Remote working has gained hype in recent years due to the digital transformation of businesses. People are hiring talented and skilled workers from all over the world to manage work whether it be bookkeeping, designing, writing, or development. Managing remote teams is exciting as well as challenging. You have to collaborate with workers daily, set deadlines, and ensure the workflow is never disrupted. As far as smooth workflow is concerned, you need to have a stable internet connection ensuring high-speed upload and download speeds. Plus you can’t limit yourself to a specific set of data caps and bandwidth as you can’t afford speed throttling issues. If you want to ensure a smooth workflow without any internet connectivity issues, Spectrum plans is worth considering.
According to the analysis done by Global Workplace Analytics and FlexJobs, found that there is an upward trend for people working remotely in the U.S. During the tenure of one year from 2016 to 2017, remote work increased by 7.9%. In the past five years, it has seen a spike of 44% and grew 91% over the past decade (Source)
The rising trend and inclination towards remote working have grown over a few years and things aren’t getting slow. Today, we are going to talk about some of the things everyone needs to consider when managing remote teams. Let’s get started without any delay.
Work Hours Tracking
There are two ways to hire remote teams. You can either agree on hourly rates or pay them every month. However, most of the time hourly rates are preferred by remote workers due to high pay rates and convenience. If that is so, you need to make sure that how many hours a particular individual or team has put in.
In the traditional work environment, employers are well aware of who is present and working without tracking attendance. While in the virtual environment, it is difficult to track what’s being done and how much time has been spent.
Some remote workers are highly disciplined, and meet deadlines and complete the task well before time without any distractions. However, most of the remote workers need to be accountable for what’s being completed in how much time. The best approach is to ensure that every person has installed time tracking software. For instance, Time Doctor allows you to track real-time working, applications being used, and time on breaks.
Communication is the Key to Success
Working remotely means that everyone is located in a different place. When working remotely, the biggest issue faced by remote workers is the lack of communication. It could result in messing up the projects and not able to communicate what’s being demanded.
The best approach is to have a common place where everyone can collaborate without any hesitation. For instance, Skype, Zoom, and Slack are the most commonly used software to collaborate with teams. You can add individuals to your Skype and create a separate group for managing tasks that demand collaboration with individuals depending on other team members.
Set Time for Daily Check-in
When it comes to remote working, no one knows who is working when. Moreover, due to different time zones, everyone has to manage the work according to their day and night schedule. It is not possible to have everyone online at the same time and restrict them according to your time zone.
The best approach is to make a group on Slack or Skype where everyone is bound to inform the check-in and check-out. Another approach is to use Zoom or Google Hangout where you meet the team in person and ensure everyone is available.
Use Screen Sharing Tools
At times, you and your team need to show the screen to communicate what has been done so far. Moreover, some projects require constant collaboration, for which you need to have a screen sharing tool. Moreover, some screen sharing tools allow people to control other computers remotely.
If you search online, you will find plenty of screen sharing tools. But with most of the people, TeamViewer and Join.me are far better than the rest. Most of the screen sharing tools are free and can be used for as much time as you want. While most of the paid ones require you to pay a small fee, along with premium features that aren’t available in free ones.
Managing Documents and Spreadsheets
Remote working is quite complex as it requires everyone on the same page without being present in one place. The biggest challenge when managing remote teams is to ensure that everything such as documents, Excel sheets, and other work-related requirements are accessible to everyone.
For this reason, the best approach is to place the documents in Dropbox or Google Drive where everyone can access it. Moreover, creating and editing files such as word document, excel sheet where everyone has to work simultaneously can be created on Google Docs. In this way, everyone would be on the same page without messing things up.
Use Project Management System
Whether you are managing a small team or a large team, handling everything on the email might kick you out of the game. It could be dangerous and you may lose everything from your workforce to high paying clients. The best approach is to incorporate a project management system that helps manage remote teams. The project management system ensures to organize work documents and conversations, making it easier for everyone to be on the same page and find them later. Moreover, the project management system also allows you to store shared files and organize them without breaking the sweat. If you solely rely on emails, then things might get disorganized and messy.
Final Verdict
Remote working isn’t going to disappear anytime. We will see a huge spike in the coming years, due to the increasing demand for diversified workforce from all over the globe. For a strong remote team foundation, make sure to invest your time and money in proper tools and resources. The aforementioned tips will help you in ensuring smooth workflow and better collaboration with remote teams.
