Due to the recent outbreak of Covid-19, many teams started working remote for the first time. It might seem difficult to maintain communication and productivity as if the whole team was working together at the office, but actually it’s not that hard…
At Hibox, we have been working remote for quite a long time and we would like to share our experience and best practices for lots of teams who are working remote for the first time right now.
Here are our top five tips for managing a remote team and stay productive:
- Have an instant internal communication tool
- Keep professional and personal communication separated
- Use a task manager
- Communicate face-to-face
- Periodically revise productivity
1. Have an instant internal communication tool
Communication is one of the biggest problems for decentralized teams. Something that is vital for all remote teams is to use a good internal communication system to bring all employees together (virtually). An internal chat is a great way to maintain instant communication and keep every member of the team aware of the latest news. Make sure you separate conversations to keep clarity and involve only the right people of your team. You can organize employee communication by different groups for projects, function, etc.
2. Keep professional and personal communication separated
In the same way that you have a personal and work email, you should apply the same criterion to your work chat. Professional conversations and files should be secure and follow certain guidelines. By using a private and closed communication system, you can make sure your information is secure and less vulnerable to leaks. Make sure your work communication platform is closed and only your team can access your data.
In addition, having an internal communication tool just for work prevents other distractions or interruptions.
3. Use a task manager
Instant communication is great, but it can lead to lots of messages and no clear plans if not managed effectively. To avoid this, you should be able to create and assign tasks to your team, so that their goals and responsibilities are clear.
Working with a definite objective is much easier. It’s even easier to plan out objectives when you can see the whole week’s workload ahead of time. This is why using a task management tool is indispensable in a decentralized team. Employees will be able to track deadlines and see the work volume and managers will be able to see progress and distribute tasks amongst employees.
4. Communicate face-to-face
Having face-to-face communication improves your team’s morale and productivity. In fact, teams who speak face to face are considerably more productive than those who do not. In a global survey, 67% managers said their company would be more productive if superiors put priority on personal discussion.
You can use a videoconference tool to set up quick follow up meetings with your team members, to keep them engaged and productive. Connecting face-to-face is also import to mitigate social isolation and have a more transparent communication.
5. Periodically revise productivity
A positive feature of decentralized teams is that they’re constantly changing. The members of a decentralized team depend on things outside the team like their own processes and environments and this can affect productivity. Periodically review and analyze indicators of your productivity. Watch how the team adapts to changes in process you make to determine the best way to work together. Adaptation is a very important part of the success of decentralized teams.
Whether if you need to setup a remote team for contingency reasons or if you decide to work remote to leverage the advantages of being a digital nomad, make sure to implement these tips to maximize your remote team’s productivity. For an all-in-one communication and productivity platform to virtually work with your remote team, try Hibox today.
