Remote Team: A first aid to overcome project management

In today’s rapidly growing Digital World, more and more companies are looking to hire remote teams, and thus, it has resulted in accelerated use, and this is not showing any signs of slowing down. According to recent research, 14% of people opt for full-time remote work, whereas 29% opt for a hybrid work model.

The new work model provides many advantages, including the ability to scale quickly, improvement in productivity, availability of a larger talent pool, and reduced overhead costs like office supplies.

But these advantages come at a big price.
Leading a team that works from different locations can be tricky. Challenges include:

• Ensuring everyone stays connected.

• Meeting goals.

• Sticking to timelines.

• Supporting team members to stay motivated and related to the company culture.

But, with the right plans, you can still make things work and achieve success.

Before moving forward, let’s first understand what is a remote team

What does the term Remote Teams exactly mean?

A remote team is a group of professionals who collaborate and work together from a different location, time zones, or geographic areas by using modern technology to communicate and collaborate. Here some businesses provide an option of a hybrid working model with a remote option, but some others are fully focusing on remote work in some departments.

In particular, software development companies opt-in for hiring a team of remote developers to meet their client needs and achieve a successful project deliverable.

Now, let’s understand why hiring remote developers is beneficial.

Advantages of hiring remote developers

Below are some of the pros of hiring remote developers to meet your Software development needs.

1. Increased productivity:

Data on remote team productivity relies heavily on self-reports, but the trend is clear: Remote teams believe they are more efficient and productive. A survey by Stanford University's Professor Nicholas Bloom revealed that 9% of remote developers felt more efficient at home than in the office. By the summer of 2022, this percentage had increased to 15%.

2. Flexible work environment:

Flexible work schedules are gaining popularity among both employers and employees. They not only offer a better work-life balance and save on commuting costs but also bring several advantages for employers.

Firstly, flexible work is a great tool for attracting and keeping talent as it lets employees find balance in various life situations. It's linked to reduced stress, higher employee engagement, and overall well-being, leading to increased productivity, less time away from work, and lower healthcare expenses for companies.

Apart from these benefits, flexible work schedules can enhance team collaboration by making it easier for members to communicate across different time zones or locations. This helps teams stay connected, especially when working remotely or from home offices.

3. Reduction in cost and retention of the team:

Hiring remote developers or building a remote team can save a significant amount of time and money. For example, any company can save around $11000 from overhead costs for every team member who is working remotely.

Remote work has become so popular that some of the team members are ready to forgo 20% of their remuneration if they can complete work from home.

4 Job satisfaction of highest degree:

Working from home can make people happier with their jobs. Research indicates that those who work remotely tend to be more satisfied with their work compared to those in traditional office setups. 

This work satisfaction probably stems from the fact that remote workers enjoy better control over their schedules and the freedom to work from any location they prefer, giving them a sense of independence.

Moreover, remote work removes the tiring activity of long commutes, a major stress factor for many professionals.

These were the advantages of Remote work but everything on this earth has two sides to its where disadvantages lie with advantages

Let’s understand the Cons i.e. Disadvantages of hiring Remote Developers

Disadvantages / Cons of Hiring Remote Developers

A smooth transition from an office option to a remote option can prove to be a difficult task for both the employer and the employee. Let’s understand how

1. Lack of regular meetings:

Not having regular in-person meetings can make things confusing and difficult to interpret. Managing projects becomes harder without face-to-face discussions, leading to scattered efforts and possibly lower-quality work.

read this guide on how to manage remote teams?

2. No proper supervision:

Another challenge that Remote teams face is the lack of direct supervision. Employees might find it tough to stay focused, and motivated, or may feel lonely due to less social interaction.

But, well-performing employees can stay on top of their game with the right preparation and training. Managing remote teams means trusting each other, being accountable, and having clear expectations for tasks and deadlines.

Understanding the unique issues of remote work helps you adjust your management style to create an environment where your teams can do well, even when they're not in the office.

Now let’s understand what are the different types of remote team options available to hire remote developers.

3 Types of Remote Teams

There are namely three types of options available for hiring remote developers which are listed below:

Fully remote team:

The first in the list is fully remote teams. As the name itself suggests these teams are fully remote i.e. they are available to work from home completely without being physically present at any physical office space. These team members can be scattered and present in different geographic locations, cities, countries, and even continents.

Unlike any traditional team that works from a physical office, the remote developers work by sitting in their homes and using all the modern technology to communicate and collaborate seamlessly with other team members to achieve the set goals.

Hybrid teams:

Hybrid teams as the name itself suggests are made up of both on-site and remote members. Unlike fully remote or in-person teams, they include people working in a central location and others working from different places.

These teams bring together the benefits of remote work and in-person collaboration, offering flexibility, diverse talent, and cost savings.

To make hybrid teams successful, organizations need to focus on effective communication, team unity, inclusivity, and flexible management. By dealing with these challenges upfront, companies can create a work environment that combines the strengths of both virtual and in-person interactions.

Flex teams:

As the name itself tells. Flex stands for flexible teams. These teams are formed by dynamic composition and an adaptable structure. The composition of this team is flexible i.e. they do not have a predefined work schedule and the team is not hired for a long duration i.e. it can be assembled and dismantled based on the project needs and wants, these teams can also be reconfigured based on skills required or based on project requirements.

Now, after knowing the types of remote teams let's understand some tools that can smoothen up managing the remote project management

7 tools to streamline remote project management

Let’s explore a few project management tools that can help organizations in managing remote teams smoothly.

The first in the list is Zoho

Zoho is a comprehensive project management tool that is designed to streamline collaboration, smoothen the workflows, and achieve project completion successfully. Zoho enables the teams to manage tasks, track progress, and provide streamlined communication.

The second one on the list is Monday.com

Monday.com is a flexible project management tool that helps teams plan, organize, and track their work easily. It has a user-friendly interface and customizable workflows, making it simple for teams to streamline their processes, work together smoothly, and keep tabs on project progress.

Now, you wouldn’t have heard about the third one which is MeisterTask

MeisterTask is an easy-to-use tool for managing tasks and projects. Its simple design and customizable boards make it a breeze for teams to create, assign, and keep track of tasks seamlessly.

The fourth one is the most used and we all know about it the name is “Slack”

Slack needs no introduction as it is the most used cloud-based instant messaging tool. Slack is the torch-bearer when it comes to being a useful tool for the smooth management of remote teams.

As the tool allows virtual communication among the remote developers through private chats, group channels, virtual meetings, and audio calls. Not only this, slack easily integrates itself with any exciting tech stack of the organization.

The fifth one on the list is Threads

It is a digital communication tool that is specially designed for remote teams. This tool was built to help remote developers overcome communication barriers by providing combined features of messaging, project management features like task management, automating meeting summaries, etc.

Let’s unfold the sixth one Now which is Wrike

It is an extensive tool that allows teams to collaborate, plan, and execute all the processes of their project management with ease. This tool provides features like task management, real-time collaboration, and customized workflows, not only this, it also allows the teams to stay organized to achieve a successful project deliverable.

The seventh one is the most peculiar, it’s “Miro”

Want to fit everyone in one room, but don’t know how? Then, use Miro which is a visual platform that allows teams to connect virtually. Miro also provides an interactive whiteboard which allows the teams to brainstorm, plan, and create the processes and procedure together.

Before wrapping it up, let’s hop on the most important information that can help in managing remote teams smoothly.

10 Strategies to Manage Remote Teams Smoothly

The trend of remote work models is here to stay, which makes it important to implement all the strategies thoroughly. 10 strategies can make remote team management smoother for organizations.

1. Providing proper infrastructure to remote employees: Employees who are working from home will require all the necessary infrastructure and tools that are similar to what they would have required if they had worked from a physical office. 

   This will help them boost their productivity. The list of infrastructure includes a work desk, a chair, access to high-speed internet, a good computer, and other tools based on their job role.

2. Streamlining communication: Communication plays a vital role in remote work and teams can smoothen it by using proper communication tools like Slack, Skype, etc for communicating effectively with their team.

3. Flexibility in work: Remote work allows the remote teams to get the luxury of opting for flexibility in working. As the remote teams can work based on flexible hours it helps in boosting their productivity and also maintain work-life balance in the best possible way.

4. Defining goals and expectations: The remote teams should be aware of all the goals and expectations that are required to be achieved. Defining proper goals and expectations will help the team in setting up the processes and procedures to implement the work with efficiency.

5. Promoting well-being: As working from home can feel isolating at some point it is always necessary to promote health and well-being. The best way to achieve employee health and well-being is by setting up social interactions and performing well-being activities like yoga, meditation sessions, etc.

6. Building trust with the team: For each employer, it becomes very necessary to build trust factor with and among their team members. Doing micromanagement can result in burnout and the employees would feel demotivated at work, this will result in a reduction of creativity and an increase in the rate of turnout.

7. Providing constructive feedback: Not giving proper feedback about areas to improve or the right method to execute work can result in zero goal attainments. That’s when giving proper detailed feedback is necessary as it will help the employees in improvisation.

8. Regular synchronization with team: Regular team meetings in remote work are crucial to keep everyone connected, informed, and on the same page. These meetings address concerns, foster teamwork, and ensure everyone is working towards common goals.

9. Promote approachability: Being a leader, the manager should always be open to interacting with their team apart from discussing the work. The work environment should be employee-centric in such a way that every team member feels valued and heard and feels comfortable sharing their viewpoint and suggestions.

10. Promoting team-building activities: Every project manager should make an effort to connect with their team and build strong relationships. This can be done through fun activities like virtual games, movie sessions, or storytelling opportunities. Building bonds among team members is important for a successful project.

Let’s do a Small Recap of what we learned about Remote teams

Conclusion

Through this article, we learned why hiring a remote team is a beneficial option, what are the different types of remote teams you can hire, the best tools that can help you manage remote teams effectively, and a list of strategies that can boost your project management by making it effective and flawless.

Before you go, we have a little surprise and free knowledge for you? Want to know what? It’s a goldmine known as FAQs

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