Managing Remote (or Hybrid) Employees: What They Don't Tell You in the Business Schools

Related Reading:

• Skillwave Training Resources
• Leadership Development Programs

Remote work isn't the productivity paradise everyone pretended it was during 2020. There, I said it.

After fifteen years of managing teams across Melbourne, Sydney, and Perth—and frankly, making every mistake in the book when it comes to remote staff—I've learnt that most of the advice floating around about managing distributed teams is complete rubbish. The LinkedIn thought leaders who've never actually managed anyone beyond their own social media presence love to tell us how "revolutionary" remote work is. Revolutionary? Please.

Here's what really happens: your best performers become invisible, your problem employees become ghosts, and everyone else exists in this weird middle ground where you're never quite sure if they're working or binge-watching Netflix.

The Productivity Myth Everyone Buys Into

We've all heard the statistics. "Remote workers are 47% more productive!" they shout from the rooftops. But here's the thing nobody mentions—productive at what, exactly?

I've watched brilliant employees become completely disengaged because they miss the energy of an office environment. Sarah from my Brisbane team, for instance, was absolutely crushing it when we were all in person. Creative, collaborative, always bouncing ideas off colleagues. Put her at home? Suddenly she's completing tasks efficiently but has stopped innovating entirely. The measurable work gets done, but the magic disappears.

On the flip side, I've seen naturally introverted team members absolutely flourish without the constant interruptions of office life. David in our Perth operations went from being the quiet guy who never spoke up in meetings to becoming our most valuable strategic thinker once he could contribute via Slack and structured video calls.

The truth is awkward: remote work amplifies who people already are. It doesn't create productivity—it reveals it.

The Communication Trap

Everyone bangs on about "over-communicating" in remote environments. Wrong approach entirely.

The problem isn't the quantity of communication—it's the quality. I spent six months drowning my team in status updates, daily check-ins, and mandatory video calls. Know what happened? Productivity plummeted. People started working around the meetings instead of with them.

What actually works is front-loading clarity. Instead of checking in constantly, I now spend twice as long at the beginning of projects making sure everyone understands not just what needs to be done, but why it matters and how it fits into the bigger picture.

This goes against everything we were taught about management, doesn't it? We're supposed to be available, approachable, constantly guiding. But remote work demands a different kind of leadership—one where you set clear expectations and then get out of the way.

The Technology Rabbit Hole

Here's where everyone gets it wrong. They think better tools solve remote work problems.

Last year, our company spent $40,000 on a project management platform that promised to revolutionise our remote collaboration. Six months later, we were back to using email and phone calls for anything important. Why? Because the tool was designed by people who'd never actually managed a distributed team.

The best remote managers I know use whatever technology their team is already comfortable with. WhatsApp groups for quick questions. Email for formal communications. Phone calls—yes, actual voice calls—for anything nuanced. Video calls only when you genuinely need to see facial expressions.

Zoom fatigue is real, but it's not because of Zoom. It's because managers schedule video calls for conversations that should be phone calls, and phone calls for conversations that should be emails.

The Trust Revolution (That Isn't Really Revolutionary)

Building trust remotely is exactly the same as building trust in person—you do what you say you're going to do, when you said you'd do it. The medium doesn't change the fundamentals.

But here's what changes: the speed of trust erosion.

In an office environment, if someone misses a deadline, you might bump into them at the coffee machine and get a quick explanation. "Hey, the client changed requirements again, I'll have it by Thursday." Trust remains intact.

Remotely, that same missed deadline sits in email silence for 24 hours before anyone addresses it. Trust starts fracturing immediately. The absence of casual interaction means every professional interaction carries more weight.

I've started what I call "Trust Banking"—deliberately creating low-stakes opportunities for team members to demonstrate reliability. Small tasks with clear deadlines. Easy wins that build confidence on both sides.

The Loneliness Problem Nobody Talks About

Mental health in remote work isn't just about work-life balance. It's about professional isolation.

Your high performers, especially, start feeling disconnected from the mission. They complete their work efficiently, join the required meetings, hit all their KPIs—and slowly begin to feel like they're working for a company that exists only in their computer screen.

This is where most managers get it spectacularly wrong. They try to solve it with virtual happy hours and online team building exercises. Ugh. Nothing says "we don't understand the problem" like mandatory fun via Zoom.

What actually works? Professional connection, not social connection. Regular one-on-ones focused on career development. Including remote employees in strategy discussions. Making sure they understand how their individual work contributes to company success.

The employee supervision training we implemented last year specifically addressed this gap—teaching managers how to maintain professional relationships across distance.

Performance Management in the Void

Measuring performance remotely requires completely rethinking what performance actually means.

Traditional metrics—hours worked, emails sent, meetings attended—become completely meaningless. I've had employees work four-hour days and deliver better results than colleagues putting in twelve-hour shifts.

The shift has to be towards outcome-based performance management. Not just "did you complete the task" but "did the task achieve its intended purpose." This sounds obvious, but it requires managers to think much more strategically about what they're actually asking people to do.

I now spend significantly more time defining success criteria upfront. What does "good" look like? What does "excellent" look like? How will we measure impact, not just completion?

This approach works, but it exposes managers who've been coasting on proximity-based leadership. You can't manage by walking around when everyone's in different postcodes.

The Hybrid Headache

Hybrid work—where some people are remote and others are in the office—is the absolute worst of both worlds if you don't do it properly.

I've watched teams split into in-office insiders and remote outsiders within months. The office crew gets the informal information, the casual mentoring, the spontaneous problem-solving sessions. Remote workers get the formal communications and structured meetings, but miss the real collaboration.

The solution isn't rotating who comes in when—it's making sure all important communications happen through channels that everyone can access equally. If it matters, it goes in Slack or email, not in hallway conversations.

What's Actually Working

After all this trial and error, here's what's genuinely effective:

Radical clarity in expectations. Weekly one-on-ones focused on removing obstacles, not checking up. Monthly team meetings for strategic alignment. Quarterly in-person gatherings for relationship building and creative collaboration.

The biggest mindset shift? Accepting that managing remotely is a completely different skill set than managing in person. The fundamentals of good management remain the same, but the execution methods are entirely different.

Remote work isn't going anywhere. Neither are the challenges. But the managers who figure out how to lead effectively across distance—they're the ones who'll build the strongest teams in the next decade.

The rest will just keep scheduling more Zoom calls and wondering why nothing improves.

---

Andrew has been managing distributed teams across Australia for over 15 years, working with companies from startups to ASX-listed corporations. When he's not rethinking workplace dynamics, you'll find him arguing about cricket statistics or attempting to grow vegetables in Perth's sandy soil.