Due to the pandemic and the lockdown enforced in it, a major part of working professionals have switched to work from home. All major tech companies, banking, finance, media, and other industries are following this trend.
As per a study from small biz genius, in 2021 4.3 million people are working remotely in the USA. And a large number of people in other countries are on WFH as well. This is the first time when humans are not working from their office or workspace. But how are they managing this sudden change in the work environment?
It is a general notion that productivity increases when people are working remotely. While it is interesting and innovative to be working from all around the world, managing remote teams is a challenge.
As a software outsourcing company working with clients in several countries, we know how difficult it is to coordinate tasks between team members and manage deadlines. Over the last year, we’ve experimented with several techniques and implemented the best practices for successful remote team management.
Here is a list of 8 tricks, tactics to help you overcome the problems of remote work while maintaining high productivity with your team.
1. Synchronous and asynchronous communication
Synchronous communication and messaging channels are instant mediums and devices like a phone call, video call, Zoom meetings. Asynchronous messaging consists of text, email, Skype messaging, basically any medium where you have time to think about the reply, compose it, and then hit send.
You must figure out which one of these communication mediums is the best for your team and your type of work. Otherwise, a lot of your time will be wasted in email threads and unnecessary team meetings.
As everyone has faced, communication is a major issue while working remotely. Don’t ignore the amount of time that can be ruined due to improper communication.
2. Be outcome-focused
Many companies focus on the number of hours an employee is working. This is the wrong way to analyze your team members. Here is the problem with it – while working from home, the entire team is spread across different locations. It is difficult to track everything about their work. That is why it is better to focus on outcomes, not activity. Assess your team members on whether the assigned tasks are completed in the required timeline or not.
3. Be optimistic about your co-workers
To read between the lines is often a good observational skill. But if you tend towards the negative aspects of everything you read, this will foster negative emotions.
This might not seem that important at first, but assuming the positive with your team members while reading their emails, messages or text will help in developing a good working culture remotely.
As there are no emojis and GIFs to convey the context of messages and other hints like tone or body language, it is beneficial to take it positively. For managers, train your team to read good intentions in every message and spread positivity among teammates.
4. Provide the necessary resources
Working with poorly performing equipment and resources will use up a lot of productive time and distract employees from what they really need to do.
You should know what technology employees will require so that they work without any hindrance.
All team leaders and managers should ensure that team members are provided with individual laptops, mobile devices, and software.
Companies can also provide work-from-home allowances for better performance and time management.
5. Exercise flexibility
In WFH the conditions and surroundings are not similar to an office. Be a little flexible with your team members and allow them to work at a time of their convenience. Keep in mind, everyone is dealing with the pandemic, including your employees.
Forcing employees to work an 8-hour shift with a high level of productivity will bound their creativity and workflow. In a home environment, some employees are night owls and some are morning people. Giving them the freedom to work on their own time will take away a lot of restrictions and be helpful for remote work management.
6. Follow routines and schedules
When working across time zones maintaining schedules and appointments is of prime importance. Inconsistency in calling hours and regular meetings will cause immense chaos for everybody. To avoid this, set strict hours for meetings and make sure it is the top priority of every team member.
Collaborating from different locations, team members should understand that regular meeting schedules are necessary to save time and increase productivity for every member.
7. Connect better with video calls in meetings
Video calls are a great way to connect with each other while conducting meetings. It has a positive impact on team members and it is easier to understand each other when we can see them explaining something. Video helps in building rapport, increasing the productivity of the team and since there is no time lag thus no time wasted. Video calls are extra beneficial while delegating with foreign clients, it also gives away a good impression of your company.
Although you should make sure that video meetings should be conducted in a quiet space with a high-speed internet connection to avoid interruptions during the meeting.
8. Disconnect completely in the holidays
Even during work from home, employees need to relax a little from time to time without worrying about any project or task from work. On vacations, while remote working makes it possible for your team members to have free time during their off days.
Transfer responsibilities to other team members so that they don’t remain uncompleted. Have a call with the responsible team members to document the progress for quick access for the person on vacation.
While on vacation don’t disturb your employees constantly via text or skype or zoom calls. After having a break they will be much more focused and productive in their role.
Conclusion
These tips are simple but it requires consistent execution and commitment from everyone in the organization to enjoy the results of their implementation.
These are the strategies we use in our custom software development company to get projects completed before deadline productivity and creatively. You can try more tips for successful team management from home. What are some of your enterprise tricks and tactics for better team management? Do share with us.
Giselle is a blogger who writes about the latest technologies and trends. Nowadays she is writing about the latest software development and dot net technology that gains great engagement and is loved by the readers. She keeps herself updated with the latest technologies. She loves to share her expertise with readers and she contributes to various online platforms in the same niche.