What are the best ways to keep your team on task and meet deadlines remotely?

First thing first: ALIGNMENT OF AN EMPLOYEE: Do get a clear alignment of employees’ goals with company’s mission, long term objectives and mid to short term goals. An aligned employee does not need constant prodding or supervision. A loss of trust occurs not because of an excessive interaction but because of lack of it. Secondly, FEEDBACK should be a cornerstone of relationship with a distant or WFH employee. Periodicity of giving feedback in such case should be more. It is important or else concerned employee’s maximum effort will go in cajoling leadership Vs attaining productivity. Thirdly, HELP WITH RESOURCES: help with any technical skill development, collaboration and tools to manage stress emanating from WFH environment.

1. Set clear expectations 2. Schedule regular check-ins 3. Foster open communication 4. Utilize project management software 5. Break down tasks 6. Provide resources and support 7. Encourage time management 8. Celebrate milestones 9. Lead by example 10. Be flexible and understanding.

Below are the steps I follow for helping team to meet deadlines. 1)Setting clear expectations, discussing SLa’s and contractural terms (if any) and communicating goals is the primary set to meet the deadline. 2) Ensuring that the goals are aligned with respective to each stakeholder is important. 3) Setting SMART goals and tracking them periodically to ensure we are on track.

Today's Project Manager needs to follow the 'servant leader' approach in order to take the team along with him across the victory line. Following points merit attention: 1. Work Breakdown Structure: Team leader along with members must assess the quantum of task & make a detailed & doable WBS. This should be jointly arrived at by the team members. 2. Skill vs Output: A good leader recognises that the relation between skill & output is not always linear. Accommodate members who may not be on a sprint & include their pace into the time matrix. 3. Team Goal must align with the Program objective, hence timelines should not be stretched beyond limits. 4. Time Buffer: The most important factor where lag time for unforeseen issues must be included.

I think we need to move away from remotely and office the working world has changed technology has improved regardless of where you are in the office F2F or at home deadlines are always there to be met. The key to achieving these deadlines is communication and accountability with trust. If you chose a member of your team to do a task to help achieve the goal then let them do it you don't need to micro manage if you do have you got the right person for the job? Achieving deadlines is done by effective management, keeping on point and staying focused. Meeting challenges head on and resolving as a team. So this is virtual or F2F nothing changes.

Nothing can be more important for a remote team's success than seamless communication. The team leader must breakdown his communication plan into scheduled & informal. In the scheduled plan, daily stand-ups, periodic video calls & official feedback (email) give the team a North Star & help them mentally set personal deadlines. Informal communication, on the other hand, should be used to inject a feeling of "we-are-in-this-together" so that the leader is able to hear the 'voice' of the individual as & when required. It can be done by encouraging IMs, one-to-one interactions etc. The team leader must endeavour to know which member is comfortable with what communication technique & use it accordingly.

The question here is how to do these things remotely. There seems to be somewhat of a false difference in how to manage remote and in-office work. I hear often that spontaneous communication and the related collaboration is missing in remote work. Ok then, be as spontaneous as you would be if we were in front of each other. Don't schedule a meeting next Tuesday, pop your head in my office by pinging me. If that leads to another question, ping that person. Call me at 5 and remind me what is due tomorrow as you would have with your backpack in hand walking out to the train when we were rushing out the door. Ask each other to lunch over teams and chat about whatever. Break down the false walls of remote work that are impeding performance.

I remember my ex-Boss used to say-Communication should flow like the blood in our body. just as the cessation of blood flow leads to the body's dysfunction, the lack of clear and varied communication channels can hinder trust, collaboration, and accountability within a team. Regularly scheduled check-ins, feedback sessions, and team meetings are vital to keep the team cohesive, informed, and on track. Encouraging open sharing of challenges and successes, and actively listening to concerns and suggestions, is essential for the team's health and productivity.

In the realm of localization, effective communication transcends linguistic barriers, fostering trust and collaboration in globally dispersed teams. We embraced diverse channels—from video calls to instant messaging—to cater to various communication preferences, ensuring clarity and consistency across our locales. This approach not only reduced turnaround times by up to 45% but also elevated our Language and Testing Quality Programs. Regular feedback sessions and team meetings became pivotal in aligning our strategies and understanding the unique challenges in different markets. By encouraging open dialogue, we not only listened but actively adapted, reflecting our commitment to delivering exceptional localized content.

I think this is the most important aspect and at times gets ignored. Leaders assume that by sending an email on targets, teams should fall in line and work towards it. But a proper communication in terms of townhall / teams call along with regular reiteration and follow-up needs to be done, to ensure each and every team member is aligned.

It's all about trust. Giving trust and building trust. We hire people due to their assessed experience and competence. Yet, so many leaders allow fear to dictate their day-day behaviours. To ensure the ramp-up to productivity is swift, you need to extend trust. Delegate and empower teams to get it done based on objective measures of success. That doesn't mean handball and run. It means providing people the space and conditions to succeed and remaining connected throughout. Stay close enough to know when they need you to zoom in, to provide coaching and support, but not so close they become helpless and always turn to you to solve the problem, or wait for your permission.

I truly believe in empowering and encouraging team to make decisions and don’t depend on senior management. Micromanaging does not really help in the long run.

When working remotely we have to trust our peers. If we give them the vision of what we're aiming for, they'll bring the best suggestions for improvements that can be done and then we just need to prioritize them and mix them up with all of the other tasks that need to be done. The more autonomy and creativity, the better the productivity, because they feel like they're participating and accomplishing their own ideas, and they're being supported by their managers. As long as there's a balance between complete freedom and delivering what's expected and with quality, why not delegate, trust, and empower our teams?

Trust but verify. As manager you should know the strengths and weaknesses of your team. Leverage on their strengths by delegating tasks and work, which would create trust as result. However, we are humans ad we all do mistakes, no matter how well you know your team, you should verify the work delegated from time to time, which is a good opportunity for coaching and mentoring.

Empower your team, give responsibility with a system of accountability, associated with appreciation mechanism in place. This will increase their confidence to perform challenging tasks with full confidence.

Creating the space for a team to bond is equally important as achieving KPIs, if not even more so. Having a mandatory 30 minutes for non-work related discussions has really worked for my remote and hybrid team. Another thing that works well is using those precious minutes while waiting for people to dial in to connect with the team. Ask about holidays, kids, and dreams. Starting meetings with an open discussion on how you’re feeling today or ending a meeting with lessons learned also fosters openness and community. I sometimes ask my teams how they failed today because if they are not failing (smart), they are not putting themselves out of their comfort zone and they are not learning. A safe space to take calculated risks builds positivity.

In my experience creating a safe and positive work environment gives the team the confidence to deliver their best and meet the project deadlines. I try the do the following: 1. Pre-defined checkins lined up with the project timelines to understand roadblocks or delays. Giving the team member support to overcome them. 2. Continue to encourage and celebrate the small wins and good work accomplished by the team member. 3. Remind the team member the role they play in the overall mission of the project. 4. Timely group connects with a defined agenda so each team member understands the big picture and overall progress in the project. 5. Remote team requires acknowledgement of their work and that they are an integral part of the team.

A couple of things come to my mind: 1. Open two-way communication 2. Encouraging collaboration between team members 3. Regular check ins with employees and challenging them so that they see the opportunities for growth and development (if desired) 4. Showing empathy and making sure there is a culture of respect and inclusivity so that everyone enjoys being part of the team. Ultimately, this will increase the likelihood of project success.

It's not easy to actually live by the standards preached, but don't state them if you are not willing to follow them to the letter yourself (including work-life balance). The only concept I'd like to add to this topic is assuring that the supportive camaraderie becomes independent of you (manager or leader) and becomes self-sustainable inside the team.

Connectivity with other team members has to precede setting of goals and deadlines. People have to feel like they belong to the team and are part of the mission. Belonging is generated from team members being genuinely interested in each other. Leaders play a key role in the first step. If leaders are publicly interested in the team members, the team will reflect the same behavior. A sense of mission or purpose has to be felt. Leaders need to clarify why the mission is important. This helps the players on the team see the importance of their daily work. It helps engage the them in correct goal and deadline setting. An engaged team strives for success because the are personally connected and know where they are going.

I manage a virtual team of 8. Recently we had our annual goal planning meeting. I took time at the start to surprise them with a short awards presentation (virtually recognizing them for their accomplishments). We shared stories, laughed and used emoti-reactions. From there, I found it helpful to review our company's strategic priorities (based on objectives to align, empower and reward) and then looked at the main goals of our LOB. I saw my team easily identifying how their daily work aligned to the bigger picture, what we're doing well, and where we can add value to our partners and clients. We soon had 10 ideas on the whiteboard that we'll start developing into our team's SMART goals. This approach was positive and productive for us.

Understand the strengths and challenges team members face and be ready to adjust strategies or processes to better align with the team's needs. Recognize that priorities and goals may need to be adjusted based on changing circumstances. Be open to reevaluating and reprioritizing tasks to address emerging challenges or opportunities. Recognize and accommodate different working hours, especially if your team is spread across different time zones. Allow for flexibility in work schedules when possible to accommodate individual needs. Transparent communication is crucial. Share information about changes in company strategy, goals, or other relevant updates. This helps the team understand the bigger picture and adapt accordingly.

Flexibility and adaptability to change is the cornerstone for any strategy implementation. There is always a chance for course correction midways as the circumstances change, an example being Covid pandemic. Everyone was compelled to change the way we would traditionally define work, there cannot be a better example of change. I used to conduct Crises Management mock drills for eleven sites across India where a couple of hundred people were engaged in setting up power plants, the crises like an earthquake would be staged at all sites at the same time and a control room set. This assimilation would force the employees to act and react to sudden change and find the best possible resolution.

The team leader must prepare contingency plans since remote work space may throw up last minute challenges, which if not anticipated in advance, can ground the ship in no time. In order to identify & predict roadblocks in advance, the leader must ensure that the communication plan is in place. All team members must be actively encouraged to sound any issue, however small or insignificant it may seem. In case of any challenge, apply mid-course correction in consultation with the team & available resources. All members must be asked to adapt an agile mindset in order to change the direction of the sail when required.

Stay agile in own approach to remote working, regularly assess challenges and adapt strategies and processes as needed to ensure ongoing effectiveness and team well being.

Just being available and reachable when the team or individual members need you goes a long way in ensuring that the team feels supported. I have noticed that leaders tend to be fully consumed with meetings, making it really difficult for their team/team members to reach them for steer or just to check in. Being deliberate about setting aside time for the team, outside of formal catchups and meetings, goes a long way in creating a safe space for the team to feel supported and thus committing to delivering great outcomes for the organisation.

Clarity in communicating expectations is often underrated. When expectations are stated, they need to be clear, fair and reasonable, and the team should know what's at stake if they do not deliver accordingly. The impact of their performance on the overall objective should be made known to them.

I've managed the same tech team for the last 3 years. When we started there was a bit of friction between a few members, but with coaching on 1:1s and refining the ways of working of the team, in a few months we were contributing and delivering faster and faster. We started involving the whole team in the process of defining objectives, making it clear to everyone what we were aiming for, our vision. Nowadays everyone is autonomous, they're able to make suggestions on stuff that could be improved, and they're able to understand priority and deliver objectives on time while still being able to accomplish improvements they suggest. They're able to communicate between the team and with members of other teams in order to achieve their goals.

After a decade of leading remote teams, I'd say the main concerns to have top of mind are: 1 - 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲: Give the team a mission. The primary focus should be on creating value, not completing tasks. 2 - 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆: Trust the team to manage their schedules and tasks. Foster a sense of ownership and responsibility. That'll go a long way in achieving higher productivity. 3 - 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 before building. Address risk and rabbit holes. Allow the team to focus intensely on specific tasks without the distractions of constantly shifting priorities. 4 - 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. Be intentional about it. The serendipitous interactions of the colocated world don't exist in a remote environment.

Something else I would consider is to focus on the actual results without micromanaging when and how work gets done, while leveraging collaboration tools like zoom, teams, slack, etc. for check-ins as needed. Accountability is key here.