Toolkit Overview
      Audience: This content is intended for line management  who supervise one or more direct reports who are not co-located with. These 
      tools are relevant for both temporary and permanent virtual management situations and are generally considered a best practice for 
      people management.
     Challenges Faced With Virtual Management:                                 Where You Should Focus:
     Managers working with remote employees may face the                       To best succeed managing in a virtual environment, you 
     following challenges:                                                     should:
     •  Cannot observe day-to-day workflows: What does your                    •  Establish Clear Expectations: Align expectations of 
        employee do on a day-to-day basis?                                        roles, responsibilities, goals and workflows for employees 
     •                                                                            and teams.
        Trust: It’s harder to build trust with remote employees, and 
        misunderstandings can occur more frequently.                           •  Focus on Performance Outcomes: Define performance 
     •                                                                            expectations/outcomes, and determine the best approach 
        Cannot See Body Language: Cannot read how an                              to measuring and sharing performance feedback.
        employee is receiving feedback or having trouble based on 
        subtle clues (like you can with co-located employees).                 •  Communicate Effectively: Assess and identify the best 
     •                                                                            channels and approach to communicating effectively with 
        Time differences: It’s harder to share ideas and collaborate              remote employees, and encourage team communication 
        when you don’t work at the same time.                                     and collaboration.
      2  © 2020 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
       Overview: Set Clear Expectations Around Remote Work
       Tip: Setting clear expectations with employees and understanding their expectations help ensure roles, responsibilities and workflow are 
       aligned so your employee knows what to expect and you know how best to support their needs.
         Challenges You Can Mitigate:                                                What You Should Do:
         Since we lack face time with remote employees and                           Set clear individual and team expectations by:
         communication is not as natural, there is greater                           •  Connecting with your direct reports to understand their 
         opportunity for frustration on both sides of the                               expectations from work 
         relationship. 
                                                                                     •  Creating a schedule for routine meetings to check in; 
         As supervisors, virtual environments make it more difficult to:                this allows for uninterrupted one-on-one time, focused on 
         •  Know what our remote employees want                                         projects, work tasks and other areas you can best support 
         •                                                                              your employee
            Know if our remote employees trust us
         •  Understand how employees feel                                            •  Creating an agreement for remote work to set norms 
         •  Ensure employees have everything they need to be                            and guidelines around key work topics in order for your 
                                                                                        direct reports to succeed 
            productive
                                                                                     •  Use the Individual Career Profile (ICP) form to discuss 
         Our employees see the challenge differently. Employees                         developmental opportunities; short and long-term
         feel they:
         •  Do not have the opportunity to clarify their role 
         •  Do not know how best to work within a virtual team context
         •  Uncertain about managing priorities
         •  Feel their development and career needs may be overlooked
       3  © 2020 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
       Tip Sheet: Set Clear Individual and Team Expectations
        When setting expectations for remote work, it is important to set expectations with individual team members and the team as a 
        whole to ensure effective individual contributions and team collaboration. 
        Use the below tips to help set expectations with your direct reports and your teams.
                     Individual Responsibilities                                                         Team Attributes
       •  Highlight the individual’s day-to-day responsibilities                         •  Clearly define team members’ roles and responsibilities 
       •                                                                                    and how they fit with one another
          Clearly communicate to the employee that you expect 
          them to proactively address any issues that may arise                          •  Establish your preferred methods of communication
       •  Clarify how the individual’s role and responsibilities affect                  •  Share your management style
          the organization’s objective.                                                  •
                                                                                            Establish protocol for tracking when employees are out of 
       •  Identify what technology the employee will need access                            office, and make it accessible to all team members
          to, and ensure it is working properly. Share information                       •
          about communication tools and channels (MS Teams,                                 Communicate plans for team to stay connected (frequency 
          Bluejeans, etc.)                                                                  and format of meetings)
       4  © 2020 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
       Understand Your Employee’s Expectations
         Instructions: Understanding your employee’s work expectations builds trust in a virtual working relationship. Use this guide to have a conversation with your direct 
         report(s) to better understand their expectations from your virtual working relationship so you can best support their needs.
          Questions                                      Employee Response
          What is your preferred communication style 
          (e.g., phone, email, text, videoconference)?
          What do you see as the benefits of working 
          remotely/having a remote manager?
          What concerns do you have about working 
          remotely?
          What do you think are your most important 
          strengths?
          How can we best keep each other updated 
          regarding projects and development?
          A review of work schedule so all parties are 
          aligned.
          What are your expectations of me as your 
          manager?
       5   © 2020 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
       Understand Your Employee’s Expectations
         Instructions: Understanding your employee’s work expectations builds trust in a virtual working relationship. Use this guide to have a conversation with your direct 
         report(s) to better understand their expectations from your virtual working relationship so you can best support their needs.
         Questions                                        Employee Response
         What is your time zone, and what is the best 
         way to make it work with other team 
         members’ time zones?
         A review of work priorities and scope for the 
         first 30, 60, 90 and 120 days and how 
         progress will be assessed.
         What additional information would help me 
         get to know you and support you?
       6   © 2020 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.