In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have found ourselves in the age of remote working and virtual teams. More businesses are now accepting that if managed well, a team that works remotely can be just as much, if not more productive, as in-office teams.
However, managing virtual teams across different regions, countries, and time zones is not an easy task.
Managing employees that are working from home can bring up issues such as:
- How to keep employees motivated?
- How to establish effective communication?
- Above all, what tips and tools can ease the process?
Fortunately, with the help of remote working tools and technology, it is possible to manage a team that is not physically present in one place. Remote desktop software and other such remote working tools have made managing virtual teams not so different from leading teams on-site.
Also, Read: Work From Home: 17 Tools to Keep You Sorted
If you are struggling to manage a remote team, this article will arm you with some tips to managing virtual teams. You can seek help from remote desktop software and other such tools.
5 Ultimate Solution to Manage Your Virtual Team
If your company is struggling to figure out a smooth transition with virtualization, then you are in the right place with us. Below you will discover five ways to manage your virtual team correctly with remote access software that will address all your concerns and help to manage a remote team.
1. Use Effective Communication Tools
Nothing can contest clear, concise, and efficient communication when it comes to handling remote teams. Communication is the key to ensure that all the remote team members are completing tasks on time while they work from home. This is one of the more commonly reported challenges with remote working.
It is essential that the team communicates progress, updates, and feedback via group chat, project management software, email, or any other such collaborative communication tool. The right communication tools can keep the team on the same page.
There are numerous benefits to employing remote working communication tools. The team will be able to address urgent matters, blockers, and pressing issues in a snap.
However, companies may have to lay down some guidelines regarding what information must be shared on which platform, to avoid overwhelming specific communication channels with unnecessary details.
Slack
Slack is the perfect communication & collaboration tool for teams that span time zones and continents. Slack puts together the collaboration of the virtual team and provides a commonplace of work.
This remote access software integrates with hundreds of apps like Google Drive, Google Calendar, Outlook, RingCentral, etc. It synchronizes across systems, so your virtual team will be able to communicate, collaborate, and efficiently work together coherently. Whether individual, group or corporation-wide updates, it is an excellent hotspot for all different types of interactions.
Looking for Remote Desktop Software? Check out SoftwareSuggest’s list of the best remote desktop software solutions.
2. Track Employee Work Hours
Monitoring work hours of remote employees can be tricky. However, it is critical to ensure that the employees are paid correctly at the end of the month. It also helps the HR team to manage employee leaves and time-off.
If your company has a policy of paying employees based on the number of hours he or she works, then tracking the time becomes more critical. In an office setting, there are attendance systems that require employees to log their in and out times, which makes the process easier.
However, with the help of remote assistance software, employers and the HR team can monitor the efficiency and productivity of employees working remotely.
Clockify
Clockify is an excellent time-tracking tool. It is a straightforward solution without too many advanced features; thus, making it an excellent choice for businesses, freelancers, or startups looking for a simple time-table app.
Clockify monitors time and produces reports so that the remote team can get to know their productive working hours. Companies can use Clockify to track the number of hours employees take to complete their work. It can help determine which tasks take up most of the employee’s time.
3. Promote Virtual Engagement
Diminished employee engagement is one of the biggest challenges with remote teams. When you manage a virtual team, you will have to make a conscious effort to cultivate engagement. It is not uncommon to find that employees feel disengaged and disconnected from their organization, team, and shared goals when they work from home.
Officevibe
Officevibe collects various insights related to your team to help you recognize which workers are unhappy and how you can improve their productivity. The remote working tool allows employees to partake in weekly polls related to various tasks and projects related to the team members.
Officevibe ensures that all responses are confidential. The poll answers can help you gauge your team’s opinion about various projects, tasks, team members, and the organization. Thus, you can take steps towards creating more robust employee engagement.
4. Effective Virtual Team and Project Management
Virtual teams need to remain on the same page. Managers will have to find ways to keep track of their remote team’s progress and provide timely feedback.
Various remote working tools can assist with the same. Managers can rely on multiple communication tools and remote desktop software to ensure that remote workers can keep up with their daily tasks.
Project management software as a remote working tool can help companies manage various projects. It helps the virtual team ensure the successful execution of all project-related tasks. They can provide a detailed, holistic picture of the project and its various aspects and align everyone to a common goal.
Basecamp
Basecamp is a remote assistance software and real-time interaction too, which enables teams to stay on the same page. Basecamp allows the remote workforce to focus on completing a project by enabling secure project communication, coordination, task management, and reporting.
Basecamp offers a solution to organizations to stay on top of their goals and actionable tasks with the help of to-do lists, schedules, deadlines, document sharing, and more.
Also, Read: How to Manage Employee Attendance and Time While Working Remotely
5. Keep Employees Productive and Motivated
A well-balanced, productive team does not only have common goals and priorities but also heavily depend on individual responsibilities. It is essential to use tools and processes that allow personalized attention, empathy, and reliable direct communication. This helps employees to seep into the system and stay productive as well as motivated.
There are many remote working tools available today that can inspire motivation and productivity among remote workers.
Idonethis
Idonethis is a remote desktop software for personal users as well as businesses. The tool churns out the information of an entire day in a report. Using this virtualization software, each remote team member starts with a summary of what the day looks like and finishes their day with a simple email of the achieved milestones.
Wrapping Up
Remote teams bring their own set of opportunities and challenges to the table. But there are many ways to ensure that your team remains motivated to do its best. We hope that you will apply some or all of the tips that we have discussed in this article to manage virtual teams.
With the help of these tips and the remote working tools, you can ensure greater efficiency, collaboration, and sociability. They will not only fuel productivity levels but also introduce more transparency and integrity into various systems and processes. Building a sense of responsibility and pride in your remote team for their work will help them function better individually and together.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in April 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
Passionate Digital Marketer & Software Analyst. I recognize the importance of interactive engagement in today’s world and works towards building a steady flow of relevant, user-oriented content to obtain high-rank placement in search engine results.
