Remote Teaching: How Districts Can Successfully Manage Virtual Teams

Remote education is here to stay, with as many as 55 million students in the United States affected by recent school closures. As such, it’s essential school managers provide teachers with the support they need to adjust smoothly to remote work. With the right support, teachers will experience higher levels of productivity, engagement, and motivation while working remotely.

Many schools have now returned to in-person learning. But many are also keeping hybrid options available indefinitely going forward. With that in mind, districts need to solidify best practices to allow for an occasionally remote team of educators.

Check in at a Set Time Everyday

Schedule a time to check in with your remote teachers every day. Ideally, this will take the form of individual one-on-one calls with each teacher. However, you may find it more time-efficient and morale-boosting to regularly host team calls. Routine daily calls provide remote employees with structure and a dedicated opportunity to talk with you and raise their questions or concerns. Ultimately, regular communication is essential to foster a strong sense of connection between you and your employees. In turn, you’ll successfully boost levels of engagement and motivation to keep employees performing well despite the remote conditions.

Nurture Relationships

Positive relationships in the workplace have been proven to increase levels of job satisfaction, motivation and productivity among employees. Moreover, they also result in stronger job commitment and lower employee stress and turnover. Establishing positive workplace relationships among remote teachers, however, can be more of a challenge. Try hosting regular (weekly, fortnightly or monthly) virtual meetings with your teachers that aren’t focused on work. Icebreakers can be used to relieve any awkwardness and kick things off. Additionally, you can also set up a dedicated chat channel for informal work chats. In turn, your team of remote teachers will enjoy their jobs much more.

Boost Focus and Productivity

Although remote work has its upside for teachers who can now enjoy connecting with students from the comfort of their own homes (no commute needed), it can mean the typical distractions of home life may also be an issue. It’s therefore important to regularly reinforce work targets with your team and ensure goals and expectations are clearly communicated. Also, recommending and implementing effective productivity tools like website blockers and noise cancellation software can further help strengthen motivation and focus, and keep distractions to a minimum.

Adjusting to the world of remote work can be a challenge for teachers. Fortunately, with the right support, managers can help their teachers maintain high levels of motivation, engagement and productivity in their work.

Featured Image: Charles Deluvio, Unsplash.