How To Create A Time Management Plan For Remote Teams

Thanks to the pandemic, remote working has become the norm in so many industries. It has a lot of benefits, such as eliminating commuting time, reducing costs, and removing office distractions. Of course, there are challenges too. One of those is time management, something that can be difficult to have oversight on when you have a remote team

The good news is you can help remove the challenge by having a good remote time management plan in place. Here’s how to create one and get the most out of your teams, wherever they work. 

Why Create A Time Management Plan?

Is a time management plan needed for remote workers? It’s highly recommended, as there are lots of benefits that you can reap by using them. These include:

    • A better sense of direction for staff, and knowing what’s required of them.
    • Fewer miscommunications in the workflow.
    • More engagement for those who are working from home. 
    • Less time is needed for organizing employees.
    • Better final product and client satisfaction.

So, there are plenty of benefits to using a time management plan in your team. Now, you need to know how to write it. These tips will help you get the most from your plan. 

Set Expectations Upfront

The very first thing you’ll want to do is discuss a time management plan with your team. You’re going to want to set expectations upfront, so they all know what’s expected of them as they’re working remotely. 

Ensure that you listen to this team at this stage. What are they expecting from the remote working system? Is there anything they’re concerned about, or anything that they want to happen? This feedback will help you put a plan together that’s easy to use and realistic. 

Pick Between Time Tracking Or Productivity Tracking

When it comes to time management plans, you’ll either want to focus on time tracking or productivity tracking. “On average, many employees will prefer to stay working remotely as they prefer the flexibility it gives them,” says Fiona Carmichael, a project manager from Dissertation discussion and OX Essays. “You’ll want to keep this in mind when making a decision.”

Productivity tracking will usually allow for more flexibility in the workflow, so many employers will choose this method when creating their plans. However, it does depend on the work you do, so consider carefully before you start putting the plan in stone. 

Also Read: Tips To Improve Productivity As A Remote Worker

Choose The Right Platform

There are plenty of time management platforms out there you can use to create your plan. It is highly advisable that you use one, as trying to do it over instant messaging or email is going to be far too difficult to track. With a platform, everything is kept in one place so everyone can see what’s needed from them at a glance. 

As well as a platform like Slack or Trello, consider using cloud storage like Dropbox or Google Drive. This allows everyone to share files, so you and your clients can access them when needed. 

Define Your KPIs

You’ll need to create and define the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for your team as they work remotely. What will be expected from them? You can set both short and long-term goals for each team member, and then they have a clear idea of what they need to be working towards. This is something you can discuss in individual coaching. 

Also Read: How to build a KPI System for Performance Reviews

Set Up Regular Meetings

Now you have all the tools in place, you’ll want to create a regular slot in the schedule for a meeting with the whole team. This should allow for everyone to share where they’re at with a project, and give feedback. This will be how the team gets together, as they won’t be working in the same space. 

Remember that as they’re remote, the team may not be working the traditional 9 – 5. You’ll want to find a time that works for everyone. Doing this ensures that you can stay flexible, and give your team the space they need. 

Also, you can organize meetings into mandatory and secondary meetings. Make the agendas available for all sessions, so staff will know what will be discussed. 

Plan Out Individual Meetings Too

Now that you have group meetings in the schedule, you’ll have to ensure that you make time for one on one coaching and development, too. This needs to be handled whether your team is remote or in the office, so either way, you’ll be ready for it. 

Take the time to reach out to every team member, and work out the best time for individual coaching. It’s arguably more crucial in remote teams, as you’ll be looking to help them stay connected and focused on their work when they’re not in the office. 

It’s even more important you do so when you have younger employees or recent graduates on your team. They will need coaching to help them reach their full potential, and it can be harder for them to do so when they’re working remotely. 

Have Deadlines In Place

You’ll have deadlines for KPIs and deliverables, whether your team is in the office or remotely. When your team is remote, it’s even more important to make these deadlines as obvious as possible. 

“As the team aren’t centralized, it’s easy for them to lose sight of the big picture,” says HR manager Graham Pike, from Paper Fellows and Boom Essays. “You want to ensure that everyone is on the same page.”

Create timelines and deadlines in your action plan, and have them available to view within your chosen platform. That helps staff stay on target when they’re working, and get everything delivered on time. 

With these tips, you’ll be able to create a time management plan that works for you and your team. It will make remote work much more feasible and every staff member will know what’s expected of them. Start writing your time management plan now, to get the best results. 

 


Do you want to know how Engagedly can help you manage your remote teams? Book a live demo with us.

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This article is written by Sara Sparrow.

Sara Sparrow

 

 

 

 

Sara Sparrow is a technical writer for Assignment service and Academized. She covers workflow and time management for business owners. She’s also a writer for Write my essay. 

Employee Performance Review for Remote Employees

The thought of employee performance review and evaluation is often very painful for most employees. The process is tedious, complex and time-consuming in most cases, especially for remote workers. But, it does not necessarily need to be so.

The most important factor of a performance review is the performance analysis of an employee. If that is done right, the data can be used to improve employee output as well as in other decision-making processes. Things get slightly more complex when the employees are working remotely. While some traditional in-office methods can be used to evaluate remote employees, it’s best to streamline the process according to the situation.

Here are some tips to improve your employee performance review process for remote employees:

It’s the output that matters

If an employee is professionally dressed, comes in on time, pours over his or her system throughout the day, is that enough signs to show that he or she is working efficiently? How does that help when it comes to evaluating remote employees?

You can act like an obsessive boss and keep checking their login, logout details and the quantity of work, but does that really showcase productivity?

It does not. In all great companies, the focus is on the quality of work, the output, not the input. To be honest, in the current world affairs all businesses are focusing more on sustenance, not profit. So don’t push your employees to produce enormous work that does not really add value to the organization. Give them the peace of mind and the liberty to give in their best and produce great work. This is what will keep the company afloat through the COVID-19 crisis. It’s not the other way round.

Also read: Is Lack Of Employee Recognition Damaging To The Company?

Gather 360-degree feedback

An employee does not just work with their direct manager, they work with team members, other teams and departments, other managers and supervisors among others. So when you are evaluating remote employee performance, make sure you gather feedback from everyone else who is associated with them. That way you don’t have to rely only on your evaluation but gather more insight about their performance, their style of work, their coordination skills, and where their talent and skills can be best utilized. This is a great way to accurately review your remote employees’ performance.

Get them to Self-evaluate

A Harvard Business Review article says that an employee can be susceptible to two different traps when it comes to self-evaluation. One of them is, they tend to get overconfident (termed as the Overconfidence Effect) and set higher bars than they can possibly achieve. The second one is, they attribute their successes to talent and skill, overlooking the other environmental factors (termed as Fundamental Attribution Error).

So when you get your remote employees to review themselves, you can then compare what other employees think of them, how they see themselves and then compare those data to how you as their manager see them. That gives a wholesome view of each employee.  Moreover, the employees also feel that their own perspectives matter. So giving them a chance to evaluate their own performance can also lead to employee engagement and drive them to access themselves better.

Provide valuable feedback consistently

Most employees are used to working in an office environment where they interact well and receive regular feedback. So when these employees start working from home, they might feel anxious in the face of prolonged silence and may start thinking up negative scenarios. As a manager it is important for you to keep providing them feedback often, and document it. That way they won’t feel disconnected from the work environment and would continue to perform stably. And you will be able to follow the pattern of their performances.

Also read: Why You Need A Real Time Performance Management Software

Have a sense of trust

It’s not easy to trust employees, even when you are working with them in an office environment, let alone when they are working remotely. But in the given situation, it’s something you would need to practice. Even if you are not able to see them in action, you need to trust them, unless you have evidence of them not working.

Evaluating remote employee performance efficiently is a significant element of consideration in the coming quarter. Given the world scenario, it’s important to get it right and make sure that your company and your people, both benefit from your employee performance review process.


Want to know how Engagedly can help you implement seamless performance reviews for your remote employees?

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