How To Effectively Manage Team Dynamics In A Remote Workforce

People can be surprisingly immature, and you would be amazed at how much schoolyard drama exists in the workplace. If you’re working in an office environment, these disputes can get ugly - but are generally sorted out before anything major happens. This is, in part, due to the very physical nature of traditional office spaces, but what do you do when employee dynamics break down when you’re managing remote or team hybrid teams? When those physical interactions are not present, it’s very easy to simply ignore a problem until it becomes an intense, even toxic relationship that spills out to coworkers and affects the company.

So, how can this situation be controlled and worked through for the betterment of all involved?

What Are Team Dynamics?

Team dynamics exist wherever there is a relationship, or series of relationships, that co-exist in a mutualistic setting, such as a business, or a team project. Usually, these are relatively simple to work out, because the people in these relationships will see each other all the time so a resolution is forced. If you’re studying something like an online MBA, and your group can’t get together, what happens when person A says something that person B finds offensive;, but person B has been sitting in the same bad chair for the last 3 hours working and does not have the mental capacity to immediately to deal with it?

Remote work environments are great for a multitude of reasons. Last year it was found that people working from have saved an average of $10,000 per year, have less stress, are less tired, and have more fiscal freedom than those working in the office. These decreased stress and tiredness levels translated to their work, leading to more productive and efficient employees.

There are also tremendous savings for companies utilising these models, with some companies saving up to $11,000 per employee in overheads alone.

Not only that but due to the variety of WFH tech available, employees working under this scheme tend to enjoy more flexibility and less stress.

But where remote workplaces can fail, is in a breakdown of communication. The physical separation of the team means they don’t have to deal with each other, or even with their managers. Communication and notifications can be filtered, or even just straight-up ignored.

This causes a huge problem with productivity on the line, but can also place immense mental strain on your employees - depending on the severity of these toxic dynamics.

So what can be done to rectify or damage control these situations?

Image Credit: Pexels

Managing Your Team’s Dynamics

This is where things can be a little less stellar. Humans, by nature, are unpredictable creatures. When tensions arise in an office space we are generally made to deal with it sooner rather than later. In a remote workspace, it’s easy for communication to break down. Whether this be from bitterness, or just a less interactive environment making it easier to forget who you’ve spoken to and when.

Because of this, micromanaging can become a much more significant part of a manager’s role, as well as attempting to get ahead of any disputes and taking care of them before they turn into ignored messages or passive-aggressive emails. 

Nothing gets an office fire started more easily than “as per my last email.”

So how do we manage team dynamics in a remote environment?

Image Credit: Pexels

First Impressions

Let’s say you’re inducting a new employee into your workplace. It’s their first day as part of your team and you want to get them on the right foot. On your new co-worker’s first day, it’s important to formally introduce them to the team. Start a group chat (preferably with voice and camera, but don’t force anyone to turn on their camera if they don’t want to!) and introduce the newbie to everyone! Once everyone has gotten some greetings out of the way make a smaller meeting with the new employee and their relevant team so they can get to grips with the following:

-Who everyone is/what their role(s) are.

-Daily workflow/chain of communication.

-What is expected of them.

-Who they can come to for help/advice or to talk about things bothering them.

Once that is done you can leave your new employee alone. From here on out, it will be the job of their manager to acquaint them with any software, and relevant communication channels necessary to their job.

Open Cam Policy

A workplace is only as good as its communication allows it to be, and people are only as open as they feel they can be. When trying to foster a constructive work environment, but that environment is cyberspace, you need to stress that you have an “open door” (such as it is) policy. You need to make sure your employees know and are encouraged to schedule meetings with you to voice their concerns. Knowing management is on your side and wants to work with you is a massive morale boost to anyone, and encourages good discourse and a safe workplace. It also helps to take some initiative, and schedule 1-on-1 meetings with your employees to make sure that they aren’t overworked, or experiencing undue stress. Everyone works better when they’re feeling valued and respected.

Make Sure People Are Invited To Have Fun

Part of what makes working at a good company awesome is the office friendships you have. Part of what makes WFH great is the expediency of communication. So why not blend the two!? Apps like Slack and Discord are great group communication applications that allow users to set up a room for all involved, and divide that room into different sub-rooms with different topics. So why not set up a room dedicated to sharing jokes or memes? Set up a communal room where people trade stories and news. If people are having fun at work with people they like, it will be a more positive experience for everyone, and foster great team dynamics.

Lead By Example

Possibly the most important factor in any form of team dynamics is the leader. Having someone set and enforce the rules but not follow them themselves, without any clear reason as to why the exception has been made, is always a morale killer, and will breed animosity and contempt in your work environment. 

Be the change you want to see in the world. Be the worker you want to employ. And care for your team the way you do for yourself. Managing team dynamics in a remote workplace simply comes down to caring. Yes, there is a little extra work needed on your part, but you’re a manager, the extra work is your job. Making those extra commitments to your team and making sure everything is on the level is essential, but by doing it you will benefit from major savings, a happier team, and a more diverse employee roster.

(Devdiscourse's journalists were not involved in the production of this article. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Devdiscourse and Devdiscourse does not claim any responsibility for the same.)