Out of office: How to stay on budget and manage a remote team holistically

Welcome to our guest blog series, where business leaders and experts share their insights on how Pleo is helping companies of all sizes streamline their finances and boost financial resilience. In this edition, Jonathan Carr from Gravitate Accounting explains how Pleo supports SMEs in navigating today’s economic challenges.

Managing a remote team is a bit like hosting a virtual dinner party — you’re trying to keep everyone engaged, aligned, and on track, all while dealing with different time zones, work styles, and the occasional tech mishap. It can be tricky business. 

Without the usual office cues, it’s not always obvious if your team is working at their best, or just nodding along in video calls, while secretly drowning in messages and to-do lists.

Plus, not everyone processes office cues the same way, and they can be a source of distraction or confusion for many — like for those who are neurodiverse, or from different cultural backgrounds. Remote work can often be more accommodating to a wider scope of people by its very nature, as it removes some of these blockers. This is a positive.

Keeping a team aligned when you’re not all in the same place doesn’t require a huge budget or psychic ability. With the right approach, leaders create connected, motivated and agile remote teams — no office required.

Make communication count

When your team is spread out, clear, thoughtful, and productive communication is the glue that holds everything together. But more messages don’t always mean better communication, in fact, that can cause the opposite. The key is knowing when to communicate, how to, and just as importantly, when to step back and let people focus.

• Keep it structured, but not robotic. Regular check-ins — whether weekly, biweekly, or monthly — help everyone stay on the same page. But nobody wants to be trapped in endless calls. Keep updates short and useful.
• Make space for real conversations. If every chat is about deadlines, you’ll miss signs that someone is feeling disconnected or overwhelmed. Make time for casual, off-topic conversations — it helps build trust and togetherness.
• Cut the noise. Not every update needs to be a meeting. Encouraging brief written updates or recorded messages helps people stay informed, without losing half their day to video calls.

According to data from a poll by Altodigital, unproductive meetings are estimated to cost the UK economy £50 billion annually. 

Keep projects on track without micromanaging

It’s tempting to check in constantly when you can’t physically see what people are working on, but this can spark anxiety for teams. This approach typically doesn’t have any benefit for productivity either, causing worse outcomes all around.

Start by remembering that you’ve chosen your team for their skills, and you trust them to get the job done. Set clear expectations from the start, so everyone knows their priorities without feeling like they’re being monitored 24/7.

• Define roles and responsibilities upfront. The clearer the expectations, the less back-and-forth is needed.
• Use simple ways to track progress. Whether it’s a shared document or weekly updates, find a method that keeps everyone informed without adding unnecessary work.
• Focus on results, not screen time. What matters is what gets done, not how long someone sits at their desk. Flexibility allows people to work when they’re most productive, and that benefits everyone.

Sidestep AI and  platform burnout

Remote teams now have access to a large cohort of digital tools (arguably, there’s too much choice), supposedly designed to make communication, project management, and working life generally easier. 

The problem with too many tools

While these tools can be incredibly useful, using too many of them can lead to cognitive overload and AI burnout (plus, they’re costly and this adds up). Employees can find themselves constantly switching between platforms, responding to notifications, and struggling to keep track of multiple conversations—ultimately leading to stress and decreased productivity. 

According to The CFO's Playbook for 2025, two-thirds (65%) of teams using AI extensively say the resulting digital overload has even driven them back to manual tools like spreadsheets and calculators. Despite the surge in digital adoption during lockdown, we're still struggling to balance our tech stacks more than four years on.

Uncomplicate your tech stack with all-in-ones

Gartner found that consolidating tools can lead to a 30% reduction in subscription costs. To combat tool fatigue (and reduce digital spend), take a step back and assess which platforms are truly necessary. Cut down your tech stack (and think about all-in-one platforms instead) by identifying essential tools and eliminating others. This has the double benefit of instantly cutting down on costs too. 

Encourage team members to turn off non-essential notifications, and set clear expectations for response times to reduce the pressure of being 'always on’.

AI-powered automation can help, but it should be implemented thoughtfully to speed up workflows, rather than to replace human interaction, or create more steps. The goal is to make work smoother, not to overwhelm your team with constant platform demands.

Collaborate, but don’t force it 

Teamwork doesn’t have to take a back seat because people aren’t in the same room. But forcing unnecessary group work can slow things down too, instead of speeding them up. Instead, try to:

• Create space for spontaneous idea-sharing. Casual brainstorming or open feedback sessions, can keep creativity flowing, without the pressure of structured meetings.
• Let people work together in ways that suit them. Some thrive in real-time chats, others prefer to process information before responding. Allow for both.
• Make decisions visible. When things shift, document decisions so the whole team can stay in the loop without needing another meeting.

Don’t become ‘big brother’ if you need to track time

Time management for remote work is a balancing act. While it’s useful to have a sense of where effort is going, obsessing over every minute spent at a keyboard can be counterproductive.

• Encourage structure without rigidity. Setting general work hours or response windows can help with coordination, but overly strict tracking kills autonomy.
• Trust your team to manage their workload. If deadlines are met and work is high-quality, there’s no need to measure every second.
• Offer gentle guidance for those who struggle. Some employees thrive with flexibility, while others may do better with set structure for staying on track. A little coaching goes a long way. For those who are neurodiverse, this is especially likely when it comes to timing. Though, they are also likely to rapidly excel in niche skill areas that are hard to find expertise in.

Think about asynchronous work for your remote team

Synchronous meetings and real-time communication can be helpful, but they aren’t always the ideal default for remote teams. Time zone differences, varied work preferences, and deep-focus tasks all make a strong case for tapping into asynchronous work.

Instead of expecting immediate responses and scheduling back-to-back meetings, you might want to encourage a culture where employees contribute at times that work best for them.

This approach also builds more thoughtful communication, as team members have time to process information before responding. By striking a balance between async and sync work, remote teams can avoid burnout, boost work-life balance, and tap into deep work uninterrupted.

Growing skills without a big corporate training budget

An affordable professional development strategy can still be stellar for remote teams — the coordination part just happens differently. Remember, growth options keep teams engaged and invested in their work. Start by:

• Encouraging knowledge-sharing within the team. Peer-led discussions or skill-swaps are great (and free) ways to keep learning.
• Supporting continuous learning. There are endless online resources — many of them free — covering everything from leadership skills to technical expertise.
• Create opportunities for career conversations. Regular chats about goals and aspirations keep people motivated and help managers support career growth.

Gathering feedback without the awkwardness

No one wants to work in a vacuum, but asking for feedback can sometimes feel like pulling teeth. The key is making it a natural part of how the team operates.

• Ask specific questions. Instead of a vague “How’s everything going?”, try “What’s one thing we could do better as a team?”
• Make feedback low-pressure. Casual, ongoing feedback works better than formal, once-a-year reviews that everyone dreads.
• Actually act on feedback. If people take the time to share their thoughts, show them it leads to real improvements.

Lead with trust, not inflexibility

Tracking keystrokes or flooding inboxes with status updates is not the best way to manage a remote team, nor is it productive for managers or employees. Building a culture of trust, accountability, and flexibility is the way to go.

People thrive when they feel supported, have clear expectations, and know they’re part of a team that values their work.

At its best, remote work allows people to do their jobs in a way that works for them, leading to better engagement, productivity, and job satisfaction. With the right, cost-effective approach, managers can create a set-up where their remote workers go beyond simply being functional — they excel.

Tax breaks for remote workers abroad

By adopting a remote workforce, you save on brick-and-mortar real estate costs, but your team can also benefit from tax breaks. Multiple European countries have introduced tax incentives to attract remote workers and digital nomads, such as:​

• Greece has implemented a tax regime where new residents pay income tax and social security contributions on only 50% of their Greek income for seven years, aiming to attract employees and the self-employed from outside the country. 
• Italy offers a 7% flat tax on foreign-sourced income for retirees and workers moving to specific southern regions, making it appealing for remote workers.
• Portugal: Provides the Non-Habitual Resident (NHR) regime, with significant tax benefits, including a flat 20% income tax rate for set professions, and potential tax exemptions on foreign income for up to ten years. ​

Pleo x Remote: smart budgets for savvy teams

Remote work saves on office costs but needs smart expense tracking for visibility, and keeping wider budgets in check. Without a digestible master overview, spending can spiral, making easy, automated expense control tools ideal.

Pleo x Remote in sync form an integrated financial and compliance ecosystem, for better control, transparency, and precision — without creating extra tasks for teams that kill time. 

Automated expense control & HR workflows

Pleo automates expense tracking, reduces admin work, and keeps budgets tight with real-time oversight. Paired with Remote, options for working through global payroll, tax compliance, and hiring regulations (smoothly, intuitively) are in the mix too. In a bit more detail, with both you get:

• Instant expense logging: No more chasing receipts
• Prepaid cards with limits: Empower teams without overspending
• Smart accounting integrations: Cutting manual work
• Real-time insights: Know where money is going — instantly
• Global payroll & tax compliance: Keeps teams compliant with local laws, automatically
• Simple international hiring: Onboard talent anywhere with ease via Remote, and the integration with Pleo automatically adds new hires to your Pleo account.

Cutting costs without compromising 

Smarter spending and a strong team culture can translate into less waste, a stronger bottom line, and a remote team of winners. In a nutshell, keep these actionable points in mind for spending less, while managing better:

• Trim software bloat: Consolidate tools and cut subscription costs by 30%
• Reduce meeting overload: Less time spent in meetings saves money in work hours
• Automate reporting workflows: Manual expense reporting can waste up to 12 hours per employee monthly. Pleo reduces this to minutes
• Eliminate reimbursement delays: Real-time expense approvals = easier cashflow
• Prevent unauthorized spending: Set limits on company cards for less financial risk
• Streamline global payments: Avoid excessive fees and foreign exchange losses
• Reduce the admin burden with smart tech: Spend less time reconciling expenses
• Automate local tax compliance: Avoid penalties with auto-compliance solutions
• Faster, easier cross-border hiring: Use an EOR for growing a global team, because time and stress is money. Leave the admin logistics of hiring overseas to the specialists.

Ready to transform your remote team management? With the right strategies, you can stay on budget, boost productivity, and build a connected, motivated workforce, all without breaking the bank. Don’t let tech overload or endless meetings slow you down. Embrace smarter tools and flexible work styles to help your team thrive. 

Take control of your remote team’s success with Pleo and Remote. Simplify your tech and streamline your spending.