By Mark Engelberg, TimeLinx Software –
For many years, having a job meant going to work for 8 hours in an office. You would commute in traffic spending wasted hours in your car going quietly mad. When the pandemic hit in early 2020, the whole concept of work changed. Since much of the world was under some sort of lockdown, jobs had to be done at home where possible. Zoom became one of the most popular apps in the world, and people all over the globe were able to go to work without any pants on.
While some of the world has settled down, remote work is as necessary as ever. Companies have realized that workforces are happier when working from home, production is higher, and sick days were fewer. Collaboration was possible with teams scattered throughout all four corners of the globe, and this was a very good thing.
Why Remote Work Is so popular
Remote work is popular for a number of reasons, both for employers and employees.
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- Flexibility: Having flexible time is essential to maintaining the happiness of workers. Previous generations may have been used to rigid work hours, but as the world moves towards putting more emphasis on good mental health while at the same time the job has become more demanding, it is clear that flexibility is the best way to achieve balance.
- Productivity: Employers have found that remote teams are more productive than in-office teams. This could be due to reduced stress as well as reduced distractions. Water cooler chats aren’t a thing if you are at home, and neither are unwanted people stopping at your desk.
- Stress. Commuting is stressful, and it can be expensive. Remote teams don’t worry about this and are able to work from wherever they are. If you feel like sitting on a tropical beach, or even on top of a mountain, as long as you have a good internet signal, you can work. What better way to create a stress-free office environment than to simply not have one?
What is the best way to manage remote teams?
Of course, with this now common work requirement, one needs a new way of managing. Keeping tabs on everyone in a project team when members of the team are in different parts of the world is not as simple as dropping by Vicki’s desk to see how the work is progressing. To do this, you need a Project and Service Management (PSM) system to keep in touch with everyone on a daily (or even hourly) basis and make sure that projects are running smoothly. Addressing issues before they become out of hand is also vital to running successful remote teams. With the unique capabilities of a PSM solution that your accounting system won’t offer, there is no better way to do this than implementing PSM.
Leading remote teams, is it harder or easier in today’s environment?
Remote teams are, of course, nothing new, but leading them in today’s environment is definitely very different from how it was done historically. Understanding the factors that make remote work challenging are an important step to being an effective remote leader. The question of whether it is harder or easier to lead a remote team in today’s world will differ from person to person depending on the tools at their disposal. The more comprehensive your toolset is, the easier it is to lead well.
Conclusion:
Having the correct tools to do any job is essential to that job’s success. Running a remote project or service team successfully is no different, and can only be achieved with a comprehensive PSM solution. True leadership and management are so much more than simple project management. You need to be in touch with your team’s status, both in terms of mental state and productivity to really know how a project is progressing.
