3 Tips for Managing Remote Teams

In general, managing your accounting or bookkeeping team requires balancing the needs of your practice with the needs of your team members. When you add in the component of remote team members, management becomes even more complex. Here are three tips for managing your remote team.

Tip 1: Establish Your Culture

We've all read about the importance of company culture. When you manage remote teams, you must be even more intentional in establishing your culture. The goal is to engage your remote employees in such a way that they can:

• See It
• Hear It
• Remember It
• Act on It

Top-notch remote accounting firms establish the purpose and shared values to guide firm decision-making. These decisions seep down to impact even the newest hire. Which means that the company culture impacts even the newest hire. 

As top-notch accounting firm owners convey the vision, they can create highly empowered teams. Team members grow to be organized and efficient, and they understand their roles and responsibilities and then act accordingly.

Because when you get right down to it, culture will either be an accounting firm’s greatest asset or its most significant liability.

So how do you reach such lofty heights when all your team members work remotely – perhaps even in different time zones?

You use the right tools to get the job done.

Tip 2: Use the Right Tools

These days, the right tools for use in accounting firms or offices don’t include paper, pencils, or erasers. The tools that keep the work flowing are technology-based. And using the right tools for everything from meeting platforms to procedure creation can mean the difference between just getting by or making your remote-enabled accounting firm soar.

Here are a few tool suggestions to consider:

Microsoft Office with Teams or Google Workspace for keeping in contact

• Zoom for meetings
• SparkHire for interviews and hiring
• Scribe for creating procedures
• Financial Cents for workflow management
• Slack for communication
• LastPass for password management

Using appropriate technology for your firm improves efficiency, allowing you and your team to focus on what really matters. 

Tip 3: Be Persistent

You know, neither the great pyramids nor your excellent remote accounting firm can be built overnight. Time and persistence will pay off.

By establishing the proper culture, using the specialized tools available, and being persistent, you’ll be able to guide your remote team to excellence.

Your remote team members receive:

• A sense of belonging
• Built-in support
• Increased self-confidence
• Guidance to positive tactics and strategies
• Continual reinforcement of confident perspectives and attitudes

And you receive one crucial factor – you can see your efforts paying off when your team members do the right thing, not because they have to but because they want to – even when you’re not watching.