Despite all the perks remote workers enjoy, there are a number of challenges that arise from working out of the office. It offers a greater depth of team management features, such as advanced permissions and dedicated pages for teams, and the ability to communicate at the task, project and team level. For teams to work effectively together, they need to be able to communicate and collaborate freely. and promote tolerance and understanding across all topics – kind of a there’s no right or wrong philosophy. So, now, I’m working harder to meet multiple deadlines throughout the day, instead of just plodding my way through tasks. Remote Meetings. Her answer was to ban remote working. Going remote gives your business access to the world's top talent, results in higher employee productivity, and can even save you money.. It’s critical to gather input from all members and to know what each person is working on. I’ll be the first to admit that my natural motivation is probably weaker than average. The first step is recognising the challenges, and working out how to manage a virtual team. First, we’re starting with the most common remote work challenges for teams. The platform prompts team members to provide quick “check-in” details about what they’re currently working on so you can see what everyone’s up to at any given time. While it can seem like a hassle to schedule one-on-one meetings with every team member, they make workers feel valued and are an opportunity to give feedback on work performance. This can be amplified with independent contractors who have inconsistent work schedules. Distractions at home were the fourth most common problem reports in Buffer’s 2019 State of Remote Working report and I understand this problem very well. getting together with staff members once a year, Onboarding remote employees: 3 ways to give a warm, virtual welcome, Doist’s Fadeke Adegbuyi on training a completely remote workforce on productivity, COVID-19: Resources to help you quickly transition to working and training remotely, How to evaluate a training program: The definitive guide to techniques & tools, The definitive guide to new employee orientation. About the author: Levi Olmstead is Head of Community and SEO at G2, a B2B software and services review site with over 650,000 real-user reviews. Ideally, this should be a separate room dedicated to work and nothing else. Now, you don’t want to start infringing on the freedoms remote working has to offer but there needs to be some kind fo balance if productivity is going to be achieved. This means you can use Daywise to block notifications that might distract you while you’re working and then block work-related apps from eating into your personal time. It can also do the same for specific websites insides browser apps to reveal which pages are holding up progress. For more immediate availability statuses (when you need something doing now), this is where platforms like Slack and Status Hero prove their worth, once again. I’m not a particularly competitive person when I’m put up against other people. Another app I use is Daywise, which allows you to schedule notifications, essentially blocking them during unwanted times. This isn’t the case for remote teams. One way in which many remote teams overcome this is by creating a dedicated place for communication, whether among employees in the same department or freelancers working on the same project. If it took me 20 minutes to do something yesterday, I’ll be kicking myself if it takes any longer than that to do the same thing today. If this isn’t naturally installed into you, there are ways to artificially inject some motivation – you just need to find out what works for you. The benefits for workers and businesses alike are driving a workplace revolution – one that’s projected to see 50% of the UK workforce working remotely to some extent by 2020. If you can do that, the challenges can be easy to overcome. I’m not particularly good at self-discipline but I am good at responding to gentle encouragement and Serene prompts me to set a single goal for the day before I get started. Serene Remote working sounds like the business revolution we all need but it’s not something you can simply switch to and hope for the best. How can you keep track of progress on individual tasks while also keeping a keen eye on project-wide progress? Team members can see what everyone else is currently working on, what they got up to yesterday, their availability status and any “blockers” that are getting in the way of completing tasks. I think it’s the same feeling I get if I fail to complete a task within a time period I’ve set for myself. For those design teams we mentioned earlier, tools like InVision make collaborative prototyping possible for remote teams. Keeping track of the progress multiple remote workers are making on a daily basis can be a daunting prospect. Another great collaborative tool is the team version of Spark, which allows multiple team members to collaborate on emails at the same time. Communication is the key to success for most teams. Try it for free for as long as you want and discover why our customers consistently give us 4.5 stars (out of 5!). Even group meetings and collaboration sessions can be set at times suitable for everyone in a matter of clicks. Slow response times is a common challenge when it comes to leading virtual teams. Fortunately, they can be overcome fairly easily by introducing team building activities, increasing communication and adding some new processes. These are automatically blocked during wor sessions and Serene will also silence your phone to stop those pesky notifications coming through. We’ve looked at ten of the most common remote work challenges in this article and solutions to overcome them. With Slack, you can always see who’s available right now and Status Hero gives you greater context by showing you what team members are doing at any given time. However, it wasn’t until recently that companies were forced — and didn’t just choose — to work beyond their office walls. Studies have found remote workers are more productive, healthier and enjoy a more positive work-life balance. In many ways, Slack is the simplest collaboration tool your team and this is credit to how good a job it does of simplifying communications essentials. There are also plenty of tools designed to help businesses, teams and individuals maximise productivity. I’ve already mentioned that complaining is typically frowned upon in Japan and I’ve also experienced a reluctance to say “no” in many other parts of Asia. No more after-hours emails interrupting your dinner. Something I’ve also found by using this app is that the timer showing me how much of the session adds this kind of pressure for me to get the task done in time. The good is that, much like project management software, there are countless collaboration tools designed for all kinds of tasks and teams that will help you break down those remote co-working barriers. For instance, if you want to foster a culture of open communication, remote team members need to be able to communicate with everyone, including the CEO, with a virtual “open door” policy. There are plenty of options available and my personal favourite is Calendar, which also allows team members to set availability times. Native speakers need to be aware that misunderstandings will happen and take whatever possible steps to make them less likely/severe. Connect with him on Twitter. Usually, most of the remote workers feel lonely and isolated. It doesn’t necessarily matter when they choose to work, as long as they’re consistent so you generally know when they’re next going to be available. Remote teams should become even more common in the future. Remote meetings may seem strange at first, but they are actually rather easy to execute. Because of the difficult nature of the project and the compressed timeline, we had to work very closely with the client, prioritizing features for launch to make the deadline and to adhere to the project budget. Without the presence of supervisors and team members, there’s less pressure to get things done and you can also miss out on that group satisfaction of hitting targets as a team. 50% of the UK workforce working remotely to some extent by 2020, 10 Best Remote Work Tools for Distributed Teams. Performance Review. Future employees can also see the answers to commonly asked questions. Remote work was on the rise even before COVID-19 lockdowns, with many companies calling it a game-changer. Differences in religious beliefs can be more obvious and it’s imperative that these are respected, including religious holidays that may require time off or participation (eg: Ramadan). Email simply doesn’t cut it for remote team communications. Now, cultural differences are more complex and they can affect remote teams in two key ways: For example, you’ll often find the level of openness people are comfortable with varies greatly around the world. Would you take a pay cut to keep working remotely? Some of the most common issues that companies face with managing remote teams include: 1. This allows team managers to decide whether that task is too important to interrupt. Challenge #1: Adjusting to Timezones Having access to solid expertise from around the world is huge. Some managers working with project-based freelancers expect them to take calls without pay or as part of a flat rate for working on a project, while managers themselves wouldn’t go to a work-related meeting off the clock. However, the are a number of other steps you can take to build and maintain trust across your entire team. The first thing you need for remote collaboration is an effective communication channel. Communication is the key to success for most teams. That takes care of the software – now all you need to do is make sure you’ve got the right management in place. Another challenge it mentions is building and maintaining trust between remote team members – an issue cited in multiple other reports, including this piece published by Workana. The best way to solve this problem is to have a few guidelines in place for your team members. This means no interruptions when people are working on something important and a reduction in pointless messages like “Are you available now?” or “Have you started [task] yet?”. This isn’t somewhere you work and then later sleep or occasionally play guitar. (On the other hand, the work ethic I’ve seen from professionals in Japan and Korea is something to behold.). That’s a big deal and set to get bigger. You’ll spend less time training your team and your teammates will bring a level of professionalism that elevates your product or service. Otherwise, you constantly feel like you’ve never done enough and it’s hard to switch off when you’re not working. Let’s take a closer look at the most common challenges and how we can approach them to improve the quality of our work. That takes care of the real-world distractions but you also have the digital distractions to take care of. Remote teams have clear advantages (such as the ability to hire a talented global workforce), but there are challenges, too (such as the difficulty in creating a cohesive company culture). The downside is, much of this talent can be working in different time zones, which can put your team out of sync. Company No. Commonly, the challenges you face with a remote team differs greatly than with a traditional […] In fact, it’s the same app I talked about in the previous section, Serene, which also comes with a website and app blocking feature that allows you to create a list of rogue distraction apps or specific web pages. Remote working brings a lot of potential benefits to the table but you’re never going to get to a point where you can enjoy these unless you achieve a level of productivity and discipline that helps achieve a work-life balance. If you need something more advanced than monday.com, Asana is about as good as it gets in terms of an all-in-one team management platform. Challenge: Loss of Passive Knowledge Sharing Finally, remote work generally threatens the informal information sharing and open communication lines facilitated by shared physical spaces. I on the other hand believe the benefits of remote working outweigh the challenges. Despite all the advantages that remote workers enjoy, employees face several challenges when working remotely. You can also discover which tasks individual team members are most time-efficient with, allowing you to assign tasks to the most suitable person. In some cases, team members may have never met each other face-to-face and this has all kinds of subconscious effects on trust between them. According to this 2018 report from Red Rocket Ventures, they found out that this helps them cut down on their operating expenses and other business costs.. It’s estimated that a company with 100 off-site part-time workers can save up to 1 million USD per year with the right remote work arrangement. Some remote contractors plan to visit each other when they are nearby for other obligations. The most important thing is for non-native speakers to know they can ask about anything that’s unclear to them without it being held against them. If a meeting or call is mandatory and work-related, plan on paying staff members to attend. Our design team uses InVision to create and mockups, provide feedback and test interactive demos without any specialist design software. RescueTime is another productivity tool that helps you (and individual team members) see where time is being wasted. Productivity isn’t only an issue for remote workers and there’s a lot of scientific research going into this topic these days. I’m not particularly proud to admit it but by creating short work sessions in Serene and seeing that countdown timer, I find myself remotivated every time I look at the clock to see how much time is left (or isn’t). To avoid potential issues, you may choose to encourage open dialogue about culture, religion, politics, etc. For global teams, scheduling a phone call or a video meeting can be challenging due to the different time zones. Personally, loneliness is the only problem listed in the Buffer report that I don’t experience as a remote worker but I can imagine how this might also contribute to a lack of motivation. Whether you're thinking about working remotely or are currently a remote worker, you'll be happier and more productive when you meet these challenges head on. Finally, I mentioned an app called Daywise earlier and now is the time to explain about it in a little more detail. There’s no shame in some of us having more natural motivation than others. Loneliness is the second most common problem (19%) while collaboration (17%), distractions at home (10%), time zones (8%) and staying motivated (8%) are all issues that affect remote workers and the companies they work for. Even though at first sight such a model of employment looks modern and convenient, remote IT teams are confronted with miscommunications, misunderstandings, uncompleted tasks, unresolved bugs etc, both within themselves and communicating with clients. It is particularly challenging because when working from home (or any other place than the company’s office), you do not have the chance to talk to people during a coffee break or when you need to discuss a task or project. Productivity Tools, Privacy Policy  |  Cookie Policy   |  Terms of Use, © 2020 Venture Harbour Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales. – into an easy-to-use interface that new team members can join with a quick email signup. To demonstrate this in this article, we’re looking at 10 remote work challenges and how to overcome them. It also helps to incentivise team members with shared goals, positive feedback and rewards for hitting targets and any sacrifices they have to make along the way. Where things can get tricky is social/political principles, especially if you’ve got team members in countries where human rights, animal rights or anything else are observed in a different way. Building the right remote teams and managing them brings a ton of benefits to employers. A quarterly review will help you see how the members of your remote team are coping with the work. The good news is, with a relatively basic understanding of workplace culture, you can anticipate these differences and avoid problems. As with anything, there are downsides to remote working and a number of challenges to overcome, as well. Therefore, flexibility in work hours will make your team more resourceful for your company. Common Challenges of Remote Work To start, managers need to understand factors that can make remote work especially demanding. The problem is cafes also come with their own distractions but they were always the better alternative to hotel rooms. Ideally, you want the key members of your team to have a fairly regular schedule. But in spite of these and many other challenges, all manners of stats have shown that remote work is here to stay. For full-time W2 employees, this might consist of an annual meeting or a shared trip to an exotic location. If you’re am unproductive remote worker, things quickly start to fall apart and working from home (or anywhere else) feels more like a curse than a perk. These are based on the challenges we’ve experienced here at Venture Harbour, my own experiences as a remote worker and the challenges listed in numerous studies on remote working. Aligning Schedules Through Different Time Zones. For basic document collaboration, Google Drive will have you covered and things start to get a little more niche from here, depending on what you need. I’m generalising, to some extent, but these social conventions are real and they can make certain aspects of collaboration uncomfortable – for example, correcting someone older or considered as a senior. Working remotely can seem like a dream come true for many employees sick of their morning commutes — but it can present its own set of challenges. Toggl has this covered for you by tracking the time it takes to complete tasks, which you can use as benchmarks to maintain and improve turnaround times, as well as pinpoint issues getting int the way of productivity. The longer it takes to complete tasks, the more they eat into your personal life and the less effective you become as a team member. There are many challenges that come with managing a remote team. Because the truth is that managing a remote team can be quite challenging, especially when you want to do “business as usual” and have your employees work in a way that makes them feel like they’re working toward the same goals. In terms of the tools to make this happen, you’re going to want an integrated calendar for teams that pulls everyone’s schedules into a single place. Some will argue that working from home isn’t technically remote working but, as someone who spent years working remotely around the world and now predominantly works from home, I can say this problem is equally common for me in both scenarios. One-on-one meetings are critical for morale. There are obvious trust issues that can arise among remote teams when you can physically see what people are doing. Managers worry that workers aren’t completing work, while workers have a range of concerns, including whether they’ll be paid on time (or at all, in some cases). When teams work remotely, it isn’t always easy to foster open communication. Leadformly Also, the coffee rocks in both countries. That divide needs to remain in place and this can be challenging if you work from home or remote locations. It also helps bridge the gap between our designers and developers by providing the CSS styles and dimensions of any element with a single click. Basically, you set the times that you’re happy to receive notifications and they’ll come in as normal during this schedule. As I said earlier, I respond well to gentle forms of encouragement such as setting short deadlines. Working too much. In this article, it presents seven tips for building trust and I think every remote team should implement these in their own way: The funny thing about trust is it takes a leap of faith and this means giving people enough freedom to prove their trustworthiness. You need something instant, responsive and flexible. These short bursts make it easier to keep focus and take regular, short breaks after each session. One way in which many remote teams overcome this is by creating a dedicated place for communication, whether amo… No matter what tool you decide to use, as long as there’s a way to foster two-way communication, remote workers won’t feel isolated from one another. This is another reason it helps to have statuses on apps like Slack and Status Hero so people can see when you are/aren’t available. These are the top 5 challenges of managing remote teams and how you can solve them: Lack of Productivity All of a sudden, distributed teams (remote workers) are more than just an oddity. To hit big targets, you’ve got to make sure all the smaller tasks are getting completed in a timely manner. It starts from the top with how the manager or business owner interacts with workers. Starting right at the top, the biggest challenge with remote working is managing projects when your team is spread out across multiple locations. The more challenging cultural differences to manage are the ones that have the potential to cause offence. Despite all the perks remote workers enjoy, there are a number of challenges that arise from working out of the office. It can be as simple as encouraging remote contractors to stop by the New York City office in the event of traveling to the city for any reason, even a family vacation. Each member should join the team understanding that their flexible work location does come with some structure. The best way to switch off after work is by getting everything done that you set out to do before the day is over. So, keep reading for the seven most common challenges even experienced managers of remote teams usually face, as well as the strategies you can use to overcome them. For example, I’ve worked with a number people in Japan and Korea where workplace expectations are wildly different from the UK. To tackle this topic, we gathered a small group of leaders for a mini-conference focused entirely on leading remote and distributed teams. People who work on remote teams face these challenges consistently. People working from home or on the move face their own unique set of challenges when it comes to getting things done and fitting work into their personal lives. A lack of trust can break down a team because it threatens productivity, creates a toxic culture, and shuts down communication. Besides, all this global crisis will change the way we work forever, and working from home will be the new norm. When I was travelling year-round, my best solution to overcoming distractions was working in cafes. Automation Insider, Startup Marketing Honestly, either platform is a great choice and there are plenty of other options on the market like Trello designed for teams with less demanding needs. You know, those quick Twitter checks that turn into an unscheduled break or email notifications that grab your attention and bring progress to a halt. One of the most significant challenges in a remote work is communication, either with a boss, manager, or other team members. When an email needs input from another team member or anyone is unsure about specific information that needs including, Spark’s collaborative email features mean the correct information always comes from the source – no misunderstandings. Whenever I think of working with remote teams, the first things that comes to mind is the scheduling drama. Lead Generation Tools Outsourcing web development and design or working in separate remote teams of IT specialists is trending in the world to an immense extent. The most common challenge remote teams report in studies is collaborating from different locations. What counts is doing everything you can, collectively, to maximise motivation for everyone. If anything, there are more distractions at home than in a hotel room. Trust is a key building block of all relationships, and is especially critical in teams. Let’s start with the language aspect first. Distractions are another productivity killer that can turn remote working into a nightmare and compromise team progress. Join our exclusive early-adopter Slack community, to help shape the future of our ventures & get early access to new products. Doing so will prevent delays and other setbacks from happening in the future. YEC Creating a healthy company culture with a remote team that reflects your business’s values requires a plan, much like any other project or initiative. It then asks me to break this objective into multiple work sessions for the day and these are the individual tasks that will help me hit my target by the end of the day. At the office, if I needed to talk to anybody, I stood up from my chair and walked there. One of the reasons many managers don't approve of remote work is they fear employees will slack off without that physical, in-person oversight. A lot of studies have been conducted on remote working in recent years, listing the benefits for all involved. Meanwhile, a separate study conducted by Hubstaff finds the biggest challenges for businesses with remote teams include communication, scheduling, tracking performance and language/cultural barriers. Reason, remote teams report in studies challenges in working with remote teams collaborating from different locations a there ’ s a big deal set... The way we work forever, and shuts down communication working outweigh the challenges individual remote workers,. To solving this problem is cafes also come with their own distractions but you have... Avoid problems, all this global crisis will change the way we work,... We ’ re going to look at team progress, you can physically see people! Two categories: challenges for teams to work on remote teams face these challenges two! Speakers via email for all parties I was travelling year-round, my best solution to overcoming distractions working... 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