The 7 Hardest Parts of Working in a Remote Team, and How You Can Deal With Them (3).png

One of the biggest challenges of having a remote team is to keep them engaged. When you were in an office, engagement could be as simple as walking over to a team member’s desk and having a chat over a cup of coffee. Now, with much of the workforce working at home or remotely, successful employee engagement is not as straightforward and as easy. Here at Scatterling, we’ve come up with 10 questions that you should be asking your team members on a regular basis.

The great news? Just by asking these questions, you’re already engaging your team members.

“How are you doing?”

Yes, this is an obvious question but it matters the most. Not only does it present an open opportunity for them to tell you how they’re doing emotionally and professionally, but it also shows that you care about their well being. Every staff member wants a manager who cares.

“What can I be doing to help?”

By asking this question, you’re making yourself open to feedback that can help the employee do their job better and be happier. Like the previous question, this shows that you care and again, that’s very important to workplace culture.

“What aspects of your job do you find most exciting, most challenging, and purposeful?”

The answers to this three-part question paint a very accurate picture of what they’re most passionate about, what they find difficult in their job as well as what aspects of their work are meaningful to them. These kinds of insights are very valuable from a management and productivity perspective.

“How can I improve communication with you?”

One of the major cornerstones of successful remote work and an engaged team is solid, consistent communication. Because there are a number of ways to communicate these days, make sure you find out what best suits each team member. Some like the face-to-face interaction of video conferencing. Others also prefer the instant simplicity of text messages.

“What skill(s) would you like to develop more?”

As a manager, it is your job to promote and facilitate professional development within your team. While I’m sure already you have areas that you would like them to work on, make sure to ask each team member to see what skill set they would like to develop and how you can help.

“What wins are you proud of this past week?”

Recognizing both the big and small accomplishments of the past week reveals both what is working and builds confidence within the team. Celebrating wins creates the productive momentum and positive engagement you want in a successful team.

“Are you regularly in communication with the rest of the team?”

If you’re not a two-person department or team, make sure your staff members are in regular contact with their colleagues. It is your job to facilitate team engagement by providing opportunities and tools such as video group chat, conference calls, social media pages, and group activities or games. Not only will their productivity thrive, but so will their happiness.

“Is it clear what my expectations of you are? Do you know what your priorities are this week?”

With remote workers, it is important to be transparent about what the work expectations and priorities are for that week. Because you’re not in the same office, a disconnect can occur over what is expected and what task is priority.

“What are you doing to take breaks?”

This question shows that you care about your employee’s mental health and well-being. As a manager, you need to encourage breaks, which can be forgotten especially when working from home. It displays concern while preventing professional burnout within your team.

“What are you doing this weekend?”

Not only does this question show that you care about their life outside of work but it also is an opportunity to discuss something other than “shop talk.” While you do not need to grill your team about intimate details of their personal lives, and engaged team is one that talks about topics aside from work.