6 Effective Strategies for Managing Remote Teams This Holiday Season

The holiday season is always a special time marked by joyous celebrations, vacations, and get-togethers.

But it's not just individuals and families that are bustling; it's also one of the busiest times for businesses and organisations. For companies with remote teams, especially those working offshore, this period can also present unique challenges.

Managing remote teams efficiently during the holidays requires thoughtful planning, clear communication, and a flexible approach to accommodate diverse schedules and time zones. When done right, it can boost morale, maintain productivity, and ensure business continuity without burning out your team.

In this blog post, we’ll explore practical strategies and tips to help you effectively manage your remote teams during the holiday season, keeping both your employees and business thriving.

 

6 Strategies to Manage Remote Teams Efficiently During the Holiday

 

1. Plan Ahead Holiday Schedules

^{Photo by Frolopiator Palm from Freepik: https://www.freepik.com/premium-photo/calendar-computer-software-application-modish-schedule-planning/.} 

The holiday season is also the season when employees want to spend time for themselves or with their loved ones. This often means that aside from the officially declared non-working days, it’s inevitable that some remote team members will request additional time off. Because of this, it’s inevitable that the holiday season faces a lack of manpower. However, some projects and tasks continue during and even beyond this period.

One of the key strategies for managing remote teams during this busy season is to carefully coordinate schedules among staff members.

Here are some tips that you can use:

1. Have a centralised calendar that all relevant personnel can access, allowing them to view their colleagues' holiday work schedules and coordinate tasks accordingly.
2. Align expectations of work productivity with staff availability. Be transparent about project deadlines and critical periods when team presence is essential.
3. Encourage staggered time off to ensure that there are enough people in your teams to manage essential and urgent tasks, ensuring continuous operations.

By planning ahead, you reduce last-minute chaos and ensure the team are aligned on who’s working and when.

 

2. Communicate Clearly and Frequently

^{Photo by tirachardz: https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/asia-businesspeople-using-laptop-talk-colleagues-discussing-business/.} 

With countless events taking place during the holiday season, clear and frequent communication between team members and other stakeholders is crucial to ensure seamless and continuous operations. This is even more essential to companies with remote talents, because their distributed workforce, while giving immense advantages in terms of productivity, can also be a source of challenges.

Determine in advance what your communication protocols will be during the holiday season. For example, while you have your preferred company platform — like Microsoft Teams, Slack, email, Zoom, etc. — there may be cases where your remote staff can’t access those communication channels. So, aside from using your pre-selected apps, having backup channels they can utilise is significant.

Check-ins and reminders can also help keep everyone in the loop with each employee’s current responsibilities and ensure that projects progress within expected timelines.

However, it is also important to keep in mind to be empathetic and flexible during this period. Holiday seasons don’t just mean celebrations. Recognise that team members may be juggling personal commitments and may not always respond immediately. Encourage openness about availability.

Consistent and clear communication prevents misunderstandings and helps the team stay connected despite physical distance and holiday distractions.

 

3. Set Realistic Expectations and Goals

^{Photo by freepik: https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/woman-working-as-engineer/.} 

During the holidays, productivity naturally dips as team members balance work with festive activities. Setting realistic goals and prioritising tasks helps maintain focus without overwhelming your team.

Review project timelines as early as possible to properly adjust deadlines as necessary to accommodate possible lack of personnel during the holiday.

Because of limited manpower, it’s also essential to prioritise tasks depending on their impact. You will want to prioritise high-impact and critical deliverables that must be completed within strict timelines, even during the holiday season.

It’s also a good practice to break work into manageable chunks to ensure steady progress.

And, of course, for offshore remote workers, autonomy is essential. Trust that your employees will be able to manage their workload and deadlines even during this busy time. However, be on standby to provide support when necessary.

 

4. Foster Team Engagement and Morale

^{Photo by freepik: https://www.freepik.com/premium-photo/woman-waving-hand-laptop-screen-with-group-business-people-near-christmas/.} 

Talents working remotely enjoy numerous benefits that in-office staff don’t, such as no commute time, increased productivity and flexibility, and a better work-life balance. Even so, there are still difficulties.

Isolation and disengagement are two of the challenges that distributed employees often face. The 2023 State of the Future of Work Report by the University of Melbourne even notes that 2 in 5 flexible workers do miss their colleagues.

So how can you manage this predicament? Here are some practices that you can apply to your teams:

• Host virtual holiday events: Organise online parties, games, or themed meetings to bring the team together.
• Celebrate achievements: Acknowledge milestones and individual contributions publicly to boost morale.
• Encourage sharing: Create channels for team members to share holiday traditions, photos, or recipes.
• Send holiday greetings and gifts: Thoughtful gestures such as e-cards, gift cards, or small care packages show appreciation.

 

5. Assess Talent Needs

^{Photo by Floropiaton Palm from Freepik: https://www.freepik.com/premium-photo/closeup-resume-paper-with-qualifications-desk/.} 

Creating a strong talent pipeline is a continuous task, even during the holidays. It’s not uncommon for some businesses and industries to hire temporary workers during this time to accommodate the influx of clients and customers. But you also have to consider if you really have enough manpower even after the holidays.

As the last quarter of the year is also the usual time when companies close their books and make their year-end reports, it’s critical to include a workforce audit. Here are some questions that your assessment should answer:

• Do your teams and departments have enough people?
• Are your employees frequently overloaded with work?
• Is there a performance deficiency due to the lack of manpower?
• Are there vacancies in your organisation that you need to fill?

If the results show that you need to hire and recruit more people, the holidays are actually a good time to do so. You can read more on how to make the most of the holidays to recruit in this blog.

Having a reliable partner like Unient to help you hire, manage, and pay the best remote talents is also an option to more conveniently and efficiently patch the gaps in your workforce.

 

6. Prepare for Post-Holiday Transition

^{Photo by freepik: https://www.freepik.com/premium-photo/man-with-headset-having-video-call/.} 

After a busy holiday season, it’s always good to prepare for when employees are back to work and their usual responsibilities resume.

Start by proactively planning your operations and workforce management. Review your performance last year and analyse the areas that worked and didn’t work, as well as those that need improvement. This step means planning for the year ahead, including anticipating changes in customer demand, adjusting inventory levels accordingly, keeping up-to-date with industry trends, and more.

Another important aspect is addressing employee well-being during the transition.

Businesses should also communicate with their teams about any shifts in work schedules or expectations to ensure a smooth return to regular productivity.

The post-holiday period can be challenging as employees readjust to routine after time off. You can offer support by providing flexible work arrangements and resources for stress management and encouraging open communication.

 

Make the Most of the Holiday Season

^{Photo by The Yuri Arcus Collection from Freepik: https://www.freepik.com/premium-photo/weve-always-been-team-number-one/.} 

Managing remote teams efficiently during the holiday season requires intentional planning, clear communication, and empathy. By setting clear schedules, communicating frequently and clearly, setting goals and expectations, fostering team engagement, assessing talent needs, and preparing for after the holidays, you can maintain productivity without sacrificing the joy and rest your team deserves.

With these strategies in place, your remote team can enjoy a festive, fulfilling holiday season while keeping your business on track for success.

Unient is also here to help you with your workforce needs!

With our offshore staffing solutions, you get access to top vetted professionals in diverse fields and specialities. Quickly select and onboard the roles you need to ease the load of your in-house staff or build an entirely new team.  

Book your appointment today to learn more.