Why Did The Remote Working Teams Fail and How To Avoid It?

When the pandemic hit hard, it forced many companies to work from their homes, especially in Singapore. Many companies are shifting to remote operations and hiring from the global talent pool. Even working remotely in Singapore allows flexibility for the employees, but the companies are experiencing growing pains with this transition. In this article, we will give you information on why remote teams often fail and ways to avoid the problems. Let’s keep reading!

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Reasons The Remote Working Teams Fail and Ways to Avoid The Problems

Usually, working remotely allows for increased flexibility and better work-life balance for employees. The technology, such as video conferencing software, collaboration platforms, and cloud services keep people connected, allow them to have meetings and complete projects from anywhere and anytime.

Nonetheless, there is a blurred line between work and home life, and there is also the downside of relying on technological advances, such as bad internet connection or the connection disruption in the middle of video conferencing, and so on.

There are other factors that made the remote teams fail, but gladly speaking there are also ways to avoid them. What are these? Let’s find out how to have a successful remote working team in Singapore!

1. Adapting to the Remote Setup

The problem here is working remotely in Singapore is new for everyone. 

It means that having remote working arrangements is also new for many workers. Unfortunately, some find it difficult to transition to a remote setup and the ability to work alone or non-office environment is also a skill that not everyone has.

The performance of employees who are unable to adapt will suffer, because a team is only as strong as its weakest member. If one or more of your employees are having problems, it will affect everyone else in the team.

Here is the solution, make sure communication is easy for everyone.

Provide your remote team with tools for communication. Make sure your employees have the tools necessary for effective communication, such as apps for messaging. Also, make sure it has all the features that your team will need. For instance, get an application which is available on multiple platforms. It is easier for everyone to jump into a conversation even when they are away from their desks.

Start the discussion, you can also be the one to initiate conversations within the team. You can do this by raising a question in a group chat to get everyone to share their thoughts. In addition, you can share your own experiences, because it will encourage others to share their insights or similar experiences.

2. Collaboration is a Key Aspect of Remote Teams

The problems is employees do not collaborate

The remote teams will fail if its members do not collaborate and work with each other. It is common in teams spread across different time zones. It is indeed difficult to collaborate with people who are not online when you are.

The solution is to set schedules to encourage collaboration.

You can set common hours for remote employees. A remote setup limits spontaneous collaboration. Unlike the traditional working at office, you cannot just walk up to a colleague to start a discussion.

The remote work version of this is sending a message or just asking a co-worker to jump into a call. You can set specific hours where everyone in the team must be online. In addition, having regular meetings will allow your team members to update each other.

3. Procedures for Remote Working

The problem is not following procedures will cause remote teams to fail.

Employees may quickly forget that they are at work when the environment is not at the office. This will lead employees failing to follow processes and rules. Remote teams fail when its members are not doing things correctly. It is especially troubling if your processes affect other employees. 

The solution is improving your onboarding process.

You need to have a proper onboarding process to avoid this problem. When welcoming a new employee, you have to explain the procedures clearly. You must also note the importance of each step.

Keeping an eye on new employees will help you to have a benchmark on how well the onboarding process is working. In addition, having a document that employees can use as a reference will help them keep procedures in mind.

4. Personal Boundaries When Working Remotely

The problem here is remote teams fail when employees experience burn out

So, it is important for employees working from home to set the boundaries. Living and working in the same place can lead to overlaps in working and personal hours. It is very usual among remote workers to experience burnout.

Getting burned out will lead to lower productivity and lower quality of work. It also has negative effects on your employees’ health.

The solution is promoting work-life balance

You have to make sure your employees are not working too much and always remind your remote team to take time for themselves. Find out if employees are working way more than the required hours. 

You can have one-on-one discussions with your remote employees to see how they are going. Also have a chat with employees who are overworking themselves.

5. Managing Remote Employees Effectively

The problem is supervisors micromanage remote employees.

The reason why remote teams fail may also come from management. Micromanaging has no place in a company, remote or otherwise.

Micromanaging will affect your employees negatively and the remote workers will find it very annoying to have their leader constantly hovering. For others, it could lead to working non-stop and getting burned out.

The solution is trust your remote employees.

You can trust your employees that they will do their jobs and complete tasks as necessary. If they fail to meet deadlines or turn in low quality work, that’s when you can step in and discuss how they can do better.

 If you are wondering why your remote team has failed, it might be because of one of the reasons above. Nonetheless, you should not worry too much because now you know how to avoid them and make working remotely in Singapore is going smoothly. 

In conclusion, you should pay attention to your remote working team and fix it quickly if you find the problems within the team. Every problem can be solved if you can determine what is going on between you and your team, then after that you can have the solution for them.