Adjusting to the new reality and the rising popularity of remote or blended working approach
Managing your team remotely in 4 easy steps:
- Be understanding
- Create space for integration and bonding
- Think of long-term solutions
- Try to adjust to the new conditions with all the tools available
The outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic only accelerated the long-lasting trend of digitization and the transfer of more and more spheres of our lives to the online environment. Work was one of the few elements that, until recently, many of us still did outside of home, in offices or other stationary work spaces. However, the pandemic quickly verified our old approach and completely revolutionized it. In addition, having been immersed in this new reality for over a year, with no real prospects for a return to our normal lives in the near future, we must start thinking about how to deal with running businesses and managing teams in such conditions. It is also necessary to listen what are the employees’ expectations for the future.
- Be understanding. Remember that this new reality is not only challenging for you. It can also be difficult for your team to adapt to the new conditions. Even if you notice that the productivity has dropped slightly, with time you will find ways to influence your employees the right way. Give them a chance.
- Create space for integration and bonding. We are all very well aware that people are social creatures. Even though many of us are introverts and we may even like to spend time at home, after a long time each of us begins to miss being in contact with other people. Moreover, not everyone has a partner, family or a flatmate with whom they are living with on a daily basis. Therefore, it is very important not to let go of the integration of your team. Involve everyone, especially those who don’t speak up often. Be consistent in organizing meetings and allow a more relaxed atmosphere at work. If possible, continue integration trips or try to organize online events. It is a fact that effective teamwork allows for a greater success of the company.
- Think of long-term solutions. Right now remote work still can be a challenge for many managers, team leaders and business owners and you may be one of them, hoping for everything to get back to normal soon. But inevitably, the changes are coming. There are more and more indications that employees do not want to return to spending 100% of their work time in the offices. More and more people are interested in working remotely or in at least a blended working approach, which means combining working from home with working in the office several days a week. The wittiest leaders have already discovered that giving the employees the opportunity to manage their time spent working remotely and stationary not only creates greater employee satisfaction, but also opportunities for large cost cuts, which equals bigger profits for the employers. It is a win-win situation and it is a chance for the team leaders to make the most out of it. That is why it is worth paying more attention to this topic and seeing how it can benefit you and your team.
- Try to adjust to the new conditions with all the tools available. Fortunately, team leaders, project managers and business owners are not left alone with their problems. There are more and more tools that will facilitate the work of team management, including Zoom, Slack, Whereby, Asana, Dropbox or new time tracking and invoicing software like BillTime.io. The latter, time tracking device, allows you to track the working time that each employee spends on a given task or a project and later analyze their progress in a given month, thanks to the visualization on an easy to read graph. You can also comfortably connect the performed task with a particular client, and simply issue an invoice after it’s completion. These types of tools are suitable for large corporations with hundreds of employees, medium-sized enterprises, small companies as well as freelancers. They enable smooth cooperation of all team members on a daily basis, creating new projects or even carrying out the entire recruitment processes. It is important to be up to date with the latest tools because they are here to make your life easier.
