11 Tips for Managing a Remote Team in Your Real Estate Business
Recent events have turned the world into a global village both in word and deed; remote jobs are sporadically on the rise. With this rise comes several calls for improved management skills. These skills are to be different from conventional day-to-day office management procedures. Now, the advance also applies to the real estate world; enshrouded in this piece will be 11 tips for managing a remote team in your real estate business.

Real estate agents – the newcomers’ sphere

The real estate business world has been flooded lately by newcomers majorly because of its lucrative nature. Real estate newcomers need tips and guidelines. These tips will help them operate so that they get the best out of their venture. Remote jobs and workers have been major game changers in this sphere but, only the malleable and knowledgeable ones thrive.
This modern remote approach has proven to save a lot of time and money but comes with its share of difficulties. Thus, outlined here are a few essential tips for managing your team remotely and bringing the best out of them productively.

Essential Tips for Managing a Remote Team
Design your system of operation

Just like with every well-planned project, having a system that works is paramount. Being a manager comes with its peculiar perks of challenges. These challenges will have to be managed remotely, unlike the conventional way of doing this. Thus, one must understand his employees and what works for them, then from his observation, draw up a favorable schedule and mode of operation within the unit.

Communication Lines

After putting all the necessary findings in a system that best fits your team, the next thing to do is ensure good communication lines. Effective communication is the bedrock of every successful management. That is, you must have a well-defined model of communication within your team. This decision should be grossly unanimous. Do not forget that good communication involves feedback, and as such, it should also exist.

Scheduled Team Meetings

Establishing effective communication lines are decent for interpersonal relationships, making real estate inquiries among team members and the lot. But it is also vital that your real estate team has a fixed time and date for scheduled meetings. These meetings can be once a month, once a week, or twice a month. The key is not to make them too frequent. Scheduled Team meetings serve to hold the team together and also ensure regular updates on team progress.

Meeting Schedule

People find their time very precious to them; as the saying goes, time is money. It is, therefore, of great significance that your meetings are straight to the point and not shrouded with vain salutations, jesting, and irrelevant topics. To avoid these, meeting schedules must be planned before time. It is also a good idea to always stick to the allocated time frame for the meeting.
Meeting Mode – Online (Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Team, etc.)
In line with the points mentioned above, it is advisable to have frequent online meetings. While Zoom is the most popular platform for this, you can pick any medium that works for you. Beyond just the video coverage it brings to the meeting, it offers more. For example, presentations can happen through the meetings effectively, showing charts, tables, pictures, and necessary digital documents. It also makes questions and answers sessions more productive.

Face-to-Face Meetings

As much as video calls are crucial to growth, regular physical meetings are also as important. These meetings could be monthly, quarterly, or yearly. Nonetheless, this meeting must hold to ensure cohesiveness within the group.

Accountability

Without accountability in your real estate team, the system fails. Everyone in the network is connected; this implies that the failure of one will affect others. On this wise, accountability is an essential virtue and must reside within your team members. There must be strict rules of operation. Everyone must get their work done efficiently, late coming to meetings should not be allowed, and zero tolerance for slothfulness.
Getting a team that works remotely to be accountable is a mountainous task; it, however, but must be enforced. The future of the real estate business rests on the shoulders of efficient and productive agents.

Well defined policies

On this wise, you must state outright your policies and have your employees agree to it. It is essential to clarify that scheduled vacation time, procedures for absenteeism from meetings, advance notifications for missing deadlines, etc.  All of these, which include the consequences of defaulting and attached penalties, must be outlined in your policies. These policies are subject to what you deem as the best fit.

Goals, targets, expectations

Just like every successful venture, your real estate business must have well-defined goals, targets, and expectations. These mean there must be a vision placed before them of which they must run. Without vision, the people perish. You can group this category into long-term and short-term goals.
Short-term goals may be weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly goals. Long-term goals will span from one-year to 5years or 10years, depending on the strength of your vision and the available resources to execute it within a specific time frame.

Progress reports and evaluations

Beyond just setting goals, targets, vision, and expectations, you must pass the initial euphoria of starting-out and channel your attention to following it through. It is easy to start things but sustaining it is where many people are lacking.
As a result, agents must turn in their progress reports regularly. These will help you analyse the given task and know where your challenges lie or where progress is. Key performance indicators for real estate agents will help a great deal here.

Be responsive

Unlike in a conventional office space where you can easily have face to face conversations with your workers, the sphere of the remote job gives a different approach. Your workers would not just walk down the hallway and knock on your office door for a quick-one when something comes up. So how then do you bridge this gap?Be reachable at all times. Do not forget this. A missed phone call or late reply may be worth a lot. You sure would not want to encounter such loss in your real estate business. Your agents want to see you available at all times. They need to know you are there to support them and make sure they are productive.A slag comes in when you reply to emails, calls, text, and messages late. Thus, be responsive and be as detailed as you can in your response.