Onboarding, Communication, and Outcomes: Setting Expectations for Remote Teams (Part III)

Part III: Outcomes

Setting expectations for remote workers is important in not only maintaining a steady workflow, but in producing prolific, effective, and happy employees that see purpose and meaning in their job while remaining challenged and engaged.

Part I discussed the importance of onboarding. Part II discussed how communication plays a role in the successful implementation of expectations. Measuring progress and maintaining an open discussion of outcomes is the third way to keep companies and remote teams cohesively moving forward.  

Assign Responsibility from the Get-Go

Remote professionals are workers that thrive when given support and responsibility. Employees working in the software development fields and other creative IT solutions are self-starters that see a challenge as an opportunity to prove their skills.  So while you always want to communicate to your workers that you support their growth, part of this comes with helping them understand their role in the company. The first step towards successful outcomes comes with assigning responsibility from day one.

Set Milestones

As remote workers join the team and get to understand how the company functions, it’s important to set specific milestones for them and use them as opportunities to assess issues or questions. Establishing specific markers for the 30th, 60th, and 90th day gives new hires a sense of their responsibility but also sets the stage for measurable progress.  These milestones can then serve as opportunities for introducing even more responsibility, celebrating skill, talent, and innovation, and addressing weaknesses or issues they may have. Measuring their progress in the initial stages is key in helping them assimilate the day to day expectations. 

Clarity as the Driving Force

As Forbes magazine suggests, clarity is the arbiter of good leaders and successfully completed objectives. So once you have onboarded your remote workers and you have a well-established network of communication,  how does one achieve clarity in such a context? Consider the following:

• Have you articulated what the final outcome should be?
• Is this one an individual expectation or one that requires a team effort?
• If a team effort: who is in charge of this particular project or goal?
• Have you communicated the goals in measurable and quantifiable terms?
• Are expectations clearly prioritized in a hierarchy of importance?

Achieve Successful Outcomes by Setting Expectations

Setting these expectations in a timely and effective manner is directly tied to the overall outcome of your company and how well remote teams understand the bigger picture.  Clearly communicating your company vision is part of this all-encompassing process of expectation setting.

What have been your experiences when setting expectations and working with remote teams? Leave us a comment below.