When you’re forced to divide your time between two or more offices, staying organized and productive can get tricky. Supervising employees can become a challenge. Check out this article for some useful advice on how to keep things running smoothly in every location your company operates.

In today’s fast-paced, competitive world, businesses are continually changing. A growing number of companies are branching out to reach new markets, and capital constraints often force managers to simultaneously oversee multiple teams. When that happens, maintaining balance can grow into a serious challenge. You need to get familiar with both teams’ projects, workflows, and dynamic.

Even though the job doesn’t come without its challenges, view it as an opportunity to develop an interoffice strategy that keeps projects running efficiently, and promotes employee collaboration. We’ve gathered a few tips that will help during this process.

Create Guidelines

You won’t be able to be in multiple places at once, so you need to create some guidelines to be followed by employees from all the company’s locations. They should clearly state when staff should be at the office, what the appropriate dress code is, and what kind of disruptive behavior won’t be tolerated at the workplace. These regulations are necessary to establish some structure; when managers are away, employees may have the tendency to slack off or encourage a less productive atmosphere.

On the same note, work together with other managers to create a manual about how staff should communicate with both clients and upper management. Also, establishing a clear workflow will make communication easier for everyone involved. Ask staff to reach out to supervisors whenever they feel like someone is disregarding these guidelines.

Organize IT Efficiently

Plenty of larger companies still struggle to manage information technology across multiple offices. Ideally, you should implement a system that maximizes efficiency and security while minimizing costs. To keep some consistency across multiple offices and connect several distant employees at once, all your locations must be able to access the same network resources.

Luckily, advancements in technology have made it much easier for IT departments to provide support to all members of the staff, regardless of location. Cloud computing and remote desktop software are now affordable solutions that meet most companies’ IT needs. You can also consider hiring an on-site professional to supervise IT at each location.

Communicate Openly

How managers choose to share information with employees can mean the difference between creating a sense of community and fueling conflict when certain team members aren’t included in the conversation. As a manager, you must ensure that important information is shared across the entire company and no one is left behind. Here’s a fun idea: send out a weekly email newsletter to all staff. You can include information on the company’s latest accomplishments, congratulate your top achievers, or provide updates for ongoing projects. Bonus tip: If you work over time zones, remember to send official communications out at times when all the offices are open.

Also, find creative ways to encourage cross-office collaboration. Always be on the lookout for opportunities to organize team building events, joint meetings, celebrations and company retreats that instill a positive atmosphere of camaraderie between offices.

Strengthen Team Independence

To make your job easier and show employees how much you truly value them, allow teams a certain level of independence. It can be difficult to trust others with high-level business objectives, but it becomes a necessity when companies are expanding. When you’re not physically at the office, you're unable to oversee your employees’ behavior and attitudes toward clients. You have to trust that you hired the right people for the job.

Performing quality control is mandatory when you give teams more freedom. Follow up with clients to figure out if the staff is fulfilling its expectations. Ask clients about their customer experience and use that information to guide your management approach.

When you manage multiple locations, establishing a clear interoffice communication strategy is a must. Remember that spontaneous visits and face-to-face interactions are necessary to build solid professional relationships and institute a sense of community. With the above suggestions in mind, strive to create a system that meets the needs of both upper-management and lower-level employees.