Julia Kulish

The modern world is globalized, giving everyone a chance to work without boundaries, with partners and team members distributed across the globe. Most amazing about this is the ability to get jobs, complete projects, and get paid without even leaving an apartment! But it’s not all that simple; managing remote teams may at times be a headache, mainly due to their specifics as virtual collaborations. So, how can you embrace the chance of using the potential of remote teams to maximum? In which ways can the work of remote team be organized best? Find all recommendations here. The Human Factor Successful remote work rests on three key pillars – people, tools, and processes, so your ability to pull an effective team together is the cornerstone of effective collaboration. The best tips for making the team of your dream are as follows: 1. Select team members very carefully. Not all people are naturally apt to work remotely, so these features should be considered before you start such a project. Good members of a remote team should be doers by nature, able to execute tasks in any environment and despite any emergencies. 2. Choose among trusted workers. Since all work is done remotely, you naturally have no guarantees of successful task completion by each team member on the exact deadline. Some employers haste to hire executives based on their impressive resumes, portfolios, or low rates, but it is not uncommon for them to disappear unexpectedly, posing the entire project’s outcomes under threat. 3. Hire good communicators. Working in a remote team removes a critical component of face-to-face communication from daily interactions, but it is vital that all team members work in a tandem and are always updated about each other’s progress. Hence, effective and regular communication is the clue to great project work in remote team environments. The Value of Project Management Tools No matter how skilled and capable your remote team members are, project management still shapes the backbone of project success. Before you organize a remote workplace and initiate a project, select a convenient product management tool. It will become the key instrument for all routine work arrangements and updates for the team. Selection of the project management tool suitable for your specific needs depends on the project’s specifics, the area in which you work, and the number of people in your team. Thus far, the most effective and globally acknowledged project management tools include: · Slack. This excellent virtual office is used for managing remote teams, and its numerous advantages include clear communication channels, organization of working time, and a joint chat room for casual communication among team members. · Trello. This project management tool is handy for making to-do lists and streamlining complex work processes. Trello is also convenient for creation of task tickets, so that team members can take new tasks quickly without coordinating each step with the project manager. · Jira/Atlassian. Formerly known as Jira, now Atlassian, this tool for project management is highly customizable and flexible, especially suitable for software development and marketing projects. It also contains a convenient system of documentation support called Confluence, which enables you to create a Wikipedia-like resource for your project-specific data. This is definitely not an exhaustive list, and you may find many more solutions for organizing your workplace with maximum benefit and convenience. If you have a tight-knit team including only well-known, trusted people, then simple, free tools such as Skype and Google Docs may be enough to make things work smoothly. Embracing the Culture of Remote Team Management Coordinating the work of remote teams with the help of project management tools is surely a step forward in work space organization in the modern era. However, each creator of a remote team should keep in mind that distant work represents a specific culture of its own. By accepting it and playing by the rules of a new game, you can maximize outcomes: · Establish effective communication channels and encourage all team members to participate · Involve team members into communication and make the decision-making process participative · Listen to remote team members and consider their feedback, so that everyone feels a part of the process · Always pose clear goals and objectives to avoid misunderstanding · Create concise work schedules to keep everything in hand. Use these recommendations to easily bring your remote team to a new level of productivity, thus anticipating and avoiding potential pitfalls of remote work before they surface.