With COVID-19 creating uncertainty across the globe, many businesses are turning to remote work to keep teams moving smoothly. But managing people in cyberspace can be a challenge for employers who haven’t managed remote teams before.
As with any change, it can be difficult to navigate. Here, we’ve provided strategies to help you lead your team with ease.
1) Prioritize
Before moving your team to a digital space, you’ll want to first establish the most important tasks for your team to complete on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.
Follow these steps to help your team create an actionable task list:
Create a list of tasks that your team completes. Seeing all of the tasks that your team completes in one place can help you make intelligent decisions about what tasks should be completed, and what can be set aside for the duration of the crisis.
Assign importance to each task. Determine which tasks are imperative to keep your business running, and assign those tasks the highest priority.
Assign employees tasks. Clearly communicate which employees are responsible for which tasks. Creating a clear delineation of duties allows workers to stay focused during times of uncertainty.
2) Determine Software
A wealth of software exists to help teams communicate online. Early on, you’ll want to make decisions about which software to use with your team. First, you’ll want to choose a VoIP software, like Discord, Skype, or Zoom. These voice-conferencing programs allow you to speak to your employees online, so you can maintain your meeting schedule.
You may also want to invest in a project-planning software, like Trello or Asana. These programs allow you to create projects with goals and sub-goals. Each goal and sub-goal can be assigned to an employee. Mobile versions allow employees to access projects and deadlines on their phone.
3) Over-communicate and Practice Compassion
During uncertain times, it can be difficult for employees to focus on work, while also balancing concerns for shopping and caretaking. Over-communicate by calling to check in with employees daily, and consider establishing a daily or weekly status report.
While it can be very frustrating to run your business during a global pandemic, you’ll want to make some allowances for mistakes and lessened productivity. By extending compassion to your team, you can foster a greater sense of community — and pull through the global pandemic together.
It’s more important than ever to rely on tech. Make the right decisions with Vodigy. Vodigy helps small and medium-sized businesses find technology that helps them.
