Out of office: How to lead a team from your home

There’s a lot of talk around flexible working these days. Internet connectivity and cloud computing have now made it possible to work from virtually anywhere.

Most of the advice so far has centred on how leaders can utilise their management training to lead a mobile team. However, there is little guidance around how managers can be ones taking some time away from the office.

To rectify that fact, here are four tips to help you lead a project from the comfort of your own home.

Stay connected

The most important part of working remotely is to always keep an ear to the ground. Communication between you and your team is crucial.

Open up channels to talk with your staff as often as possible. For example, you could all sign on to an instant messaging service. This will ensure that your team can get in touch with any issues or queries as the press of a button.

Be prepared to move

Don’t get too settled in at home. Rather than working in your pyjamas all day, be prepared to leave the house at any moment.

When things go wrong, you could need to be in the car and on your way to the office as soon as possible. Wouldn’t be better to show up in work shoes rather than slippers?

Establish guidelines

Of course, to effectively work from home you need to establish ground rules. Let your team know when you are taking breaks to ensure they don’t attempt to contact you at the wrong time.

Additionally, set up guidelines regarding what should bring you back to the office. A minor issue can likely be handled without you, so there is no point them calling for your help at every drop of a hat.

Recruit the right people

In order to work from home with the peace of mind that the project won’t fall apart in your absence, it is vital that you employ the right team. It should be easy to make the most of the remote working trend with quality staff supporting you.