Managing remote teams requires a strategic approach to communication, collaboration, and operations. Here are some key considerations for managing your remote team.
Use Communication tools like Slack
You’d need communication tools to facilitate communication. Here are some best practices for using communication tools.
A Dedicated Purpose for Each Communication Tool.
Have a dedicated purpose for each tool even though most communication tools have similar features. For example, you can have Gmail for sending emails and Slack for internal team communications. Gmail has a chat feature (Google Chat), however, you should restrict chats to Slack to avoid communication gaps within your team. To ensure compliance, have a written communications policy that outlines the official tools of communication.
Adjust Email Notification Settings
When setting up tools like Slack and Asana for your organization, ensure you adjust the email notification settings for critical updates alone. For example, users should not receive email alerts every time someone leaves a comment in a Slack channel or Asana task. Another bad situation is where everyone receives notifications for projects and tasks across the organization regardless of their involvement. It is important to ensure people are not overwhelmed by unnecessary email alerts.
Limit Direct Messaging
While direct messages can be helpful for private conversations, encourage team members to use comments within tasks for project-related communication. This helps to keep task-related information in one place.
Use “@” Correctly
Avoid using the @ function excessively since it can cause team members to get notifications. Use @ mentions to call people’s attention to a task or problem or to provide critical updates.
Consolidate Project Updates
Instead of providing several small updates, organize your progress updates into fewer, more comprehensive posts. This reduces the number of notifications and keeps everyone informed without being overwhelmed
Provide Training and Guidelines
Ensure that everyone is familiar with the tool’s features. Training sessions and clear guidelines can help maximize everyone’s utilization of the tool and minimize unnecessary communication.
Hire Project Managers for Remote Teams
A project manager plays a critical role in coordinating tasks, facilitating communication, and ensuring that the project stays on schedule and within budget. They help define project objectives, decompose work, and allocate responsibilities among team members. Project managers also organize and lead regular team meetings, providing an avenue for team updates, discussions, and issue resolutions. Moreover, they help to prioritize tasks, manage dependencies, and eliminate bottlenecks in the project.
Use Project Management Tools
Use project management software such as Asana, Jira, or Trello to monitor assignments, due dates, and the status of your work as a whole.
Project management tools by themselves will not drastically improve team efficiency without certain steps.
Training and Onboarding
Ensure that everyone is familiar with the features and functionalities of the selected project management tool. Provide training sessions or guides to help them understand how to utilize the tool efficiently.
Define Workflows
Define workflows to improve team organization. For example, you can define how tasks should move through different stages. Some product development organizations will use a Kanban board with different categories such as New, backlog, In progress, Under Review, and Closed. So, “New” might refer to new tickets or ideas for product development. The backlog will contain tickets that the product manager has reviewed and can be considered for prioritization. In-progress tickets are those in development. Once a ticket is completed, it is reviewed by another engineer or QA engineer before it is released to production. It’s common practice to incorporate tags and custom fields to provide additional information on different tasks or projects. This can include priority levels, task types, and any other special information specific to your project.
Create a Remote Friendly Culture
Establish work hours while being flexible to meet personal preferences. It’s common practice for remote teams to work according to their local times. Whatever the case, set clear policies for communicating changes in working hours to avoid disruption of work. Consider time zone differences when organizing meetings or setting deadlines. Change the meeting times to fit different time zones. To maintain a work-life balance, use asynchronous communication for non-urgent situations. Asynchronous communication is when you send a message without expecting an immediate response. For example, company announcements and emails. The opposite of this is booking meetings every time.
Provide the Right Work Tools
Ensure your remote team has the right work equipment. Provide durable computers and establish a clear policy for swapping old devices. This will reduce lost time due to faulty equipment.
Invest In Security and Data Privacy
Implement security policies to protect sensitive data. Ensure that remote team members are informed of and follow the security protocols. Moreover, provide regular education on data privacy and cybersecurity best practices. Key areas of concern include password complexity and uniqueness, use of public Wifi, and identifying phishing email scams.
Create a Supportive Workplace Culture.
It’s more important to build a culture that supports Innovation, cooperation and idea exchange. Engineers love creative innovation that leverages technology. So you have to ensure there’s room for experimentation while working towards company objectives. This can be in the form of Hackathons or demonstration events. However, If you want to create a positive culture and inspire growth, you must consistently practice your company values. When you lead by example, you create a culture of trust and collaboration. But when you fail to model those values, you create a culture of distrust and indifference.
Make Room for Socialization
Create avenues for casual conversations and social engagement among team members. This could include virtual coffee breaks, bonding activities (team lunches), or informal chat channels (A slack channel for gaming enthusiasts).
Monitor Team Health
Managing Team dynamics is one of the most vital aspects of managing a remote workforce. Several factors point to the health of the team.
Communication
Open communication. Team members freely exchange ideas, views, and information. There is a culture of active listening in which everyone feels heard and valued.
Trust
Team members trust each other’s intentions. There is Respect for diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and contributions and people are comfortable being themselves without the fear of criticism or judgement.
Collaboration
There is a sense of solidarity in pursuing common goals. Team members are willing to help and support one another. Everyone is given credit for their contributions and achievements are shared.
Define Roles and Responsibilities
Defining roles and responsibilities is an essential component of good team management and having clear lines of responsibility and accountability is much more critical when managing remote teams. Everyone should be clear on what their responsibilities are within the overall framework of the organization.
Moreover, ambiguity regarding roles and responsibilities can cause confusion and disagreements within the team.
Have a Clear Company Direction
A properly crafted mission statement can attract like-minded people who believe in the company’s values and goals. It helps in recruiting employees who are not just qualified for their roles but are interested in seeing the company succeed. Employees are more motivated and engaged when they realize how their work impacts others.
