6 Tips to Improve Remote Team Productivity
Managing a remote team can be challenging, especially if you’re new to remote work. But there are ways to make it easier, more efficient, and more intuitive. To help you rise to the challenge, here are six top tips to improve remote team productivity.
Use a Single, Collaborative Platform
Just as working in the same physical space can help to boost productivity, encourage communication, and aid in time management, collaborating on a single platform can have similar benefits. When you’re working with a remote team, ensuring they’re all on the same platform and able to communicate through that platform is essential.
Additionally, the more collaborative efforts that can be accomplished through that single platform, such as emails, phone calls, project management, etc., the better. This way, it doesn’t matter that your team might be spread out across the country or the world—everything everyone needs to work together is all in one place.
Offer Continued Training & Development
Continued training and development is important in any field. Of course, when managing a remote team, it is not as easy to organize training sessions as it might be if you were all in the same physical space—or is it?
The good news is that training sessions can now be done remotely as well! For instance, HRDQ offers a full range of virtual instructor-led workshops and courses, so you can train your team no matter where they are. Your team can get the benefit of working with a live instructor from their own homes. And, with over 84 courses, you’re sure to find the perfect class to boost your team’s productivity.
Schedule Regular Check-Ins
When managing a remote team, you don’t see each team member as often, which can make tracking progress difficult. Because of this, it’s easy to fall into the trap of wanting to check in more than is necessary with your team.
Every remote team is different, so it’s vital to find the delicate balance as a leader between regularly checking in with your team without becoming overbearing. To remedy this imbalance, try setting up weekly or daily scheduled check-ins. This way, your team knows when to expect you and won’t be overwhelmed by incessant, spur-of-the-moment check-ins.
Focus on Flexibility & Patience
Whether it’s your first time managing a remote team or you’ve been doing it for years, flexibility and patience are key, especially when it comes to managing team members who are working remotely for the first time.
Adjustment periods are normal. While it might take some time to get there, with proper structuring, your team will eventually fall into a regular work routine. To help speed things along, be sure to ask for suggestions from your team to improve productivity while working remotely, be open-minded, and again, be sure to provide the necessary training your team needs to be successful.
Communicate Effectively & Regularly
Communication is the key to a successful team—whether they’re working remotely or not. That said, when you’re unable to walk down the hall to your teammate’s office, it can make communication challenging. Use team collaboration tools, video conferences, and regular check-ins as resources to help keep your communication with your team ongoing and efficient.
Emphasize Work During Morning Hours
It’s tempting to relax a morning routine when the entire team isn’t in the same place. But lax routines can harm the productivity of remote teams. To get a jumpstart each day, encourage your team to try to maximize those key hours in the morning. Schedule morning meetings at the start of the workday, require your team to submit daily or weekly goals for the day before your workday begins, etc. When you demand productivity in the mornings, you set your team up for an entire day of success.
Start Virtual Training with HRDQ
Managing a successful remote team can be a challenge, but with HRDQ’s collaborative and intuitive training programs, your remote team can function productively as ever. And now, with virtual instructor-led training, your team can complete training sessions and workshops no matter where they are!
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