4 Mistakes to Avoid While Building a Remote Team
Introduction
Remote project execution has become a talking point in the modern environment, offering flexibility & opportunity for the teams to work remotely. However, this mode also has its own set of challenges. Recognizing these challenges & addressing the mistakes can help your organization achieve project success.
This guide outlines some strategic approaches to navigate & mitigate the pitfalls effectively. Let's get started!
Before jumping into the main topic let's just learn the basics in short, let's understand what Remote Teams are & what remote projects are.
What is a Remote Team
A remote team is a group of professionals who work together from different geographical locations by using various tools & technologies. Unlike an old traditional team which operates within the same physical office space, remote teams work globally. This work step allows the organization to tap into a wider pool of talent & work in different time zones to eliminate any breaks in the process.
Remote work has an abundance of advantages & disadvantages for both the employee & the employer. But, managing a remote team requires a lot of strategy building.
Read Remote Team: A First Aid to Overcome Project Management to learn the advantages of remote teams
What is Remote Project Management
Remote project management involves planning the development project to streamline the remote work process. This is done to ensure work quality even when the team members are absent in the physical location.
Let's understand the key components of Remote Project Management
Key Components of Remote Project Management
Virtual Collaboration
By using the right digital platforms & tools companies can ensure the work of software development gets smoother.
Digital Project Tracking
Use project management Software that enables you to track the tasks, deadlines & progress of the project in real-time.
Remote Leadership & Supervision
Leading & supervising team members from a distance, which includes providing direction, support & motivation to maintain productivity.
Now, let’s understand a few statistics to understand why Remote work is making the buzz.
Remote Work: Few Statistics to Watch out for
A report by LinkedIn showed that the number of job postings in remote job types increased by 2.5 times after COVID.
One report by Globalization Partners showed that 74% of CFOs are willing to adopt work-from-home.
One more study by Prodoscore Research stated that productivity at work increased by 47% due to remote work.
One major study by Owl Labs showed a decrease of 25% in employee turnover rate due to remote work.
FlexJobs report showed that 80% of employees are willing to stay loyal if they are allowed to work from home.
Another report by MarketsandMarkets stated that the global collaborations market will see an increase of CAGR 12.7%
Now let's understand the Mistakes companies make while working on a software development project.
4 Mistakes of Remote Project Execution
#1 Communication:
While managing a remote project communication becomes a major contributor towards the success of the project. Any mishaps in communication can impact the project eventually. Let's understand what are the mistakes organizations make while building communication during project management.
Lack of clear communication
A lack of proper communication can hinder the success of the project. Organizations should use proper strategies to build information flow & ensure the messages are interacted & understood clearly. Also, the organizations should plan about which tools should be used & how they should be used.
Infrequent Updates
While working on the development project there are instances when the information flow might be irregular. If you are not communicating the progress of the work to your concerned person there might be chances that the communication would break. This break might result in quality mishaps.
Moreover, this would become even riskier if the project manager fails to communicate any changes or provide timely feedback
Over-reliance on written communication
When choosing the communication mode, companies choose the modes where written communication is emphasized more. Moreover, digital messaging apps also promote written communication over messages.
#2 Project Management:
Project Management is an integral part of the development process if you are not planning the project effectively you might fail. By using the right project management tools you can achieve excellence in the project. But, some mistakes can hinder the success of your development project. Let’s understand them one by one.
Let’s find out some common mistakes that organizations make while managing a software development project.
Undefined Project Goals & timelines
Before starting the development process of any project, it is inevitable to define the project goals effectively. By learning the project specifications, a project manager should make a plan about whom to delegate which tasks & what tools would be used.
Moreover, they should also define the KPIs properly, doing this will help remote team members understand what is expected from them.
Poor task delegation
As a project manager, it is your responsibility to delegate the tasks properly. At this stage, before delegating the tasks it becomes important to understand what skills are required to perform the tasks & based on the skills find the right person to delegate the task. But, unfortunately, the project managers fail to do so.
Inadequate tracking of progress & accountability
In remote teams, inadequate tracking of progress and accountability can lead to missed deadlines and project derailment. Implementing robust project management software and regular check-ins is essential for maintaining visibility and ensuring everyone stays on track.
#3 Team Management:
Ignoring Team Culture
While setting up a team focusing on culture-centric team building plays a vital role. Imagine, if your remote team follows a different work culture that doesn’t align with you. Would smooth work be possible? No, right.
Companies fail to hire remote developers that align with their culture. This failure causes them to face a lot of loss of time & effort.
Insufficient recognition of the team members
Would you work if you weren’t recognized enough for your efforts and hard work? You won't, right? If you are an organizational head make sure you don’t make the mistake of not recognizing your team members enough.
A motivated employee will give their best to help you meet your goals.
Not addressing team members’ isolation & disconnection
Not addressing team members' isolation and disconnection can lead to feelings of alienation and reduced team cohesion. It's vital to proactively create opportunities for social interaction and team bonding to combat these challenges in a remote work environment.
#4 Technology & Tools:
Using inappropriate tools
Using inappropriate or inadequate tools can hinder communication and productivity, underscoring the need for careful selection based on team needs.
Lack of training on tools
Lack of training on tools can create barriers to efficient work, making it essential to provide comprehensive training and support for all team members.
Overcomplicating technology stack
Overcomplicating the technology stack can overwhelm team members and reduce efficiency, highlighting the importance of streamlining tools and processes for simplicity and effectiveness.
How can I help you in managing your software development project.
Being a LinkedIn certified Top Voice & founder of Acquaint Softtech Private Limited which is a Custom Software Development & IT Staff augmentation providing the services of IT Staff augmentation to help our clients hire remote developers. Not only this my team can also work as an outsourcing software development company to help the clients meet their software needs.
My team & I specialize in Laravel development. Our team holds an experience of 15+ years in software development. We use cutting-edge technology & coding to help our clients develop their solutions.
If you are a Founder having a product idea in mind but can’t find the best software development team to fulfill your dream then reach out to us.
What industries do I serve?
We help clients from various industries like
E-commerce
Fintech
EdTech
Real Estate
Why should you choose me?
All our developers are in-house; we do not rely on external vendors for software development.
We employ no freelancers in our workforce.
Our policy does not include subcontracting.
We maintain a policy of zero-show resourcing.
We guarantee rapid onboarding within 48 hours.
Our team includes a bench of professionals ready to engage.
We offer the flexibility of immediate team member replacements.
Benefit from a 1-week risk-free trial to assess our services.
Why am I the best?
Being in the IT space for 15+ years now we recently achieved a few awards that make us efficient and help us make the buzz.
Recently, an IT tech listing organization TechBehemoths awarded us as the best company for IT in three categories
Wrapping Up!
Remote Project management has become the talk of the town. Companies are on the lookout for hiring remote developers from across the globe to build their remote teams. But, as the numbers are high so is the number of occurrences of mistakes happening while building remote teams.
In this blog, we talked about what a Remote Team is & the four mistakes that organizations commit while building a remote team. Moreover, we learned & saw some interesting statistics on the Remote team & remote work. We also learned about how Acquaint Softtech is one of the best companies for outsourcing software development projects or hiring remote developers.
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The Ultimate Guide to IT Staff Augmentation
💼Founder & CEO ➡️ Staffwiz 🌎 • Premier Staffing and Recruiting solutions provider • EOR (Employer of record) services • Recruiting • RPO • Volume Hiring • Staff Augmentation • Onshore • Offshore
1moMukesh Ram points out crucial mistakes to avoid when building remote teams in this insightful article. A must-read for anyone navigating the remote work landscape. Practical advice that can make a real difference in team dynamics and productivity!
Mukesh Ram (Max) Thanks for Sharing 😁