PTO use: Regularly remind remote employees to take time off and lead by example by taking breaks yourself. Consider implementing a company-wide “unplugged day” where everyone takes a break simultaneously.
• Provide wellness resources: Offer access to wellness programs, such as mindfulness apps, virtual fitness classes, or mental health counseling. Encourage participation and integrate wellness into your team’s culture.

8. Invest in the right tools

Investing in the right tools for remote work is about empowering your team with the resources they need to excel. This includes not only the tools for daily tasks but also those that enhance collaboration, security, and efficiency.

Best practices:

• Conduct a tool audit: Regularly review the tools your remote employees are using and solicit feedback to find out if they are meeting your team’s needs. If a tool isn’t adding value, replace it with something that does.
• Integrate tools: Choose tools that integrate well with each other, reducing friction in workflows. For example, integrating Slack with project management tools like Asana can streamline communication and task tracking.

9. Use performance-tracking goals

Performance tracking isn’t just about measuring output; it’s about aligning individual efforts with broader company objectives. By setting clear, trackable goals, you ensure that everyone is working toward the same targets.

Best practices:

• Implement OKRs: Use the OKR framework to set and track goals across your team. This approach can help align individual efforts with company-wide objectives and provides clarity on what success looks like.
• Regularly review and adjust goals: Make goal-setting a dynamic process. Hold quarterly reviews to assess progress, discuss challenges, and adjust goals as needed. This keeps your team agile and responsive to changing priorities.
• Use performance management software: Rippling Performance Management helps your entire organization connect on performance management—from aligning on goals and OKRs to calibrating ratings and raises and configuring your review cycles. You can also report on performance trends alongside any other employee data to unlock deeper, more impactful insights.

10. Implement remote device management

One of the biggest challenges remote teams face is managing remote employees’ devices. From delivering equipment to protecting and updating it from afar—not to mention creating a repeatable process if you have a remote team distributed across multiple countries—the logistics can be downright daunting. That’s why remote device management is such an important consideration.

Best practices:

• Use a remote device management system: Rippling is a single source of truth where you can monitor, update, and secure all your company’s devices. Create custom security policies based on employee data, and instantly lock or wipe a device from afar whenever you need to.

11. Take advantage of asynchronous communication

Asynchronous communication doesn’t need to hold remote teams back. It allows for flexibility and ensures that communication doesn’t become a bottleneck, especially when remote employees are spread across time zones.

Best practices: 

• Establish guidelines for async communication: Clearly define when and how asynchronous communication should be used. For example, use tools like Loom for video updates or Confluence for detailed project documentation.
• Encourage thoughtful communication: Promote the practice of providing clear, detailed updates that others can refer to at their convenience. This reduces the need for real-time meetings and ensures that everyone has the information they need.
• Use shared documents: Utilize tools like Google Docs or Notion to create collaborative documents where remote employees can contribute and update information asynchronously. This keeps everyone on the same page, even when they’re not working at the same time.

12. Prioritize employee well-being

Prioritizing employee well-being is about creating an environment where your team feels supported, valued, and able to bring their best selves to work. It requires a proactive approach to addressing the physical and mental health of your remote employees.

Best practices:

• Offer flexible work arrangements: Allow team members to adjust their work schedules or workloads based on their personal circumstances. For example, offer reduced hours or the option to take mental health days without penalty.
• Offer wellness benefits: Provide access to wellness resources, such as mental health support, fitness programs, and stress management workshops. Encourage participation and make well-being a core part of your company culture.

13. Use data to inform decisions

Using data to inform your decisions helps ensure that your management strategies are effective and aligned with your team’s needs—and your organization’s larger strategic goals.

Best practices:

• Track key metrics: Identify the most important metrics for your team’s performance, such as productivity, engagement, and retention. Regularly review this data to spot trends and address any emerging issues.
• Use the right software: Since Rippling unifies all your employee data, you can build powerful reports using any dataset, with no coding required.

14. Document processes and procedures

Clear documentation is key for remote teams, helping them stay consistent in how they communicate and work together without physical proximity. By clearly documenting your team’s workflows, processes, and procedures, you create reference points for your remote employees, remove ambiguity, and help new hires get up to speed quickly.

Best practices:

• Create a repository for living documents: Use platforms like Notion or Confluence to maintain up-to-date documentation of your processes and procedures. Make sure your repository is easily accessible to all team members.
• Get your team involved: Encourage team members to contribute to and update the documentation. This not only keeps it current but also ensures that it reflects the reality of how work is done.

15. Emphasize results over hours

In a remote work environment, focusing on results rather than the number of hours worked can help keep your team’s focus on productivity and prevent burnout. This approach encourages a performance-driven culture where the quality of work is prioritized over mere presence.

Best practices:

• Shift to outcome-based goals: Move away from tracking hours and instead set clear, measurable outcomes for each remote worker.
• Celebrate outcomes, not effort: When recognizing achievements, focus on the results delivered rather than the time invested. This reinforces the importance of effectiveness over effort.
• Provide flexibility: Give remote workers the autonomy to manage their own time as long as they meet their goals.

4 tools for managing remote teams

Effectively managing remote workers requires the right tools—to streamline communication, allow for asynchronous collaboration, and establish workflows for getting remote work done. Here are four essential tools that can help remote managers, each offering unique functionalities that cater to the needs of a distributed workforce.

Rippling

Rippling unifies your employee data across HR, payroll, spend, and IT, bringing together all the tools you need to manage and automate the entire employee lifecycle. Every application in Rippling is built to work together, and they cover all your needs—from onboarding to offboarding. With Rippling, you get Global Payroll, Benefits Administration, recruiting and onboarding, compliance management, Performance Management, Time & Attendance, Learning Management, and more—all in one unified system.

Key benefits: 

• Unified employee management: Rippling unifies all your employee data, so you can manage onboarding, offboarding, payroll, benefits, compliance, and more—seamlessly. 
• Remote device management: Easily manage and secure devices used by your remote team, keeping company devices up-to-date and secure.

Slack

Slack is a powerful communication platform designed to keep remote workers connected and engaged. With channels, direct messaging, video calls, and integrations with other tools, Slack facilitates real-time conversations and collaboration across your team.

Key benefits: 

• Real-time messaging: Communicate instantly with remote workers through direct messages and video conferencing—or create channels for specific projects, departments, or topics.
• Asynchronous collaboration: Features like threads and mentions help manage conversations asynchronously, which is especially useful for teams working across different time zones.

Google Workspace

Google Workspace is a suite of cloud-based productivity tools that enable seamless collaboration among remote teams. It includes Gmail, Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Meet, among others, making it a comprehensive solution for managing remote work.

Key benefits:

• Cloud storage: Google Drive provides secure cloud storage with easy access to files from anywhere and document sharing within your team.
• Real-time collaboration tools: Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides allow multiple users to work on the same document simultaneously, with changes visible in real time.

Notion

Notion is an all-in-one workspace that combines note-taking, project management, and collaboration features, making it a versatile tool for organizing and managing remote work. It allows you to create customized workspaces that can be adapted to your team’s specific needs.

Key benefits:

• Knowledge management: Centralize your team’s documentation, SOPs, and project notes in one place, making it easy for everyone working remotely to access and update information.
• Customizable workspaces: Notion’s flexible interface lets you create and organize pages, databases, and wikis tailored to your team’s remote workflow.

Effortlessly manage remote teams with Rippling 

Managing remote teams effectively requires the right tools and strategies—a combination of leadership, vision, and the right technology. With Rippling, you can manage your entire remote workforce in one place. 

Managing a remote workforce requires a lot of tools: global payroll, time and attendance, benefits administration, learning and performance management, device management, and more. With other solutions, these tools are siloed and you have to constantly reenter information between systems. Only Rippling built a whole suite of tools on a unified employee data model so that you can manage your entire global workforce in one system. 

This blog is based on information available to Rippling as of August 22, 2024.

Disclaimer: Rippling and its affiliates do not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide or be relied on for tax, accounting, or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, accounting, and legal advisors before engaging in any related activities or transactions.