How to Keep Your Team Working Together Without an Office
Is your team made up of people who work from different physical locations? Some who work out of a home office locally, some who are setting up shop at their favourite coffee shop, or even telecommuting from the opposite side of the country? According to Fortune.com, remote work continues to trend upward.
The number of virtual teams is continuing to grow because of the demand in business – but as the owner of a virtual business, how do you keep a virtual team engaged and working effectively? Here are 5 things that you should keep in mind.
Leverage on Technology
Technology is what keeps your team connected remotely. When communicating with each other, there are a lot of communications tools that you can use to make your virtual team effective.
The most common tool that you can use is e-mail. The response may not be instant with this tool that’s why you have to consider using a messenger such as Skype, Google Hangouts, Yahoo! Messenger and among others.
Use technology to keep an open communication among members.
Set Clear Goals and Expectations
Miscommunication’s happen when goals and expectations are not clear to everyone.
Before starting a project, define clearly what the goals of your team and the individual goals of each member are. Let your team know what is expected from them
Establish Timeline and Track Progress
Establishing a timeline helps your team see where your project is heading. This will help everyone stay on the same page. Indicate the deadline for each task, recipient of the finished task, and time to review it.
To become effective in your timelines and deliverable’s, consider using project management tools.
They can help you easily track the progress of your team and remind you of deadlines. Plus, they can give you a quick daily, weekly or monthly overview.
Some of the project tools that you may want to consider are (but not limited to) Trello, JIRA and Basecamp
Schedule face-to-face meetings
While technology allows your team to get connected, nothing beats face-to-face interactions.
Once in a while, schedule a dinner with your team and talk anything out of work. Go out with your team for a community outreach or play any sports together! Make your face-to-face meetings fun.
It is important to build those personal connections to improve a long-lasting professional team bonds.
Agree on a Communication Language
Most virtual teams are composed of talents from all over the world. Language barrier can be a big challenge. Decide on which communication language you will use.
At the end of the day, keeping your virtual team members working together can certainly be a challenge – especially when you don’t have a traditional office to communicate with them face to face everyday. However, if you keep engaged with your virtual team, and employ the above tips , you can help to close the virtual gap.
