Remote work was already afoot before the COVID-19 invaded our nests. The pandemic only did speed up the process of transition to remote settings on a larger scale.
Today, many organizations are working completely remotely, while others are giving the flexibility to their workforce to either work from home or in the office.
If you’re also working in a remote setting and trying to figure out how you can manage your projects effectively in this new norm, I got you covered.
Here are the best practices you can leverage to manage your remote projects in the best possible way.
Get the right project management tools
This is the fast-paced world we are living in. Teams are using various productivity tools to get ahead of the competition and make the most out of their time. And you have to do exactly the same if you want to manage your projects effectively and efficiently.
You see, management tools come in various shapes and sizes with different productivity features. For instance, Zoom lets you communicate with your remote team in a fast and convenient manner, while also letting you conduct group conference calls. you can share your PC screen with the team members, helping them understand the progress of the project. But in order to translate their zoom meetings, many companies use remote simultaneous interpreting platforms as well.
You need different tools for different purposes. Subscribe to a premium project management suite to handle your milestones and deadlines; choose a conferencing tool to conduct regular meetings; pick a collaboration tool to work on tasks alongside your team members.
Set up strict work schedules
Many team leaders and managers make the mistake of poking their team members at random times during the day (and even night) — and that’s not good behavior. You need to give private space to your workers so they can maintain their work-life balance.
I know, it’s easy to confuse work hours with personal hours in a remote environment as you don’t see your employees coming in and out of the office. But you need to develop a system to maintain a balance nonetheless.
Communicate clear instructions depicting how the members should manage their time and work hours throughout the week. Empower them to be available actively during work hours with no excuses.
Communicate your requirements and goals clearly
Communication is an important pillar of in-office projects as well, but it holds a new level of importance for remote teams. As remote workers only communicate through messages, emails, and occasional calls & conferences, it’s easier to lose track of the requirements and goals of a project.
To deal with the issue, you have to make sure you’re communicating everything important in the clearest way possible. And the best way to go about it is to document everything descriptively, then distribute it to all the team members.
When you clarify your goals and set expectations upfront, both parties are more confident in their work. This will empower them to move forward together confidently while achieving success for the company at large!
Make sure you’re taking feedback from every member now and then. It will help you understand if they’re comfortable with your current approach to communication and collaboration.
Use a VPN to do your research
Remote workers are often working from a diverse set of geographical locations, and each of them might have a separate take on how the project looks from their side on Google. You see, search engines present different information to people living in different locations around the globe.
To deal with the issue and conduct research from every member’s perspective, you can use a VPN to change your apparent location on the web. Check online reviews of the top VPNs and pick the one that fits your needs.
Take your time to reflect
You should always take time to Reflect on how things are going and if there is anything that needs changing. A final inspection at the end of a big task or project can be very beneficial because it will highlight areas in which you could improve for people who have been adjusting their work style recently.
It’s always a good idea to have an independent post-implementation review after any large initiative.
The benefits of a post-implementation review are twofold: not only do these reviews help you identify potential problems before they become costly issues, but even better is that organizations can learn from each other’s successes and failures.
Key takeaways
Handling remote projects is a tedious task if not done right. Luckily, remote work capabilities are pretty developed in 2021, making it easier for everyone to work from home. If we were to face the pandemic a decade ago, I can’t say we would be in the same situation. This article gives you some of the top tips you must pay attention to if you want your projects to work out smoothly.
