During the pandemic Irish companies discovered that enabling remote teams is easy; helping those teams excel is harder. Most of the respondents who participated in the State of Work Report (by Buffer), 64 % were fully remote, another 18 percent were hybrid and remote first.

Just because a company offers the possibility of working remotely doesn’t mean they know how to do it right. There are many things to consider when setting up your structure to ensure your remote teams can perform well and securely wherever they are. If your remote teams still struggle with slow VPNs, weak security or poor collaboration, the steps below will close the gap—fast.

How to Help Your Remote Teams Perform at Their Best in 2025

1. Build a Comfortable, Secure Home Workspace for Every Employee

Remote-first environment
Supply enterprise-grade laptops, dual monitors and ergonomic chairs instead of hoping staff can “make do” at the kitchen table. Under the Irish government’s Making Remote Work strategy, employers can claim tax relief on home-office equipment. Read more on our Managed IT Support services.

Read: Lessons in Lockdown – Our Guide to Smarter Remote Working

2. Protect Remote Teams With Zero-Trust Security

Your remote teams operate outside the traditional firewall, so security must follow the user, not the office.

Essential Layers:

• MFA everywhere – Azure AD Passkeys stop 99 % of credential-stuffing attacks (UK NCSC).
• Endpoint EDR – Microsoft Defender for Business rolls back ransomware in minutes.
• Encrypted backup – Immutable cloud snapshots guarantee recovery if a laptop is stolen.

3. Give Remote Teams Friction-Free Collaboration Tools

A dependable digital toolkit keeps remote teams productive and prevents “shadow IT”.

• Microsoft Teams + SharePoint – shared docs, channels and persistent chat in one hub.

• VoIP with Teams Phone – office numbers travel with staff; no more missed client calls.

• Project boards – monday.com or Asana visualise workload across time zones.

4. Treat Communication as Infrastructure, Not Afterthought

• Synchronous: Daily 15-minute stand-ups on video keep goals visible.

• Asynchronous: Record Loom updates for colleagues in other time zones.

• Social: Quarterly on-site meet-ups or a stipend for co-working memberships combat isolation.

GitLab’s open-source Remote Playbook offers templates for handbook-driven communication.

5. Measure Output, Not Desk Time

Define OKRs, publish them in a shared dashboard and celebrate wins in your #remote-shoutouts channel.

6. Keep Culture Alive Across Distributed Teams

• Pair new starters with mentors for the first 30 days.

• Rotate meeting chairs so quieter voices lead.

• Send surprise care packages that match company milestones.

7. Continually Upskill Your Remote Teams

Offer a learning stipend and surface relevant LinkedIn Learning courses inside Teams.

We have other articles that dive into this topic in more detail. You can access them in the links below:

Securing your hybrid work environment
How to build a security-first culture that empowers your hybrid workforce
Securiting company data with a remote workforce

Ready to optimise your remote teams?

Spector designs and secures remote-work infrastructures for Irish SMEs—from device deployment and zero-trust security to Teams Phone roll-outs. Book a free 30-minute discovery call and receive a personalised Remote-Work Readiness scorecard.

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