As someone who manages several different teams, this brings a lot of different challenges, not least of which hoping that the dog stays quiet on Zoom calls and the wifi connection stays strong. Here are some ways to ensure you can manage several teams who are working remotely.
A central DAM system
It’s important that the relevant teams have access to the right digital assets. With Bynder you can ensure that everyone can access exactly what it is they need, and with it being in the cloud, it doesn’t matter that no one is in the office. This makes collaborating on design or marketing projects much easier and means that everyone will be able to use the correct, up-to-date assets for their work.
Bring everyone together
It can be pretty lonely when you are working remotely, and you can often lose that sense of connection and teamwork. Set aside an hour a week for a casual catch up with your teams, via something like Zoom and encourage everyone to join in with their camera on, and try not to make the conversation solely work-related. Praise people for their work on projects, get people to share what they have been working on, but also have a little bit of real-life chatter, perhaps set up a quiz or a game, to help everyone feel a little less lonely and more connected.
Communication
It’s important, both for you as a manager and your teams that are working together, that communication is clear and easy. As useful as email is, you may find that there are some instances when things need talking about in real-time. Use an instant messaging service like Microsoft Teams, or Slack, and set up groups so that the relevant people can discuss projects freely, without anyone else being disturbed. Be sure to check in regularly and see what is going on, so you are always kept in the loop.
Set out expectations
Expectations are always important in any working environment, but when some of your teams are working from home, it’s even more essential to outline these from the start. You may want your teams logged in from and to a set time every day, or perhaps the nature of your business means you can be more flexible and you just require a set number of hours of work to be completed in a day, regardless of where that falls. Perhaps you need people to let you know when they are working, or if there is a specific time after which you personally won’t reply to your messages, to ensure that you still get a work-life balance even when working from home.
There are benefits and pitfalls to remote working but at the moment it is the reality, so the best thing we can do is adapt and make the most of the situation where possible.