Skip to main content
  • Personal
  • Business
  • Foundation
    Close
    • Global
    • India
    • MENA
  • mySHRM Login
  • MySHRM
    • Dashboard
    • Account
    • Logout
SHRM
  • Membership
    • Membership

      As a SHRM Member®, you’ll pave the path of your success with invaluable resources, world-class educational opportunities and premier events.

      Membership Tiers
      • Professional
      • Student
      • Global
      • Executive
      • Enterprise
      Membership Benefits
  • Certification
    • SHRM Certification

      Demonstrate your ability to apply HR principles to real-life situations.

      • How to Get Certified
      • Eligibility Criteria
      • Exam Fees & Options
      • SHRM-CP
      • SHRM-SCP
      • Which Certification is Best for Me?
      • Recertification
      Prepare for the Exam
      • Exam Preparation
      • SHRM BASK
      • SHRM Learning System
      • Instructor-Led Learning
      • Self-Study
      Specialty Credentials

      Demonstrate targeted competence and enhance your HR credibility.

      Qualifications

      Gain a deeper understanding and develop critical skills.

      Seminars

      Stand out from among your HR peers with the skills obtained from a SHRM Seminar.

  • Events & Education
    • Events

      Demonstrate your ability to apply HR principles to real-life situations.

      • SHRM26 Annual Conference
      • BLUEPRINT 2025
      • Talent Conference & Expo
      • Linkage Institute
      • The AI+HI Project 2026
      • See More
      State Conferences

      Attend a SHRM state event to network with other HR professionals and learn more about the future of work.

      Seminars

      Stand out from among your HR peers with the skills obtained from a SHRM Seminar.

      Webinars
  • Resources
    • Resources

      Stay up to date with news and leverage our vast library of resources.

      • Flagships
      • HR Research
      • Legal & Compliance
      • Latest News & Trends
      • Tools & Guides
      • Webinars
      HR Topics
      • AI in the Workplace
      • Civility at Work
      • Compensation & Benefits
      • Inclusion & Diversity
      • Talent Acquisition
      • Workplace Technology
      • Workplace Violence Prevention
      Educational Programs

      Designed and delivered by HR experts to empower you with the knowledge and tools you need to drive lasting change in the workplace.

  • Community
    • Find a SHRM Chapter

      Easily find a local professional or student chapter in your area.

      SHRM Connect

      Post polls, get crowdsourced answers to your questions and network with other HR professionals online.

      Membership Councils

      Learn about SHRM's five regional councils and the Membership Advisory Council (MAC).

      Volunteers

      Learn about volunteer opportunities with SHRM.

  • Shop
    • SHRM Store

      Shop for HR certifications, credentials, learning, events, merchandise and more.

      Workplace Essentials
      Learning
      Merchandise
Become a Member
Renew
Rejoin Now
Renew
Close
  • Personal
  • Business
  • Foundation
  • Membership
    back
    Membership
    • Membership

      As a SHRM Member®, you’ll pave the path of your success with invaluable resources, world-class educational opportunities and premier events.

      Membership Tiers
      • Professional
      • Student
      • Global
      • Executive
      • Enterprise
      Membership Benefits
  • Certification
    back
    Certification
    • SHRM Certification

      Demonstrate your ability to apply HR principles to real-life situations.

      • How to Get Certified
      • Eligibility Criteria
      • Exam Fees & Options
      • SHRM-CP
      • SHRM-SCP
      • Which Certification is Best for Me?
      • Recertification
      Prepare for the Exam
      • Exam Preparation
      • SHRM BASK
      • SHRM Learning System
      • Instructor-Led Learning
      • Self-Study
      Specialty Credentials

      Demonstrate targeted competence and enhance your HR credibility.

      Qualifications

      Gain a deeper understanding and develop critical skills.

      Seminars

      Stand out from among your HR peers with the skills obtained from a SHRM Seminar.

  • Events & Education
    back
    Events & Education
    • Events

      Demonstrate your ability to apply HR principles to real-life situations.

      • SHRM26 Annual Conference
      • BLUEPRINT 2025
      • Talent Conference & Expo
      • Linkage Institute
      • The AI+HI Project 2026
      • See More
      State Conferences

      Attend a SHRM state event to network with other HR professionals and learn more about the future of work.

      Seminars

      Stand out from among your HR peers with the skills obtained from a SHRM Seminar.

      Webinars
  • Resources
    back
    Resources
    • Resources

      Stay up to date with news and leverage our vast library of resources.

      • Flagships
      • HR Research
      • Legal & Compliance
      • Latest News & Trends
      • Tools & Guides
      • Webinars
      HR Topics
      • AI in the Workplace
      • Civility at Work
      • Compensation & Benefits
      • Inclusion & Diversity
      • Talent Acquisition
      • Workplace Technology
      • Workplace Violence Prevention
      Educational Programs

      Designed and delivered by HR experts to empower you with the knowledge and tools you need to drive lasting change in the workplace.

  • Community
    back
    Community
    • Find a SHRM Chapter

      Easily find a local professional or student chapter in your area.

      SHRM Connect

      Post polls, get crowdsourced answers to your questions and network with other HR professionals online.

      Membership Councils

      Learn about SHRM's five regional councils and the Membership Advisory Council (MAC).

      Volunteers

      Learn about volunteer opportunities with SHRM.

  • Shop
    back
    Shop
    • SHRM Store

      Shop for HR certifications, credentials, learning, events, merchandise and more.

      Workplace Essentials
      Learning
      Merchandise
Become a Member
Renew
Rejoin Now
Renew
    • Global
    • India
    • MENA
SHRM
mySHRM Login
  • MySHRM
    • Dashboard
    • Account
    • Logout
Close

  1. Topics & Tools
  2. Workplace News & Trends
  3. Employee Relations
  4. How to Manage Remote Teams Effectively
Share
  • Linked In
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vivamus convallis sem tellus, vitae egestas felis vestibule ut.


Error message details.

Copy button
Reuse Permissions

Request permission to republish or redistribute SHRM content and materials.


Learn More
News

How to Manage Remote Teams Effectively

February 27, 2017 | Arlene S. Hirsch

A woman is working on her laptop at home.


Remote work has its advantages—flexibility, low or no overhead costs, and a greater pipeline of applicants from which to hire. And it has its disadvantages—less interaction, managers worried about how to tell if their employees are staying on task and communication challenges. How can companies maximize the advantages and minimize the disadvantages? Here are tips from supervisors and workplace experts who are getting great results from their remote teams.

Some workforces are hybrids of in-office and distributed (another word for remote) workers, and some workforces comprise only remote team members. These dispersed employees may work in different cities, states, countries and time zones, and all rely heavily on technology to communicate. Determining the best strategy to manage remote teams depends on a variety of factors: the company's business model, culture and values and the employees' needs and attributes

Managing remote teams is in Felicia Kohlenberger's professional DNA. Throughout her HR career, she has worked for multiple remote-friendly companies, including Cellular One, PwC Consulting, CNA Insurance, PepsiCo and McDonald's. Her experience dovetails with research cited by the Remote Leadership Institute showing that 70 percent of managers at Fortune 100 companies have at least one remote team member.

Kohlenberger is now senior HR director, North America, for Glanbia Performance Network, a sports nutrition company in Downers Grove, Ill. When the company made a strategic decision to fuel its growth through mergers and acquisitions, senior leadership knew that there would be new employees working in the field or in satellite offices. Kohlenberger represents the parent company to these new employees. She frequently travels to other cities to meet new team members and make sure that everyone is operating from the same playbook.

"We need to get everyone involved and make them feel like they are part of the larger organization. We can't afford to forget about the people working in the field," Kohlenberger said.

Before making the decision to have his software company become fully distributed, Alex Turnbull, founder and CEO of GrooveHQ, described his office as "Headphone City." His employees were always using headphones on the job, working well together but primarily working independently. He said he didn't see why they needed to be in the same room all the time.

Relinquishing a physical corporate office and allowing all employees to work from home eliminated costly real estate expenses, improved work/life balance and expanded the company's capacity to recruit top talent more quickly. But the company's culture suffered until the staff figured out ways to maintain a sense of community and connectedness through virtual and in-person meetings and get-togethers.

The Value of Starting and Keeping up Communication

A well-designed onboarding process is an effective way to familiarize new remote employees with the people, processes and tools that they need to succeed. Videoconferencing technology can help. For example, managers can give new employees a virtual tour of the office and introduce them to new co-workers.

Kevin Eikenberry, founder of The Kevin Eikenberry Group and co-founder of the Remote Leadership Institute in Indianapolis, said it's important for organization leaders to use technology and make sure everyone knows how to use it, too.

"From the ubiquitous e-mail to how to have meetings, everything is mediated through technology," he said. "We have to figure out how we're going to work together and what we can expect from each other."

Eikenberry asks new virtual team members to initiate 15- to 30-minute get-to-know-you phone conversations with each existing team member (who has been notified to expect that call). The calls foster collaboration and take some of the pressure off the manager to be the primary contact person.

Continue that collaboration by setting up regularly scheduled team meetings to keep remote workers from feeling alienated and disconnected from the group.

GrooveHQ has regular Monday morning "kickoff" meetings that are a combination of chit-chat about the weekend and discussions about plans and priorities for the upcoming week. The team ends the workweek on Fridays with a 30-minute virtual meeting to recap the week's happenings and share customer feedback.

How to See the Unseen

Remote employees and their managers both struggle with feeling invisible. While managers may want some proof (or reassurance) that employees are actually working, virtual employees worry that "out of sight is out of mind."

"Some leaders worry about being effective in a virtual environment, because if they can't physically oversee what is happening, how will they know that work is being done?" said Giselle Kovary, co-founder of Toronto-based n-gen People Performance. "You need someone with a progressive leadership style who is not a micromanager." 

Kovary recommends setting up performance management processes with SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, Timely) and clearly defined competencies that make it possible for leaders to accurately assess the performance of various team members.

Managers can then evaluate employees by their accomplishments, rather than the number of hours they spend in the office.

Laura Hambley is an organizational psychologist and founder of Work EvOHlution, a company in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, that develops psychometric assessment tools to support distributed employees, teams and leaders. According to their research, managers with remote team members need to be more intentional, more organized and work harder to establish trust than traditional managers.

"You can't get away with lazy leadership," Hambley said. "You must proactively reach out to people regularly to create a sense of teamwork and community."

Regardless of where they're located, all team members should be treated consistently.

"Everyone needs to have the same opportunities," Kovary said. "We want to recognize and reward everyone equally."

She recommends providing support tools to virtual team members through:

  • Just-in-time training.
  • Accessible and responsive leadership.
  • Appropriate use of technology.

Mark Murphy, founder of Leadership IQ, a leadership training and consulting company in Marietta, Ga., encourages managers to conduct monthly professional conversations with each remote employee to discuss highlights and low points from the previous month's work, areas for improvement and plans to improve performance.

Kohlenberger emphasizes the need for "cascading communication"—when managers make sure every team member stays in the information loop.

"There may be times when remote employees are not included in office meetings where decisions are made which impact them. An effective manager will recognize the need to communicate that information to every member of the team," she says.

In the absence of the kind of watercooler conversations that routinely take place in a traditional workplace, teams can find ways to replicate that experience virtually. Zapier, a distributed software company, fosters connectedness with weekly virtual "hangouts" where team members get together just to talk. They also have a  "Pair Buddies" program which randomly pairs teammates for a 10- to 15-minute phone call that enhances a sense of community and connectedness.

Recruit the Right Traits

It takes a unique temperament and skillset to work remotely with aplomb. When GrooveHQ first began hiring new remote employees, the company targeted people with previous startup experience. After some early hires didn't work out, it expanded its requirements to include people—such as freelancers--with prior remote experience.

"Most people don't have the organization, focus and motivation to be productive working remotely," Turnbull said. "Successfully working from home is a skill. It takes time and commitment."

Kohlenberger finds that the best remote team members are "self-starters who are able to adapt to change and work independently."

Writing for Remotejobs.com, author Angela Crist identified a number of skills and traits to look for in remote employees:

  • Ability to prioritize.
  • Adaptable.
  • Collaborative.
  • Communication.
  • Independent.
  • Organized.
  • Reliable.
  • Results-oriented.
  • Self-motivated.
  • Strong work ethic.

Hambley adds "tech savvy" to that list. As technologies continue to evolve, it is important for remote team members to be adept at using technology to communicate, or at least open to learning new solutions.

Neil Patel, co-founder of Crazy Egg, a Seattle-based analytics company, encourages recruiters to tweak their recruiting strategies and criteria when searching for the best remote employees. He recommends asking specific behavioral questions to gain insight into how the candidate approaches remote work.

"It's particularly important to understand why they work remote and how they work remote," Patel said.

He suggests conducting virtual interviews using multiple technologies, like e-mail, phone and Skype.

"Differing approaches can highlight different skillsets. An e-mail showcases the worker's ability to respond in a timely way and to write coherent content. The phone call demonstrates verbal ability. The video interview can help transmit the candidate's personality and cultural fit."

Mix Up the Generations

Many virtual teams are made up of multiple generations. TeamSnap, a distributed Colorado company that develops apps for team sports, promotes itself as a fun place to work where everyone is respected and treated with dignity. The company gives its employees lots of flexibility to get their work done on their own time, as long as they are available when needed.

Not surprisingly, the culture appeals to younger employees. It is also a haven for working parents who, according to Chief Creative Officer Andrew Berkowitz, are valued and highly productive members of their remote team. Both groups prize the autonomy, flexibility and work/life balance that is considered a hallmark of the TeamSnap culture.

Kovary, a generational expert, encourages managers to recognize generational differences in three key areas: performance, leadership and communication.

A Baby Boomer leader can benefit from understanding that Millennial employees expect on-going dialogue and feedback. Managers can accommodate that expectation by using short text and video messages to provide positive immediate feedback and recognition.

"Leaders who manage virtual teams must spend more time being accessible, creating a fun and casual environment, and providing timely feedback," Kovary said.

Take the time to help different generations get comfortable with certain technologies. Kohlenberger worked with a remote employee in his 60s who needed some extra help with videoconferencing technology.

"We had to press pause in order to get him up to speed," she said.

Experiment with the Possibilities

As you help your leadership team think through their remote options, you will find that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Decisions may be based on an amalgam of considerations. Remote employment can enable companies to recruit from a wider talent pool, reduce overhead expenses, and deliver more timely customer service. It can also increase employee productivity and engagement as well as reduce attrition.

As Turnbull notes: "It's a journey."

Arlene S. Hirsch, M.A., LCPC, is a noted career counselor and author with a private practice in Chicago. Her books include How to Be Happy at Work (Jist Publishing, 2003), Love Your Work and Success Will Follow (Wiley, 1995), and The Wall Street Journal Premier Guide to Interviewing (Wiley, 1999). Her website is www.arlenehirsch.com.

Culture
HR Function Strategy
Labor & Employee Relations
Total Rewards


Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace

​An organization run by AI is not a futuristic concept. Such technology is already a part of many workplaces and will continue to shape the labor market and HR. Here's how employers and employees can successfully manage generative AI and other AI-powered systems.



Related Content

Kelly Dobbs Bunting speaks onstage at SHRM24
(opens in a new tab)
News
Why AI+HI Is Essential to Compliance

HR must always include human intelligence and oversight of AI in decision-making in hiring and firing, a legal expert said at SHRM24. She added that HR can ensure compliance by meeting the strictest AI standards, which will be in Colorado’s upcoming AI law.

(opens in a new tab)
News
A 4-Day Workweek? AI-Fueled Efficiencies Could Make It Happen

The proliferation of artificial intelligence in the workplace, and the ensuing expected increase in productivity and efficiency, could help usher in the four-day workweek, some experts predict.

(opens in a new tab)
News
How One Company Uses Digital Tools to Boost Employee Well-Being

Learn how Marsh McLennan successfully boosts staff well-being with digital tools, improving productivity and work satisfaction for more than 20,000 employees.

HR Daily Newsletter

Stay up to date with the latest HR news, trends, and expert advice each business day.

Success title

Success caption

Manage Subscriptions
Our Brands

SHRM Foundation Logo
SHRM Executive Network Logo
CEO Circle Logo
SHRM Business Logo
SHRM Linkage Logo
SHRM Labs
Overview

  • About SHRM
  • Careers at SHRM
  • Press Room
  • Contact SHRM
  • Book a SHRM Executive Speaker
  • Advertise with Us
  • Post a Job
Advocacy

  • Workforce Development
  • Workplace Inclusion
  • Workplace Flexibility & Leave
  • Workplace Governance
  • Workplace Health Care
  • Workplace Immigration
  • State Affairs
  • Global Policy
  • Advocacy Team
  • Take Action
  • Generation Cares
  • The Section 127 Coalition
Member Resources

  • Ask An Advisor
  • SHRM Newsletters
  • SHRM Flagships
  • Topics & Tools
  • Find an HR Job
  • Vendor Directory

© 2025 SHRM. All Rights Reserved
SHRM provides content as a service to its readers and members. It does not offer legal advice, and cannot guarantee the accuracy or suitability of its content for a particular purpose. Disclaimer

Follow Us

  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

  1. Privacy Policy

  2. Terms of Use

  3. Accessibility

Join SHRM for Exclusive Access to Member Content

SHRM Members enjoy unlimited access to articles and exclusive member resources.

Already a member?
Free Article
Limit Reached

Get unlimited access to articles and member-exclusive resources.

You've reached the limit of 1 free article this month. Join to access unlimited articles and member-only resources.

Already a member?
Free Article
Exclusive Executive-Level Content

This content is for the SHRM Executive Network and Executive Content Subscription members only.

You've reached the limit of 1 free article this month. Join the Executive Network and enjoy unlimited content.

Already a member?
Free Article
Exclusive Executive-Level Content

This content is for the SHRM Executive Network and Executive Content Subscription members only.

You've reached the limit of 1 free article this month. Join and enjoy unlimited access to SHRM Executive Network Content.

Already a member?
Unlock Your Career with SHRM Membership

Please enjoy this free resource! Join SHRM for unlimited access to exclusive articles and tools.

Already a member?

Your membership is almost expired! Renew today for unlimited access to member content.

Renew now

Your membership has expired. Renew today for unlimited access to member content.

Renew Now

Your Executive Network membership is nearing its expiration. Renew now to maintain access.

Renew Now

Your membership has expired. Renew your Executive Network benefits today.

Renew Now