In the past few months, many American workers have been forced to work from home due to the COVID-19 health crisis. While it was difficult for many of these workers to transition into this new reality, a new study finds that many people actually enjoy working remotely. This study found that over 60% of the workers polled claimed they would prefer to do their jobs from home even after the pandemic.
If you have been recently tasked with managing a remote team, finding ways to make this job easier should be your top concern. As a project manager, your main goal needs to be keeping your remote team productive. Below are some best practices you need to follow when trying to manage a remote team.
Find the Right Communication Tools to Use
Constantly communicating with the members of your remote team is important. Instead of using the phone to communicate, you need to find modern tools to make staying in contact with your team easier. Before you begin a new project with remote workers, you need to figure out what type of cloud-based project management platform you want to use.
Platforms like Slack and Trello are very popular due to how user-friendly and affordable they are. Before you choose a program to use, you need to review the features it offers and check out the reviews it has. Ideally, you want to choose a project management program that has features that make assigning tasks and tracking their progress easy.
Present Remote Workers with a Timeline and Project Overview
Assuming your remote team knows what is expected of them is a recipe for disaster. It is your job as a project manager to layout what is expected of your team in detail. This is why developing a detailed timeline and a project overview is crucial. By creating this detailed breakdown, you can remove any mystery as to what needs to be done to complete a particular project.
Before you start to assign various parts of a project to team members, find out more about the strengths they have. Having this information will allow you to assign tasks to people who will actually be able to complete them correctly. The time invested in researching the strengths your team members have will be worth it in the long run.
Get Feedback from Your Remote Team Members
Finding ways to improve your remote project management style is crucial. One of the best ways to figure out where problems are with your existing style is by getting feedback from remote team members. Accepting the constructive criticism these team members have to offer can make you better at your job. You also need to schedule routine performance evaluations to make sure everyone is pulling their weight.
Take Your Project Management Skills to the Next Level
If you want to become a better project manager, then taking the PMP Certification test is crucial. With the products provided by Crosswind Learning, studying for this test will be a breeze.
