Being a woman and a team leader is a difficult job. You look after your home, family, and team members working under your leadership. But, sometimes things run out of your hands if your team is working remotely.
But, managing a remote team is no rocket science. All you need to do is know the right tricks and tips to streamline your project.
Here is your guide to managing a team virtually.
- Define boundaries
With the work-from-home culture, the line between work life and personal life has blurred to an extent. A diverse team with members from different time zones, further make time management difficult. To make it easy for everyone, it is essential to set boundaries.
Reflect on everyone’s work schedule and determine the best time for team meetings. Make sure you consider every member’s schedule. The work time that suits you must not be someone else’s family time.
With this, you will be able to foster a positive work environment and work without interruptions.
- Dictate your expectations to your team members
How will your team work efficiently unless they know what they are working for? Every project has expectations, and being a team manager, you must dictate your expectations to your team members. State your goal clearly. Discuss your key projects and deadlines with the team.
Remember, having a goal augments productivity.
- Use a remote project management software
As the remote working culture is on the rise, the companies have several online tools at their disposal that make work easy. With the right remote project management software, you can iron out all the problems associated with working with a team virtually.
Invest in a good remote project management software that allows you to manage your projects, immediate tasks, schedule, and team members.
The right software should allow you to keep track of the progress of your team members, communicate effectively with the team, manage and maintain timesheets, manage tasks, have detailed discussions via text message or video call, and share information in real-time.
Remote management software offers everything needed to run a project virtually. With apt software, you can tackle any problem and enhance the productivity of your team.
- Select a viable communication style
When the team members work remotely across different time zones, communication emerges as the biggest problem. However, the advances of science and technology have managed to bridge the gap to an extent.
If you know the right communication style, you can easily tackle the problem of the communication gap. Use emails or chat programs for quick communication. For real-time interaction, select modes like Google Hangouts or Skype.
When you talk to your team, be as concise as possible. Speak clearly so that your team doesn’t get confused. Even a single confusion can lead to big disasters, more so when the team works remotely.
- Address queries immediately
Irrespective of proper communication, problems may crop up. Instead of procrastinating issues, address them immediately.
If your teammate has any problem, talk to them and solve their queries. If ignored for a long time, small problems can translate into a big issue affecting the project outcome.
- Conduct team-building exercises
Often, when a diverse team works together for the first time, getting accustomed to each other gets difficult.
Team building icebreakers help in opening lines of communication and creating a better work environment.
Plan interesting virtual games or use DIY team building kits provided by names like Odyssey teams inc . Team building exercises always work in the favor of remote teams.
The bottom line
Being a team leader, you are responsible for many things. You are responsible for making your team members comfortable, the progress and delays in the project, and creating a good workplace environment.
With these tips, you can rule-out all the problems associated with virtual team projects.
This is a Sponsored Post – the author has requested this post be shared on WE Magazine for Women and WE were compensated for sharing.
