Keep Your Remote Workers Close – How to Effectively Manage and Engage Remote Teams

At G&A Partners, we work with companies every day to meet the demands of a distributed workforce. In this article, we’re offering up some tips and tools on how to create a strong remote culture that keeps your team aligned, engaged, and performing at their best.

1. Use Tools That Facilitate Communication

Remote work may eliminate hallway conversations and desk drop-ins, but that doesn’t mean communication has to suffer. With the right tools, you can help your remote team members stay connected, collaborative, and productive from anywhere.

Here are a few platforms that can support more effective, real-time engagement across your remote workforce.

• Chat tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams: Great for quick check-ins, status updates, and sharing resources without disrupting workflow
• Online project management systems like Asana and Trello: Help teams stay organized, track progress, and manage deadlines, and communicate in one central place
• Email: Best for longer messages, project updates, or conversations where a clear written record is helpful
• Video conferencing: Ideal for team meetings, one-on-ones, or collaborative discussions that benefit from face-to-face interaction. With better audio, visuals, and features like recording, breakout rooms, and AI-powered notetaking, video calls are bridging the gap between in-person and remote teamwork.
  

2. Set Clear Expectations and Keep Everyone Aligned

Remote teams rely on structure and clarity to stay engaged. With fewer opportunities for spontaneous conversations, clearly communicating expectations ensures your team knows what success looks like—and how to get there. Start by defining these foundational elements to help remote employees stay focused and accountable:

• Goals and performance expectations
• Roles and responsibilities
• Project timelines and deadlines
• Key processes and communication channels
  

Once expectations are set, maintain alignment through regular updates and feedback, which may look like:

• Weekly check-ins or team huddles
• Ongoing feedback tied to individual or team goals
• Encouraging knowledge sharing across all work environments—remote, hybrid, or in-house

3. Foster a Strong Team Culture for Everyone

Remote teams may not share a physical space, but they still need shared purpose and strong interpersonal connections. As a leader, fostering a positive team culture means creating space for communication, recognition, and relationship-building—both inside and outside of formal work tasks. These moments help remote employees feel valued and aligned.

A few ideas to support connection include:

• Encourage casual communication: Give employees room to chat informally throughout the day, whether it's swapping weekend stories or sharing pet photos. These small moments help build meaningful bonds.
  
• Plan virtual team-building activities: Organize remote team-building activities and events like online trivia, virtual escape rooms, happy hours, scavenger hunts, or book clubs.
• Celebrate milestones: Recognize birthdays, work anniversaries, and team wins. Even small celebrations can help remote employees feel valued and included.
• Promote a balanced culture: Allow time for both work and social connection. Building relationships during the workday supports stronger teams and a more positive, productive environment.

4. Maintain Productivity and Accountability

Remote work has changed how we define productivity. Today, it’s less about clocking hours and more about achieving outcomes. When you equip your team with tools that promote visibility and collaboration (like those mentioned in #1 above), you create a culture of shared accountability—where each remote employee understands their role and stays connected to team goals. This leads to:

• Increased visibility: Team members can track their own progress and view updates from others, creating transparency without micromanagement.
• Shared accountability: When everyone can see where a project stands, it encourages team-wide ownership and proactive problem-solving. Employees feel more empowered to take initiative and contribute meaningfully.
• Greater engagement: Seeing how their work contributes to team goals gives remote employees a stronger sense of purpose and connection.

5. Leverage Technology and Security for Seamless Remote Work

As mentioned earlier, technology makes remote work not only possible but effective. To keep remote teams engaged and efficient, ensure they have access to messaging tools, video conferencing platforms, project management software, and secure document-sharing systems that allow easy file access and collaboration. With so many options available, take time to evaluate which tools align best with your team’s needs and workflows.

And with technology comes the need for security. In fact, with remote teams, security becomes even more important. Why? Because employees are accessing company systems and data from various locations and networks, increasing the potential risk of breaches or unauthorized access. A cybersecurity professional can help you develop a plan to safeguard sensitive information, no matter where or how it’s being accessed.

6. Promote Remote Employee Well-Being and Work-Life Balance

While remote work offers flexibility, it can also blur the lines between work and personal time—making it easier for employees to overwork or feel pressure to be available at all times. And like any workforce, remote teams are not immune to burnout and stress.

Here are some effective ways to promote wellness for remote employees:

• Offer mental health resources: Provide access to employee assistance programs (EAPs), counseling services, or mental health apps. You might also consider providing stipends for wellness-related services or activities.
• Encourage breaks and time off: If you don’t already have them, create policies and encourage a company culture that promotes regular breaks throughout the day and encourages employees to take their earned vacation time to recharge and relax.
• Balance structure with flexibility: Consider allowing remote employees to tailor their schedules around personal responsibilities—such as caregiving or parenting—while setting clear expectations around availability. Whether you define a standard 9–5, designate core hours, or offer role-based flexibility, a thoughtful policy helps support work-life balance and keeps everyone aligned.

7. Address HR and Compliance in a Remote Setting

Managing remote teams introduces a new level of complexity to HR. From ensuring policy consistency to maintaining compliance across multiple states, remote work environments can require extra attention—and expertise.

Partnering with a professional employer organization (PEO) for HR services, support, and expertise can help.

At G&A Partners, we provide comprehensive HR services, including HR guidance and support specific to remote work, including:

• Accurate payroll and tax filings for remote employees. If you have employees in multiple states, we can help ensure the correct payroll deductions are made for each location.
• Tailored benefits packages that work across your organization. From health insurance to retirement plans, G&A uses its buying power to help you deliver high-quality, cost-effective benefits that support employees in all work settings—remote, in-office, or hybrid.
• Remote work best practices. Whether you’re new to managing a remote team or looking to refine your approach, G&A’s HR experts provide guidance to help you build a thriving, productive team—with proven strategies for engagement, performance, and collaboration.
• Legal and compliance issues. If you have employees working in another state, you’re required to follow that state’s employment laws and regulations—in addition to federal requirements—even if your business doesn’t have a physical presence there. G&A compliance experts help you navigate these risks to provide a safe and nurturing work environment for your employees while helping your company avoid possible penalties and fines.

Let G&A Partners manage the HR administrative details, so you can stay focused on leading your remote team. Schedule a consultation with one of our experts today.