Mastering remote project management: Strategies for leading distributed teams

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In the aftermath of the COVID-19 lockdowns - a time when most Australian workers were asked to batten down the hatches and stay clear of the office - remote work appears to be here to stay.

With many Australians now relishing the taste of the sweet work-from-home life - no longer required to battle lengthy office commutes, we now have more hours to enjoy our downtime: exercising more regularly, cooking nutritious meals, and catching up on errands around the house - it makes sense that many of us are reluctant to return to the office full time.

This transition to remote and hybrid working arrangements has inspired the introduction of new and different ways to engage distributed teams - not least, the use of digital technologies to enable remote communication, as well as the management of employee productivity.

If you study project management online, you'll no doubt learn about the ways modern workplaces are changing to accommodate these transformative times.

Let's discuss some of these strategies you can call upon as a project manager to help manage your remote teams most effectively.

When it comes to communicating with distributed teams, we need to get creative.

Thankfully, there are a multitude of digital tools at our disposal to help facilitate remote collaboration.

These enormously helpful digital technologies include:

Used to their full potential, these tools can help to reduce the sense of distance remote working arrangements inevitably impose.

With these technologies supporting distance workers, colleagues can feel more connected with their peers, and also, remain engaged with their work.

How do you know your remote teams are really working, and not just lounging on the couch, catching up on their favourite TV shows?

In truth, you need to have faith in the integrity of your employees.

You must also be able to pay them the respect of giving them your trust. Trusting that your staff will get the work done without you micromanaging them will also alleviate a great deal of stress for you.

You don't need to be watching your staff members all day, and you shouldn't have to. If you hire the right people, you should be confident that they'll commit to the tasks you assign to them to complete.

So, how do you actually 'watch' your staff without them being in your line of vision?

Unless you're considering installing Big Brother-esque video surveillance in your employees' homes, there's no real way to do this. Instead, as mentioned, you just have to trust that your employees are working diligently, even though they may be geographically dispersed.

Fortunately, there are ways to measure your teams' productivity, even from afar.

This includes using productivity tracking apps such as Trello, Asana and Monday to assign tasks, monitor due dates, and follow the progress of project workflows.

On the subject of remote work, let's not forget the newly introduced 'right to disconnect', and what this could mean for workers slugging it out at home.

With the lines between work and home life becoming increasingly blurred as more of us bring our jobs into our private spaces, this initiative could mean the difference between balance and burnout.

Yes, to be fair, you can just keep working, late into the night.

You're already at home, after all. And, you didn't commute anywhere, which means you do have more hours up your sleeve.

Perhaps, you prefer to log in early - enabling you to take a chunk out of your workload in advance of your mid-morning Zoom meeting with the team.

Yes, admittedly, working overtime is something that many corporate bosses will applaud you for. But, if you're working from home, are you able to switch off when it's time to log off?

The harsh reality is that failing to do so could make or break even the most diligent of at-home workers.