Remote working has a common denominator: flexibility both for individuals and for the organization as a whole.
But "flexible" shouldn't be meant by "improvised".
In fact, remote working requires well-defined internal structures and consolidated team management. Coherence and cohesion are essential; without both of these two aspects, you run the risk of essentially having two (or more) separate companies, one working on site and one working from home.
People who managed teams in person before the pandemic and then moved to work from home will need to rethink and revise some of their previous habits to work more effectively.
We have collected 5 tips to effectively manage work from home and above all colleagues remotely in an effective and efficient way.
1. Schedule regular video calls and briefs
In working remotely, it is vital to communicate frequently and regularly. It will help everyone to stay aligned, check the progress of projects and activities and respect deadlines.
This is why punctuality is important and it is important to avoid postponing video calls or meetings. Sharing an agenda of the points to be addressed will help make the virtual meeting more effective and productive.
For example, Voxloud Cloud PBX allows you to work better remotely with the video conference feature that connects you to all your colleagues in just one click, even if they live on the other side of the world.
2. Communicate with professional tools
The well-being of your team is fundamental: the more satisfied they are, the more they will work better.
Make sure your team members have a centralized platform to be able to communicate as a group. For example, we use Slack for chats, while for internal telephone communication, of course, we have our Voxloud cloud PBX that allows us to communicate wherever we are.
There are a million alternatives, but the important thing is to make choices and keep them consistent over time, so you don't have to start all over again every time. Whatever your solution, use a platform that allows your team's internal communication to be more productive than the simple (and dispersed) exchange of emails.
3. Shared calendar
The shared calendar helps to have an overview of group commitments and can serve as an editorial calendar or as an appointment management. In this case it really depends on the type of project but consider this option if you have many shared activities and appointments in your remote team.
In companies often everyone has their own calendar and the meetings together are not shared in the calendar, while having everything shared allows you to always be updated and allow the whole team to align avoiding emails, messages and to schedule meetings.
4. Foster a collaborative and safe environment
To effectively manage your team, you need to make sure you have created a safe and collaborative environment as in agile work it can sometimes be difficult to feel included.
When people do not feel included, they do not feel comfortable speaking and giving their contribution, thus penalizing teamwork and team spirit.
To build psychological confidence in a remote meeting, be sure to give everyone a chance to speak, by asking everyone specific questions, in order to stimulate conversation and help your employees feel confident in communicating and expressing their ideas with the others.
5. Use the right tools
What are the tools needed for remote work?
- CRM
First of all you need a CRM to collect all the data and information about customers and potential customers.
After that it will be important to give the whole team tools that can work remotely, and that integrate perfectly with your CRM system: in this way they will be able to provide all customers with the right solutions.
- Cloud storage platforms
The abandonment of the concept of face-to-face work has made the use of cloud services almost inevitable. Restrictive measures imposed to deal with the escalated health emergency have remote storage needs to share documents and files extremely quickly.
Here are some examples of cloud platforms: Mega, Google Drive, Dropbox.
- Communication platforms
We have already named tools like Slack, which allows you to communicate and always stay in touch with your team in real time and shortening distances. Then there are other business tools and applications that can effectively manage internal communication:
- Asana
- Teams
Each application has its own particularities, so you just have to choose the one that best suits the needs of your company and business.
- Voxloud phone system
Thanks to the phone system you can manage calls from the company landline even outside the office. You can make team video calls and manage everything from your control panel.
With Voxloud phone system you can:
- There are no activation costs
- No maintenance
- You only pay for what you use
- A simple and intuitive control panel
Are you undecided which cloud phone system to choose?
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