Project Management in the Digital Workplace: 6 Methods to Managing Remote Projects

It is with no hint of doubt that in the past few years, there has been a massive shift of people working remotely as opposed to the traditional office workplace. The pandemic played a huge role in this tremendous change. Before COVID-19, remote work was not widely accepted. However, now, the concept of remote work has been adopted globally owing to its undefeated prowess.

With employees working remotely from their homes, hiccups including communication, delays in the delivery of projects, and subtle inefficiency may surface. This, however, may impact the attainment of quotas set by businesses and a decline in client base.

For businesses to stay afloat amidst the adoption of remote working strategies, proactive steps include but are not limited to project managers enrolling in a diploma in project management online and adopting the methods that will be discussed in this article.

What Then is Remote Team Management? 

Remote team management involves the act of leading and coordinating individuals who work from different locations and time zones. This form of management differs from the traditional in-person format. 

With remote management, there is heavy reliance on virtual communication tools like video conferencing and instant messaging via tools such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom communication. Advancements in technology have offered platforms for seamless remote video conferencing capabilities and various cloud-based applications such as Onedrive for storage purposes.

Challenges Associated with Managing Remote Projects

Primarily, communication and collaboration usually prove to be a hurdle, which invariably makes team building and social interaction difficult. 

The isolation from working remotely could hinder required progress from team members. Having to deal with different time zones and cultural diversity, as well as managing expectations and deliverables, further adds on complexity to the remote team dynamic.

These challenges can impact project outcomes, team dynamics, and individual performances alike. Projects are delayed under miscommunication, delayed responses, and a misconstrued understanding which leads to decreased productivity and the quality of work desired. 

A fraction of people tend to thrive effortlessly in the remote work environment owing to increased autonomy and flexibility. In contrast, the other half struggle with adapting to remote work practices and most importantly finding the balance between work and life. 

Methods to Effectively Manage Remote Projects

A priority for businesses in this digital age of remote work includes curating efficient managerial capabilities to stay on top. We will explore six ways to effectively manage remote projects. 

• Appointing an Experienced Project Manager

The project manager plays an extremely important role in managing remote projects. This includes investing time in building good team relationships, whether it be organising face-to-face team kickoffs or simply incorporating fun team-building activities during regular meetings. 

Having an experienced manager to help foster clear messaging and effective communication is vital to upholding a strong remote team. In addition, the project manager must endeavour to embrace diverse work styles and time zones, by adjusting plans and meetings to suit their team member’s needs and schedules. 

• Communication Tools

Microsoft Teams, Zoom communication, and Google Meet have become extremely valuable for remote teams globally. Leveraging these tools offers real-time messaging, video conferencing, and even voice call features which help keep all team members connected irrespective of physical location. 

• Collaboration Platforms

Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 including OneDrive and Dropbox Paper have given a new fate to how collaboration on documents, spreadsheets, and presentations are done. These tools offer real-time editing, version control, and commenting capabilities which are very important for teamwork, thereby boosting productivity in the remote work setup. 

• Project Management Softwares

Tools such as Asana, Trello, Slack, Jira, Basecamp, or Monday.com are available for use to keep projects organised and on track. These tools offer a myriad of features like task scheduling, setting deadlines,  progress tracking, team collaboration, and managing project workflows. Having employed the use of these tools serves to enable the team to stay organised, efficient, and aligned as a strong remote team. 

• Virtual Whiteboarding for Brainstorming

In a traditional office setting, brainstorming is key for novel findings. In that same vein, on a virtual platform, there exist tools such as Miro, Mural, Microsoft Whiteboard, or OneNote which serve equally as a whiteboard for collaborative visual planning, idea generation, and brainstorming. This helps spark creativity and helps in the visualisation of ideas despite the physical proximity. 

• Set Clear Expectations

It is of utmost importance to set clear expectations for team members to begin with. This can be attained by vividly stating project goals, individual team member responsibilities, and timelines so that everyone is on the same page. With clear expectations being explicitly stated and understood, the team can deliver exceptional work while concurrently employing the use of the other holistic methods discussed above. 

Conclusion 

It is imperative to note that with the adoption of these strategies, employees will be connected, motivated, and engaged by implementing robust communication channels, fostering collaboration, and embracing transparency to deliver exceptional work requirements. In the same vein, businesses will be able to stay afloat should there be any emergency national lockdowns. 

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