4 Steps to Manage Remote Projects Successfully
Project management is difficult enough, now throw in a group of people who work remotely, and you’ve got an even bigger challenge to handle. If you are reading this post, chances are you have already attempted to run projects and have either failed or wished you could’ve done it better. Fortunately, there are steps that you can take to minimise the risk of a failed project. Here are four of them:
Plan before you leap
The first step to managing a remote project is to plan it. Make sure that you spend time planning:
- What needs to be done
- Which team member is responsible for each task
- Deadlines for each task
- How tasks should be submitted
Also, set expectations and divide work into small tasks. This will help you track the project more efficiently.
Embrace remote project management tools
This is one that you can’t simply ignore. A project management tool will help you to monitor tasks, costs, communication and delivery. Without these tools, managing a project can take you double the time. Long gone are the days of Excel spreadsheets and Google calendars to manage projects. Technology has now made it possible for you to work smarter, not harder.
Here are some of the best tools to manage remote projects:
- Basecamp – $20 per month for 10 active projects; 3 GB and unlimited users
- Asana – Free for up to 15 users; thereafter 10$ per user
Both tools can be integrated with other apps such as Slack, Skype, Zoom, Google and Dropbox. They can also be used on mobile devices.
Use individual strengths
Your team members have individual strengths and weaknesses. Use that to your advantage when planning your project. An employee who pays attention for example, can be placed as the overall overseer of work completed while the flexible employee can be responsible to complete new tasks.
Verify completed tasks
One of the mistakes project owners make is to check the project once it’s fully completed. To ensure project success, make sure you spot-check every task that is marked as complete. You need to do this almost as soon as a team member marks it as complete so that they can fix it before moving onto the next task.