Remote work is becoming very popular. According to a study by Forbes Advisor, 12.7% of the American workforce are now working fully remote jobs. And that’s expected to increase to 22% by 2025.
That’s great! A remote work environment promotes healthy work-life balance, flexible schedules, increased productivity, and reduced costs.
There’s just one problem. Effective team collaboration might suffer if everyone is in different locations and working at different times. As a project manager, you need to ensure all remote team members work well together, despite everything.
To help you, here are 11 tips for effective remote team collaboration and project management. If you follow these tips, the remote collaboration will be at its best. So let’s go!
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How to Build an Effective Remote Team Collaboration and Project Management
Kylie Bonassi, the Content Marketer for Hubstaff, says:
“When you lead a remote team, there isn’t a straightforward list of dos and don’ts. Embrace the remote-first mindset by asking questions, listening intently, and learning about your remote employees.”
Wrike, a platform to streamline all workflows, adds this:
“Just because you’ve selected the right people to accomplish the work doesn’t mean they will always collaborate in the best way. It takes a team’s combined ideas and work to pull off a complex project, to innovate, and to come up with products that beat the competition.”
So if you’re wondering how to collaborate effectively if your team is remote, take these 11 tips for effective remote team collaboration and project management:
- Give freedom and flexibility
- Define the company goals
- Foster effective communication
- Cultivate a strong team culture
- Establish clear goals and expectations
- Use project management tools
- Offer adequate training on remote tools
- Track progress and offer help
- Promote motivation and engagement
- Provide regular feedback
- Celebrate achievements virtually
1. Give freedom and flexibility
If you want effective remote team working, you need to give team members what they want. Now, one of the top reasons why people work remotely is because of flexibility. They want to choose their optimal working hours, including the number of hours per day.
What’s more, you have to remember that remote workers can live all around the world. So if you set a standard 9-5 ET, that may result in late-night work for individuals in different time zones.
This is why it’s best to give freedom and flexibility to your project team. But that poses one important question, “How do I know if they’re actually working?”
Well, you can give them minimum hours to complete each week, but they get to decide when they do those hours. Kylie Bonassi shares how Hubstaff handles this:
“At Hubstaff, I’m responsible for tracking my time (using Hubstaff), adding daily Stand-ups, and submitting accurate timesheets. Time tracking is how I get paid and how my team lead knows when and what I am working on. This way, my team operates with complete transparency, but I control it.”
2. Define the company goals
Get this: Each individual has their own goals and purposes for working. In a remote setup with team members scattered everywhere, you’ll notice that these goals can vary widely.
As the project manager, it’s your responsibility to define what the company’s visions and purposes are. For effective remote team management and collaboration, you need everyone to be on the same mission, despite their differences.
Moreover, you should let each team member know where they fit in the organization and how their work contributes to the company’s goals. Remind team members that they’re all important. By emphasizing this, they’ll be more motivated to pursue both their personal objectives and those of the company.
3. Foster effective communication
One of the best practices of collaboration for remote teams is to communicate openly. Nini Dakhundaridze from Flat Rock Technology says:
“The foundation of remote project management is communication”
However, because no one sees each other face-to-face, team communication might be a little awkward or non-existent. If so, it’s highly crucial to encourage team members to be open with you and each other.
To promote better communication, make sure everyone stays updated on how the project is going. Have regular team meetings and video calls, as well as use easy chat platforms to stay connected.
Besides that, you need to make them feel comfortable about sharing their ideas, struggles, thoughts, concerns, and issues. For this, follow the next tip…
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4. Cultivate a strong team culture
If you want effective collaboration, there should be a sense of unity. This will encourage team members to feel comfortable sharing ideas, collaborating on projects, and supporting each other. It will also improve morale and engagement.
But how do you do this when your team is remote? Here are some strategies for managing remote team culture:
- Utilize communication tools like video conferencing, instant messaging platforms, and email. This ensures your team stays connected and informed about project updates, company news, and team activities
- Schedule regular virtual meetings, one-on-one check-ins, and team huddles to uphold a sense of connection and show that each team member is supported.
- Create an environment where team members feel encouraged to openly share ideas, express concerns, and provide feedback. Make it a safe and inclusive work environment where everyone’s contributions are valued.
- Lead by example by demonstrating transparency, empathy, and a dedication to cultivating a positive remote work atmosphere. Your actions will set the tone for the entire team.
- Regularly seek input from team members regarding their remote work experiences, any challenges they encounter, and suggestions they may have for improvement.
- Teach your team members how to build rapport with each other.
5. Establish clear goals and expectations
When you hand the team a project, it’s essential to establish clear goals and expectations. Make sure everyone knows exactly what they need to do and when they need to complete it.
To do this, you should start by telling them the objective of the project. This way, they will have the big picture. Then, you can delegate tasks to each member and teach them how it’s done. Finally, let them know about deadlines.
Besides that, you should also communicate expectations. Let’s say, for example, Sarah needs to finish her tasks by Tuesday so Jim can begin his task. Sarah should also let Jim know when her piece of the project is submitted.
When everyone clearly knows what to do, team collaboration will become very efficient and productive.
6. Use project management tools
To make remote team collaboration easier for everyone, you should utilize project management tools. Some of the best tools to use are:
Asana and Trello are project management software tools. Both allow you to assign tasks, set deadlines, and track progress in the simplest way possible.
Slack and Zoom are communication channels. Slack offers real-time messages, file shares, and channel organization for focused conversations, among other things. As for Zoom, it makes it super easy to hold meetings and conference calls.
If you’re tracking work time, go for Clockify or Toggle. As for file sharing and storage tools, the best ones to consider are Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive.
7. Offer adequate training on remote tools
Yes, it’s best to utilize collaboration tools. However, it won’t be as effective if some team members don’t know how to use these tools. So it’s very important to provide adequate training.
OK, it seems like a waste of your time to train each member one by one. Not only that, you’ll have to train any new member that comes in.
Well, to be more efficient, I suggest making one clear video explaining how these tools work. If you’re not good at that, you can have someone else do it. So whenever someone needs training for these tools, you can send them the ready-made video.
8. Track progress and offer help
With project management tools, it’s super easy to track your team’s progress. One look at their Asana, Trello, or whatever software you use, and you’ll be able to see what they’re doing, what they completed, and all that.
Flat Rock Technology team member Nini Dakhundaridze says:
“Use project management tools to keep an eye on milestones, spot bottlenecks, and take prompt action on any potential problems.”
If you notice someone is taking a while to complete one task, always offer to help. To approach this, you should first ask them how they’re doing. If you have open communication, they will tell you what they’re struggling with.
Listen intently to their problems. Then together, come up with ways how to solve it so that the team can move forward. It would help if you also encouraged your other team members to offer help whenever they can. This is what builds a strong team culture.
9. Promote motivation and engagement
Here’s a stat you don’t want to hear: Workers become 70% less productive the more hours they work from home. To them, it feels like such a lonely place. They may feel like it’s them against the world.
That is not what you want your team members to feel if you want successful remote collaboration and project management. This is why motivation and engagement are a MUST.
As the project manager, you need to find ways to engage and motivate everyone. For engagement, hold regular team meetings, one-on-one meetings, and other online activities to build the team dynamic and engagement.
For motivation, you can follow the next tip…
10. Provide regular feedback
Victoria from Oak Engage, an Intranet Software provider, says:
“Recognizing your team members’ hard work and efforts is essential for motivation and purpose.”
Plus, one survey saw 96% of employees say they want regular feedback from their managers. This way, they know that their work is being recognized instead of just ignored.
So to improve your remote team’s motivation and productivity, you need to give regular feedback. Praise them when they do a good job. Ask them what you can do to help them improve. Give construction criticism when they make mistakes.
If you do this, each member will be encouraged to do better. And when everyone does their job well, it will turn into a seamless collaboration and a successful project.
11. Celebrate achievements virtually
It’s always a good idea to celebrate team productivity and project success. This will boost morale and create a positive team culture.
After a project is completed, you can hold themed virtual parties, meetings where you share successes, shout-outs in the group chat, fun online activities such as video games, etc… Kylie Bonassi says:
“By actively celebrating achievements, you contribute to a positive work culture and motivate team members to strive for excellence in their remote roles.”
Final Words
Yes, successful communication and collaboration for team projects are harder in a remote setting. But if you follow the 11 tips for effective remote team collaboration and project management, you’ll be able to ensure seamless collaboration and complete project goals.
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