When our offices were shut down by a global pandemic, so many of us felt completely blindsided. We didn’t quite have the framework to effectively manage a remote team — yet it was quickly becoming the new normal.
The good news is that we weren’t the first to attempt this seemingly unmanageable feat. In fact, businesses large and small have been managing remote teams for decades. And there are so many resources available to help streamline the process.
Time Management
The thought of working from home conjures images of lounging and intense relaxation. That is, until you have to manage a remote team. From that perspective, all the relaxed vibes are worrisome — because you know how much work has to be done.
But with the right time management app, you can manage your team as effectively as if you were in the office together.
Time management apps like TimeDoctor and Workflow can help you keep track of what your employees are doing when they’re on the clock. This alone doesn’t guarantee productivity, but it’s a major step in the right direction.
Group Chat
Many small and large businesses rely on chat apps like Skype or Slack to manage group communications. You can set up a team for fun chat, work chat and team projects.
You can get quick answers to pressing questions and create a team atmosphere that has a social element to keep people interested and engaged during the workday.
Project Management
If you want to effectively manage this remote team, you’re going to want to avoid duplicate work at all costs.
Make sure everyone is on the same page with a project management app.
Project management apps like Teamwork or Basecamp can highlight completed work, incomplete work, and unassigned tasks. This can keep everyone motivated and working towards a common goal.
Video Communication
You’ve probably already used Zoom for meetings, but there may be more you can do with this handy tool. How about a daily check-in with your team? Or a quick screen-share to answer a question.
Remember that you can record Zoom meetings as the organizer, so it may be helpful for creating instructional videos too. This way, you can explain something once and share the video with the rest of your group.
And if you’d rather not use Zoom, you’ll be glad to know it’s not the only game in town. You can choose a competitor like Skype or GoToMeeting.
File Sharing
A good project management app will help your team coordinate on each project, but a file-sharing tool like Dropbox can help keep all your files organized and accessible.
And here’s a helpful tip: Before everyone begins creating files, create a unified file naming system to keep everything organized.
If you have shared files from Sally, Chase and Bob yet they all name them differently, it’ll be difficult to find what you need when you need it.
There are a few good file sharing apps, but the benefit of using Dropbox is that it works seamlessly with most of the popular project management apps.
Hiring
When you rely on technology the right organization techniques, you may find that your fully remote team is more productive than ever. And when everything is working smoothly, it can be scary to add to the team — especially when we’re talking about someone you’ve never met in-person.
Hiring remote workers can be a challenge, but again, technology can help streamline the process. A recruiting and onboarding app like Workable can help you find, interview and onboard the right candidates for your job.
In the end, technology can save you time and money as it can sort through resumes for you, which we all know is a daunting process. Even if all candidates were to magically use the same resume builder, there are going to be discrepancies that trip you up. This is where technology excels.
In order to manage an efficient remote team, you must be able to communicate effortlessly with your team. And they must be able to do the same with each other.
It may sound scary if you’ve never done it before, but there are so many tools and apps that can help make your job easier. Rely on technology and smart processes to effectively coordinate with your fully remote team.