What are the challenges of managing a remote digital marketing team?
Sort By:
Oldest
CMOa year ago
The key is intentional reach out and inclusion if you have an in person team. It really depends on the role and the number of remote workers. It all starts though with intentionality. I would encourage a leader to go to that worker(s) so it is not all about that worker coming to team. I would encourage frequent scheduled touch points. If the team does not report directly to you, I would still encourage a check in. I believe the leader sets the tone for managing remote workers and if they are always an after thought and are excluded then the rest of the team will probably follow suit. I would encourage virtual meetings even for those in the office -- and ensure that the remote teams are always included on any emails/meeting invites. It is also important to include any out of meeting decisions in a wrap up to all so if strategy or plans change the remote teams are made aware. I think the challenges will be the same for managing a remote digital marketing team as anyone other role b/c the key is to keep the teams at the same level of knowledge/communication. Many people also enjoy holding more informal virtual get togethers if the in person is infrequent ie lunches over Teams or virtual happy hours every Thursday.
Not having the ability to do in person whiteboard sessions to ideate can also feel like like a hinderance to innovation at times however, as a work around I try to host regular team performance check-ins and planning sessions for the upcoming month/quarter and found that those generally produce similar outcomes. Our monthly virtual happy hours have also produced some of our best ideas and helped to boost morale!
I also think that isolation and burnout can be a challenge when everyone is remote. There is this idea that everyone is now "always-on" because we work virtually. That is why I make sure to not only set a good example by not messaging/emailing my team after normal work hours but I also try to do weekly one-on-one check in's with each team member to see how they are feeling and offer support. As a leader, I do my best to empower my team to say no to things or to filter requests through a request form that we monitor and work through together. I also tell my team to set aside 1-2 hours a week to learn something new, take a course, listen to a marketing podcast, create something different for fun (outside of their daily work), etc. and ask them to bring their ideas and/or learnings to our weekly team meetings to share. This can help break up the monotony and help them reset after a long week.