Managing a remote working team

We appreciate that over the past few weeks many of you have experienced a fast paced change in the way that you work, transforming from an office based or site/shipyard environment to a totally remote one. For many of us, this is not a way of working we are used to and we want to support you in making sure that you can perform at your best during these times.

Managing a team from your own home is incorporated into the current challenge that managers are facing across the business. This article will provide you with some key tips for making this work and will provide links to some very useful resources.

First, we wanted to highlight that this is not a necessarily negative change. Statistics from various surveys have produced some extremely positive results from employees working from home including: 30% of people stating they get more done in less time (ConnectSolutions), 82% of people saying they experience lower levels of stress (ConnectSolutions) and 87% of people feel more connected thanks to video tools (Harvard Business Review).  The key point here is everyone will react differently to this change.

Below are our top five tips to support you in managing your team remotely:

1. Have regular one to ones with your team members
   Since you are now working remotely, you will not have the regular and unplanned opportunity to talk with your team members in the way that you did in the office/site environment. Give more time to your team for one to ones and give them the time to contact you. Making colleagues aware of your working hours and offering your availability provides them with the chance to plan in some communication with you.

2. Manage expectations
   Being clear with your team members to ensure that they are aware of what the expectations are, what their goals are and what is required from them in their role. Some key points to consider are:

• • Work hours
  • Availability
  • Communication system
  • Timely meetings
  • Key projects and deadlines
  • Scheduled meetings
  • Setting clear responsibilities
  • Team members to share goals with wider team

3. Remote working tools
   In order to keep communication up within your team, it is important that you have the best tools to facilitate this. Please see the below list of resources you have access to:

System	Who has it	Screen Share	Phone Dial In	Meeting Duration	No. Participants	SIP Address
Zoom – Free	Download: https://zoom.us/client/latest/ZoomInstaller.exe Site teams –  no admin rights needed CUK teams – create an IT SR if you need to install	Yes	No	40 Mins	Up to 100	Yes
Zoom – Licensed	CUK’s Directors and above now have an account.  Create an IT SR if you need an account	Yes	Yes	24 Hrs	Unlimited	Yes
Skype for Business	Site teams only Create REQ in ServiceNOW if you don’t have it	Yes	Yes	24 Hrs	Unlimited	Yes
MS Teams	Anyone can download, laptop and / or mobile, and set up own account: https://products.office.com/en-gb/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software	Yes	No	24 Hrs	Unlimited	No (1)
Whatsapp or Facetime	Call your colleagues for audio / video catch up	No	Yes	24 Hrs	1-2-1	No (1)

• SIP address: a SIP address looks like an email in a meeting invite, for example 8888@vc.carnivaluk.co.uk. You should also have a meeting or code ID
• (1)You will not be able to join the video / document sharing capability of other systems. If you do need to do this, please get access to the other AV systems mentioned in this table.

4. Be flexible
   During this time there are extra stresses and responsibilities that our employees are experiencing which may not have been present before they began working remotely. As a manager, it is important to be mindful of these and ensure that you are providing people with the support they require. If you are unsure of the answers to any flexible work requests or you require some advice, please contact Lucy Davis, Senior HR Advisor.

5. Team bonding
   Whilst working remotely we are unable to do some of the activities we did in the office or on site, such as gathering in the kitchen to eat cake together on each other’s birthdays or going out for social events with our team members. Some ways that we can still have social communications with our colleagues include:

• • Virtual team lunch or ‘after work’ drinks
  • Celebrating success and achievements
  • Say ‘hi’ to your team during the day, ask how they are doing and how their weekend was
  • Create a group chat for your team to stay connected

Core resources
In addition to the above information, we have some really great resources that you can use which provide a wealth of information and advice for managing a team remotely. We really recommend that you take the time to use these.

The Cove – https://www.carnivalcove.co.uk/find-training/index.php

In the ‘Remote Working’ section of the library on The Cove, there is a specific area for managers. This section holds a range of useful resources designed specifically for managing a remote working team. If you are unsure on how to access or use The Cove, please click here.

Good Practice
Good Practice is an online platform designed specifically for managers. It holds a lot of information which is updated daily, relating specifically to management during the time of COVID-19. You can access this site here.