Managerial Resources -- Remote Edition

May 12, 2020 10:03 AM

What resources would you recommend for someone who is starting a new job remotely, where that job involves managing a large-ish team (20 people)?

I'm starting a new job in a few weeks and am looking for some resources on how best to handle a few challenging aspects of the role:

(1) I'll be starting remotely as the whole organization is still working from home indefinitely
(2) I have experience managing teams of 4-8 people, but I'll be moving to managing a team of 20.

Advice or pointers to resources on starting a new job remotely or managing a large team would be much appreciated

posted by buddha9090 to Work & Money (2 answers total)

Best answer: I just came back from managing my (small) team remotely, and still am to some point (I'm in the office, they are still remote). For the most part, managing remotely is just like managing in person except you need to make a little more effort as a manager. Would you normally walk to Jane's cubicle to check in on her and what her current workload is? Make a 15-minute Skype Appointment with her instead. Do you normally have a team meeting once a week? Schedule one to happen on Zoom or Google Meet instead or even via simple conference call.

The two biggest things that helped me: (1) Communicate, communicate, communicate. It's easy to be 'out of sight, out of mind' - make sure your team members know you are there and you are available. Also, even if you think 'everyone knows' something, especially news or new happenings, communicate it anyway - on a call, in an email, something. If you think you are over-communicating, you're probably hitting it just right; (2) Schedule regular 'meetings', moreso than you would in person, with your whole team and just let each person have time to tell you what's going on with them - what they are working on, personal challenges with working at home, etc. It will be a little more time-consuming with more team members, but it will be well worth it in the end.

I also just started in this particular position about a year ago, albeit not remotely, but I can tell you that coming in to an established team is always a bit of work. Especially important for you will be to make sure to take time to virtually visit with each person and get to know them, just like you should in person. Ask about their hobbies and pastimes, what they like and don't like about the job, and what they most want to change. The more sincere interest you take in your team, in-person or not, the more they will give you the output and feedback you want.

I hope that helps!
posted by jspierre at 10:59 AM on May 12, 2020 [1 favorite]

Couple of things I'd add to the excellent advice in the previous answer:
- is there a team Slack / Teams or similar you can use to check in with people alongside the regular meetings? If not, it might be worth thinking about setting one up. You can get something like the experience of being in the office by looking at what people are talking about on the channels and you can add likes/comments to show you're paying attention and appreciate what people are doing
- 20 people is a lot to manage directly (depending on what managing means in this context). If this was my team I would be looking to find team leads to work through. You can divide work more easily, have smaller meetings + it's a way to develop managerial skills in the people in your team + managing managers is a new skill for you to master.
posted by crocomancer at 12:57 PM on May 12, 2020