Many teams have come face-to-face with the reality of remote work. Teams where remote work seemed impossible found ways to make it possible due to the pandemic. But, has remote work proved beneficial and has it pushed teams to their full potential?
Absolutely! I'll tell you why.
Working remote pushes the boundaries of the office walls and sees no borders. Companies are gaining a globalized edge in the marketplace, which is allowing them to find top talent from all over the world. Gone are the days where talent can only be found within 20km of the workplace. At PRMG, I'm proud to assist in the management of highly talented individuals stretching from the beautiful coasts of Australia to bustling Malaysia, to the sunny cities of Mexico, and all throughout Europe (and counting!).
But what about the challenges of a globalised team and company?
With increased globalization, virtual leadership and virtual team management skills are essential for success. At PRMG, we find ourselves scrambling to ensure we're accomodating for many timezones. But, by management pairing up with People and Culture, the human-equation of success has been obtainable when faced with the challenge of telecommuting. Virtual environments do not have to be daunting to undertake and the positives greatly outweigh the negatives.
The secret sauce to creating a highly functional global and remote team?
- Tight communications:
We virtually meet daily, weekly, and monthly to keep everyone informed about each teams progress, business progress, and just to say "hi".
- Project management and tracking:
All our team members are training across best project management practices so we can work collaboratively and effectively. This helps us with our sprints to hit consistent successes with strong deliverables.
- Lots and lots of direction and productivity:
Every person on our growing global team knows what they're responsible for. Not only that, they have transparency to what their teammates are responsible for.
How do you manage this?
- Create an effective workflow: This means managing the challenges that your employees may face as remote workers (i.e think about their workstations, chatting about positive WFH habits, and setting clear directions and expectations, etc.)
- Invest in team communication and events: At PRMG, we put an emphasis on team meetings, even if it means meeting up to eat lunch or play a few remote games together for a few laughs. The power of team bonding goes a long way.
- Create a sturdy virtual environment by mapping workflows across digital and remote working boundaries. This can be done by structuring work assignments to be obtainable and organized for each team.
- Leverage helpful virtual tools that inspire collaboration and teamwork such as Notion, Slack, Miro, and more.
There is power in remote working, so long as you take the steps to harness it. Talent stretches across borders and timezones and is well worth the energy. While the pandemic has led to wide-spread remote working conditions, it's clear that remote work is here to stay and is a worthy competitor to in-house workforces.
