Working remotely, whether it be from home or a hotel room, has become more common with each passing year. It makes sense. Business owners can save money by having less office space and employees spend less time getting to and from work. Technology makes working remotely easier than ever. When this is combined with the “new normal” we’re experiencing thanks to the Coronavirus (aka COVID-19), working remotely has become mandatory in many cases. What about working remotely as a Project Manager? Is it possible? In this article, we’ll talk about the intricacies of managing a remote team as a Project Manager.
Can You Work Remotely As A Project Manager?
To answer this question directly, it’s entirely possible for Project Managers to work remotely in 2020 and beyond for at least a fair portion of their typical week, thanks to computers, smart phones and virtual meetings. But what portion? It ultimately depends on the project type and the specific work tasks being done remotely.
If the project scope entails producing a virtual or digital product, it’s easy to imagine that very little work relies on being present in a physical location simply because there isn’t a physical location to begin with!
What about fields like construction? Sure, paperwork, emails and producing documents can be done remotely, but a construction P.M. must spend at least some time on the job site, meeting with clients/contractors and coordinating work in person. Projects in some other fields depend on physical locations for their work, too. Even in these fields, though, this could change drastically in the near future…
As stated above, the emergence of COVID-19 and all the implications that come with it has made working from home a mandatory directive for the first time. If we had to bet on it, we’d bet that Project Managers en masse with work from home more and more into the future. This will no doubt present challenges.
Not the least of which is…
Managing People Remotely: The Challenge
When working from home, getting our own work done is relatively straightforward. With remote desktop connections and cloud storage, we can feel like we’re working in the office while sitting on the couch. Good stuff.
What about managing people remotely? This is where working remotely as a Project Manager gets a bit more difficult.
As we all know, a big part of project management is managing a project team. This is a challenging endeavor in it’s own right. When we mix in the remote-work variable, it becomes a whole new level of difficult…at least at first glance.
First, let’s consider what managing a project team entails:
- Tracking productivity and timely completion of tasks
- Openly communicating and corresponding regularly
- Exchange and collaborate on documents, deliverables, etc.
- Meet to discuss project status, issues, etc.
Based on how business has been done for many years, it seems critical that project teams spend a fair portion of their time in close proximity (i.e. an office) to get all of these things done effectively. Not so!
In the following sections, we will explore ways to manage a remote team effectively.
How To Manage A Remote Team As A Project Manager
Based on the list we created in the prior section, let’s talk about how to manage a remote team as a Project Manager and work just like we would in a traditional office setting. Here are some techniques:
- Track Project Task Status & Completion Through Apps (Or At Least A Spreadsheet)
- Create A ‘Remote Communication’ Plan & Establish Protocol
- Utilize Mark Up Features To Track Comments, Feedback & Reviews
- Use Cloud Storage For Shared Project Files
- Have Regularly Scheduled Virtual Meetings & Calls
Let’s talk a bit more about each of these techniques below.
1. Track Project Task Status & Completion Through Apps (Or At Least A Spreadsheet)
A vital part of working remotely as a Project Manager is keeping track of project tasks and their statuses.
Although team members have the ability to get work done from wherever they are, communication between team members will be limited and the transparency that comes with sharing an office is now gone.
With so many tasks to coordinate and get done, it’s essential that P.M.s keep a well-organized, centrally-located list of to-do items, due dates and task statuses.
Luckily, there are many different project management apps and softwares that do this! Here are a few well-known apps and softwares to check out:
We recommend checking out the abundance of video demonstrations and feature guides that each of these programs has to find out which is right for you. Many of these services offer free trials as well.
If you don’t want to use an app or software to track tasks, etc., then keeping a ‘master to-do list’ in a spreadsheet is a good alternative, provided it’s kept in a central location and updated regularly (see sect. 4 & 5, respectively).
Read Next: How Do You Manage Multiple Projects Effectively? Our Top 10 Techniques
2. Create A ‘Remote Communication’ Plan & Establish Protocol
Whether you’ve been managing a project remotely or not, how many of these scenarios sound familiar?
- Emails pinging and dinging in the inbox like instant messages
- Playing ‘telephone’ when trying to communicate vital project info.
- Team members calling and texting at all hours of the day (or night)
- Having unplanned, impromptu and/or lengthy discussions and trying to update the team with the resulting info.
This can be overwhelming when working normally. When working remotely as a Project Manager, these types of communication struggles can be straight torturous.
When managing a team remotely, it’s essential that Project Managers establish communication protocol. Here are a few ‘rules of engagement’ that are helpful to establish:
- Clarify time-slots that you’re available for questions, phone calls, etc.
- Limit texting to discussing non-vital project information only.
- Ask that team mates schedule any at-length discussions or brainstorming sessions with you ahead of time.
- Set a cut-off time at the end of each day where no more work correspondence takes place (unless it’s an emergency).
- Establish basic email guidelines i.e. who to copy on which topics, make specific requests, limiting excessive back-and-forth, etc.
Communication guidelines like these create a sense of structure of the project, which is particularly necessary when working remotely.
Read Next: Being Direct In The Workplace, Without Being A Jerk: 10 Simple Steps
3. Utilize Mark Up Features To Track Comments, Feedback & Reviews
In traditional office settings, documents are usually reviewed in hard-copy form. Should there be questions, comments or changes, it’s customary to mark up documents with a pen and either hand it over or scan a copy to the original creator’s email.
Obviously this isn’t possible when working remotely!
However, working remotely as a Project Manager still requires that documents get reviewed and feedback is given. Here are a few ways to do that:
- MS Word: Utilize ‘Review’ Tab > Track Changes to display all of your comments and changes in a neat, organized fashion.
- MS Excel: Insert new rows/columns to write comments in. For further clarity, use a different colored font to do so.
- PDF Documents: You can add comments and notes on PDF files using programs like Adobe’s Acrobat Suite.
These are some paperless, program-based ways to review and comment on files without going crazy.
Read Next: How Project Managers Waste Their Time: Avoid Doing These 13 Things!
4. Use Cloud Storage For Shared Project Files
Everyone hates the feeling of multiple file versions to be floating around on various team member’s computers. Nobody, except those sick few, likes to call up a coworker on vacation for their password and search through their files to get a key document. It’s always a nightmare to get halfway through using an old file, only to have a team mate send everyone an updated version. Seething with fury.
When working remotely as a Project Manager, the implementation of a cloud file system for you and your team will save a lot of time and frustration. when managing a remote team.
Here are a few examples:
Features of these services include having a mobile app for smartphones, provide access to guests via simple file sharing and more. Signing up for one of these services is a small price to pay for the peace of mind and productivity gains!
Read Next: How Do You Organize Project Documentation? A Few Must-Know Methods
5. Have Regularly Scheduled Virtual Meetings & Calls
Whether you work in the office, at home or somewhere else, there’s no avoiding regular meetings and phone calls.
When working remotely as a Project Manager and in turn, managing a remote team, it’s very easy to keep to ourselves, focus on our own work and fall out of touch with our team members.
Before too long, deadlines will pass, tasks will go undone, misunderstandings will arise and everyone on the team will be on different pages. The rush one feels (literally) when trying to put out a fire like this is not recommended.
That’s why it’s best practice to have regularly scheduled virtual meetings (using Zoom or something similar) and make time for phone calls to discuss the project. These meetings should be treated like any in-person meeting would, including issuing an agenda beforehand and writing meeting minutes afterwards.
Read Next: How Do You Run An Effective Status Meeting? 10 Best Practices
Working Remotely As A Project Manager: In Summary
Managing a remote team for the first time will require some adjustments, there’s no doubt about it. But a lot of the success one has while working remotely as a Project Manager largely depends on the systems put in place to minimize waste, avoid confusion and maintain efficient communication within the team. Hopefully this article has been helpful in presenting multiple ways to do so. Thanks for reading.
