The world may (thankfully) not be currently facing a global pandemic, but that doesnât mean that the era of remote work is over.
It turns out that people really like working remotely. And many workers donât want to return to the office full-time.
Most companies realize they need to offer some form of remote work to attract and retain talent. In fact, 87% of workers want the flexibility of working both in the office and remotely. Many companies have adopted a hybrid policy that requires workers to come to the office several days a week with the option of working remotely on the remaining days.Â
If you are currently in a management role, you will likely deal with some virtual/remote work challenges.
What are the challenges of managing virtual teams?
Remote work is nothing new. Large companies usually have team members dispersed globally. Managing this type of team comes with the following challenges:
- Communication: Communicating virtually is not always as effective as face-to-face communication. This can lead to misunderstandings and make it harder to keep everybody aligned.
- Building trust: Establishing trusting relationships without frequent real-time interactions can be difficult, and work quality can suffer.
- Workload and productivity: Tracking individual work progress and gauging workloads can be challenging. You need to find a way to ensure you assign the right work to the right people with the skill sets to complete it on time.
- Differences in time zones: When your team is spread across multiple time zones, scheduling meetings and coordinating collaborative efforts is difficult.
- Team engagement and motivation: Even when employees opt to work remotely, they still often feel isolated and disengaged from the rest of the team. Some remote workers can feel like they are working alone without desk-side chats, working lunches, and other casual encounters with coworkers.Â
Overcoming the challenges of managing virtual teams
Luckily, itâs possible to overcome the challenges of hybrid work and help your team thrive. Here are some tips for managing remote teams:
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Allow flexible work hours
People like the flexibility of working remotely. They can improve their work-life balance by eliminating long commutes, allowing them to invest that time in other interests and needs. That way, they can focus on their assignments and do their best work when they are on the clock.
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Establish core hours for a daily syncÂ
Flexibility doesnât necessarily mean clocking in whenever you want to. You should establish core hours that work across several time zones for short daily standup meetings. This ensures that your team is synced every day and actively communicating.Â
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Give your team the right tools
Provide your team with tools that are highly accessible to them, regardless of when or where theyâre working. An application like Lucidspark brings remote employees together to brainstorm ideas, create flowcharts, map out processes, clarify assignments, and more in real time. This means youâll have all the flexible benefits of hybrid work without losing the personal interaction vital to an aligned team.
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Centralize your communication platform
Whatever you choose, make sure there is a centralized communication platform for official team communication. This reduces the number of messages that might be missed so that everyone feels like theyâre on the same page and can work together efficiently.
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Use management tools
Lucidspark offers several project and team management templates to help you track individual and team progress. For example, our free Gantt chart template can help align team milestones and track task progress. Our kanban board monitors the status of work within a given project.
In-text CTA: Discover our free project planning templates to simplify your workflow. Get started
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Set and communicate expectations
Set expectations for your team so there isnât ambiguity surrounding best practices. For example, your team should know where to look for communication, how often they should check, the general hours team members will work, and more.Â
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Host virtual team-building activities
Even if it feels awkward initially to host activities virtually, team-building is still critical to a teamâs success. They help team members get to know one another, build trust, and establish collaborative work relationships.
