Building Strong Remote Teams with Effective Delegation

1. Visualize it

It is almost impossible to succeed alone. In fact, 74% of managers from Fortune 500 organizations support the statement that after a certain level, it is impossible to achieve success alone. Moreover, Aaron Kemmer, the co-founder of Magic and Made in Space said, "Empowering others and trusting them are more and more important attitudes. It takes some time to convince ourselves of this strategy, but ultimately it leads to a situation where leaders and team members are more productive and independent."

This goes to show we need to empower people and entrust them with responsibility

It can get tough in the beginning to let go of control. However, effective delegation is crucial for successful leadership. Moreover, it leads to a more productive and independent team.

Make a list of all the tasks you have to accomplish. Sort out the priority tasks that you need to work on yourself. And as for the rest of them, you can assign them to your team.

Tools like Basecamp, Trello, and Jira are useful to help manage workload. You can keep track of all tasks, their status, and more with these tools.

Many times, managers end up doing everything and have a lot on their plate. However, understanding core skills and skill gaps in the team helps in effective delegation.

2. Accept innovative approaches

Two people can and will have different ways of completing a task. This is not a bad thing at all. It can help you find faster and better ways to complete a task. Moreover, it creates a bigger team of people who can accomplish such tasks successfully.

You can define the necessary guidelines, expected outcomes, expectations, etc. where it is necessary. But, where there is scope for creativity, you can let go a bit.

This becomes a powerful motivator for your employees to push themselves and be better. And you, as a leader, have more and more skilled team members you can leverage for complicated tasks.

3. Clear and frequent communication

Successful delegation hinges on effective communication. When you are assigning a task to your team, ensure that you communicate all the necessary details. This helps avoid hiccups in the process.

Moreover, an important part of delegating is being present and not vanishing after assigning a task. While some tasks and more experienced members may be able to complete a task on their own after initial communication.

However, it is crucial to set up checkpoints wherever necessary. Your team members may need you in the middle of a process. Ensure that you’re there when they need assistance.

Clear communication helps your team learn more. And with your guidance, they can provide better quality output.

4. Productive work schedule

For a manager, their tasks are theirs, and the team’s tasks are also theirs. That means managers need to be present wherever their team needs help. And along with that, they have their own tasks.

So, it is crucial for managers to create a productive schedule. Otherwise working in a remote setting can soon become all about just attending meetings. Reserve time in your schedule that is meetings-free where you can do deep-focused work. You can reach out to your team or vice versa apart from that time.

5. Technology is your friend

Remote work is not easy without the proper team management and communication channels. Therefore, you need a product management application like Basecamp, Trello, etc. to track your progress. Choose the one that your team is comfortable with and will require less time to get used to.

These tools help you keep track of all tasks, and provide a communication platform. You can also use Zoom, Google Meet, and Gather, to connect with the team for meetings.

Moreover, you can create and record tutorials, and onboarding videos, and capture video testimonials and updates with tools like Feedspace.

These applications can significantly make remote work more productive and collaboration easier.