Most Effective Ways to Manage Remote Project Teams Effectively

If you work in a remote team or manage one, you’ve probably realized how advantageous these teams are especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote teams allow you to work in any location at any time.

Unlike company employees, you don’t have to work with a fixed schedule. For your remote team to complete the projects on time, you’ll need to build a close relationship with them. While this might not be an easy task, it will pay off in spades in the long run.

You can invest in the best tools and develop the clearest strategies and procedures to handle the projects. However, the tools and strategies can never replace people.

Every remote team needs clear strategies to develop a strong team environment and collaborate even when they can’t socialize or have a drink together.

 

Here are some of the most effective ways to manage remote project teams effectively.

1. Know everyone as an individual

If you’ve been managing a remote team for some time now, you probably know how easy it is for team members to feel like some cog in a machine than an individual team member who is valued and appreciated.

Research studies have shown that every human being has a need to be recognized and appreciated by others. Appreciation increases the commitment of employees to the organization. Team members who feel appreciated will do more than their duties be open to constructive feedback.

Another reason why you should prioritize knowing your team members as individuals is to have a clear understanding of their strengths and weaknesses.

For instance, if you assign a task to a team member and the task is beyond their expertise, they might not feel comfortable explaining this to you because they don’t know how you’ll react. Many will struggle in pain quietly.

You should put yourself in a position where team members can open up to you without negative consequences. Knowing their strengths and weaknesses will eliminate a wide range of problems.

2. Encourage your team

A remote team is made up of people who work in different locations, countries, and time zones together to achieve several goals. While you might think that you’ve found the right people to work on your projects, you shouldn’t neglect the fact that it’s up to you to create the right atmosphere for them to succeed.

Rewarding and recognizing them when they achieve or surpass the expectations is critical. Form the habit of celebrating successes even if it’s through a video call.

Another thing that you should do is encouraging your team members to know each other.

Encouraging team members to communicate with each other will not only foster unity but also improve productivity and performance.

3. Build a foundation of trust

To better manage your remote team, it’s important to build trust. You need to believe that they’ll fulfill their obligations without having to be monitored.

It’s also important for the team members to believe that the manager will facilitate the execution of their tasks smoothly. To build a foundation of trust, you need to:

• Tell it to your team members: For your team to achieve the set goals, you need to trust them. And you can do this by simply telling them. Tell them that you value and trust them. Tell them that they have equal opportunities irrespective of their duties and locations.
• Avoid over-monitoring teams: Instead of micromanaging your workers, you need to coach them. Ensure that remote workers account for their work. Provide clear briefs and set reasonable deadlines. Avoid tracking them all the time so that they don’t feel monitored. This will show that you trust them.
• Meet with your team: Schedule weekly or monthly meetings to discuss what they are going through. Integrating their ideas and addressing issues will help your team progress forward. This is one of the best strategies to motivate remote workers.

4. Feedback is critical

Team leaders should be open to feedback if they want to promote a healthy environment for their team to thrive and achieve the set goals. You need to walk your talk. Most team leaders think that they are open to feedback.

However, they either react in a defensive way or ignore feedback. If you notice that your team members don’t give you any, you’ve got something to work on. Genuine feedback will help you improve and accelerate the growth of your business. Always being right won’t help you grow. Encourage honest feedback and listen to your team.

5. Communicate effectively

Remote teams face lots of communication challenges. Maybe the message was misunderstood or lost. This is common when different platforms are being used as communication methods. Also, in crowded inboxes, messages can go missing easily.

Using an app or platform to communicate and monitoring it regularly will enhance communication effectiveness. Monitor the effectiveness of communications and make improvements when needed.

6. Set clear objectives

One of the common challenges facing remote teams is having the same thoughts on the objectives of a project. Depending on the type and size of your project, you might be required to set objectives every week.

The most important thing is having everyone on the same page. Collaborate with your team and clarify everything to help them understand their tasks.

7. You are either in or out

A lot of remote team leaders ten to have a lot on their plates. They have to communicate with the stakeholders, manage their teams, address complex problems, and find time to socialize.

All this is doable if you create a schedule and work with it. For those who don’t have a schedule, things might start piling up and they may end up feeling stressed and overwhelmed.

If you are just doing things to get them out of your way, your team will know.

And if you are not committed to your work, how do you expect your team to be committed to theirs?

You should either be completely in or out.

If you are not doing your best, you shouldn’t be working on the project or task.

You need to be fully present and communicate with your team effectively. If you can’t commit, delegate a team member to help you.

Conclusion

Since remote teams can’t meet and build interpersonal relationships, you need to do your best to foster human relationships. The human element is critical for the success of remote teams. Form the habit of interacting with your team regularly and using effective communication tools and apps.