COVID-19 didn’t do many favors for the business world, but it was the reason that many businesses learned some things about themselves after being forced to change due to stay-at-home orders and other similar legislation put in place to try to stop the spread of the virus. One of the most common moves for companies was starting to conduct their work in a remote setting, for those employees who were able to do the majority of their jobs on a computer.
Certainly, remote businesses were already pretty common on the heels of rapid advancements in cloud-based technology, but for the businesses who would have otherwise been stuck in their brick-and-mortar ways, the COVID changes put in place often led to money saved in resources and a happier workforce (which, more often than not, is a workforce that performs better, as well).
With these discoveries, among others, quality talent is most likely going to be looking for remote work options, as they will now exist aplenty, and running a business that allows for remote access and telecommuting for those employees will ensure your company is an enticing destination for new workers.
The biggest issue with remote work, however, is communication, and project managers will have to evolve and overcommunicate, and ultimately be more important than ever, as they are the glue keeping a team together, when the team could be literally all across the globe. Here is a closer look at how to manage larger-scale projects for your remote team.
Kick Organization Skills into High Gear
Organization is always paramount in the life of a project manager, but with the expectation that remote work will continue after the pandemic, both digital organization, and organizing your own home workspace should be the first steps in this adaptation. Cloud-based programs for project management are aplenty, and Asana is a great place to start looking when your team is deciding which programs to use to help organize remote workflow.
For your at-home space, a silver lining for most is that you have no real limitations on workspace, at least from work colleagues. Your family and roommates should probably be taken into account, but generally speaking most workers find it easier to organize when alone, rather than in a shared space. As a bonus, the more space you use in your home for work, the more rent/mortgage you get to write-off at tax time as a business expense!
Respect Personal Space
It seems funny to think about intruding on your team members when they are hundreds or thousands of miles away, but just as communication is much easier, so has grown the potential to overcommunicate (and even annoy). Discuss openly and clearly about appropriate times to contact team members, and times when not to. Simple “do not disturb” tags are easy to implement on chat services, but there are several ways of achieving this.
On the other hand, however, being a flexible project manager also means extended hours. If some of your team likes to work early, and some late, that can mean some grey hairs for PMs. Be transparent with your team about your own preferred work schedule, and don’t stretch yourself thin to the point of not wanting to do your job anymore. With time spent in transit saved due to at-home work, an extra hour or two each day probably won’t be too noticeable on your mentality, but a mentally stable manager is a good one, and keeping yourself happy is just as important as keeping your team happy.
Provide Nearly-Constant Feedback
Akin to the over-communication mentioned above, providing constant feedback to individuals, as well as to the team as a whole, keeps expectations clear and avoids any situation where someone may think they are doing a great job but simply are not because no one told them otherwise. The same goes for the opposite scenario, so be sure to give lots of credit where it’s due!
Enjoy the Remoteness
Ultimately, change always has its challenges, and managing large projects for a team is a challenge in any setting, especially the remote one. Be sure to take advantage of the good parts of remote work, and have your dog on your lap, go for an extra walk outside, make yourself a big lunch, etc. Encourage your team to do the same, because there is a lot to enjoy about remote work, and enjoyment is one of the biggest workplace motivators in existence.
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Janice Cooper is a data visualization specialist and data scientist who is always looking to share statistical information on culture, current events and marketing.
