No matter if you started working remotely during the pandemic or you've been part of the gig economy long before - you’ll often wonder how to increase your team productivity while working remotely. For some of us, remote team management has become a real challenge, while others naturally embraced the chance to test online management opportunities. Here is my priority list of things to be done to improve your productivity. It’s based on learnings gained over months of remote work. 1. Define a main communication channel While for private communication I use over 5 types of messengers, when it comes to work - consistency is key. Define one core channel of communication that will help your whole team stay in touch, keep messaging history and solve tasks quickly. My tool of choice is Slack - it is really cool in terms of usability and you can integrate almost any external tool you need for work - from Jira to Mailchimp. 2. Define and document workflows and processes Without structure, remote work can be a mess. Maximise productivity by documenting important processes or workflows - this can help onboard your new team members as well as provide on-request guidance to the existing ones. Although it is hard sometimes to find time for documenting everything, be sure - it will save you a ton of time later. Keep all documents in one predefined place, where you can easily provide access to all of your team. 3. Have regular one-on-ones Successful remote team members share the same traits - they have good self-control and time management skills. Yet, there’s nothing better than regular one-on-ones to provide even more structure to your teamwork as well as execute control. I used to miss in-person one-on-ones for that magic of the physical presence in the same room with your colleagues, but at the end of the day online meetings also proved to be great. Hack number one - to maximise productivity, have such meetings pre-scheduled. Like this, your team can plan their daily activities in advance. Hack number two - don’t hesitate to test a few meeting tools before you select one as your tool of choice. With an abundance of software like Zoom, Google Hangouts and even more new meeting software coming to the market, you can be sure that you’ll find one that fits your needs the best. 4. Have structured reporting and clear KPIs Clearly defined and documented KPIs will help both you and your team plan and achieve more, even remotely. Have clear KPIs set as well as documented in the first place. Make sure you go through them during your one-on-ones or team meetings and discuss progress as well as blockers that may arise on the way. Define a well-structured reporting system to help you estimate the results of your work. To add learning effect, especially for the new team members, identify the way to share learnings regularly. This may require special types of documentation like playbooks for experiments. Make sure the whole team participates in the process. 5. Foster collaboration Working remotely feels lonesome at times. There’s also another caveat - you miss that corporate spirit that you get in the brick and mortar office. Yet, impossible is nothing - team spirit will be at an all-time high after regular all-company meetings, team brainstorming meetings, and other online gigs that help collaborate, share ideas and success stories. I hope these short lifehacks will make your remote management processes more clear and structured - just as they did mine during these unpredictable times.
