Remote Project Management

How to Manage Remote Project Teams Effectively?

Sans 17 Feb 2021

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How to Manage Remote Project Teams Effectively?

The best thing technology could give business is perhaps different people from different countries and different time zones working from their desired locations for one common project and towards one business goal. These groups of people working together for a common objective are what we call remote working teams.

Advantages of Remote Working Teams

• Employees working from home are more productive when compared to the ones who work in a physical space. They take up more responsibility and go the extra mile in exchange for the privilege to work from home.
• Having remote working teams work for a company is beneficial for both, employees and the company. The company saves a lot of money as they don't have to spend on infrastructure or other miscellaneous expenses while the employees save on transportation costs, clothes, food, etc.
• A company is exposed to a large pool of talent because they have the option of hiring anybody from anywhere.

There are a lot of advantages of using a remote working team but now the question is how do you manage a remote working team considering that they are so far off from each other. Let's have a look!

Tips to Manage a Remote Working Team Effectively

1. Guide Your Team About the Project

Before anything else, it is your responsibility and should be your priority to make your team completely aware of what the project is actually about and what you want to establish through it. No matter how small a team member's role is in the project, each and every team member need to understand the importance of the project and the objectives it. You could start by holding a virtual meeting that connects all the team members via a conference call or a group video call to clarify the timeline, goals, mission, vision, and expectations from you and the project.

2. Trust the People You Hire

A good employee-boss relationship always works in favour of an organisation's goals. You need to build a strong professional relationship with your employees and have to trust them to do their job. Due to different locations and time zones, you can't expect your employees to be available at your whims and fancies. All that you can do is discuss and schedule a call with them and motivate them to do better. Trust is a very important factor in any kind of relationship. It will always only benefit you in the long run.

3. Give Way to Effective Communication

You can't expect to call your team or get in touch with them regarding the project as and when you like. You need to be aware of what is happening and who is doing what and for that you have to keep all channels of communication open with your team members.

4. Hold Team Members Accountable

Sometimes, a few employees can be really smart but may think that they can skip deadlines or rather take the projects lightly. So, it is your job to hold them accountable and remind them of their roles and responsibilities. You could probably assign a team leader who can decentralise work accordingly.

5. Offer Clear Cut Feedback

As the boss, you have to be transparent about the performance of the team whether or not your team likes it. You cannot sugar-coat the evaluation in any way. Therefore, appropriate feedback and criticism are needed as it will help the team perform better.

Written by sans

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