Planning Time Management With Remote Teams

Remote work has already become a way of life for many people in the workforce, especially during 2020 when the pandemic had heavily affected business. However, like any other business, remote work requires time management, so that remote workers can stay on track and produce work.

The good news is, when you write an action plan for your remote team, your employees will learn to practice time management. With a business to run, there can’t be any delays in production, even when your employees are working from home.

In this quick guide, we’ll show you the benefits of having an action plan for time management, and how you can implement this plan in your remote team.

The Benefits

Many beneficial aspects can come from remote work. Here are some, just to name a few:

• Remote workers will enjoy a flexible schedule. Rather than be a slave to a fixed schedule, workers have the power to make their own schedules, which is ideal for parents, caretakers, etc.
• Remote workers are surrounded by familiarity. In other words, rather than work in a conforming environment, workers can work in a place that they can be themselves. As a result, remote workers experience less stress when they’re at home, rather than be subject to stress from the traditional office setting when it comes to workflow.
• Remote workers are allowed to be with family and friends as they work from home.

The list goes on…

Helpful Tips

So, now that you know some of the benefits that come with remote work, it’s time to come up with an actionable time management plan for your remote team! Here are some helpful tips to get you started:

Write Daily And Weekly Lists

Encourage your remote workers to create daily and or weekly to-do lists for them to follow. You can give them the choice of either creating lists on paper, online, or on an app. In this way, they can highlight, cross out, or add to their lists if they desire. Once they complete a task, they can check it off the list. This strategy helps them to stay on track during the work week.

Separate Personal Tasks From Work Tasks

In addition, encourage your remote team to separate personal stuff from work. In other words, make time for work, and make time for personal things… SEPARATELY.

This is important, because it’s easy for a remote worker to get distracted with something at home – hobbies, chores, etc. In that case, advise them to find a good space to work in, which won’t cause any distractions as they work.

In your action plan, make the ideal workspace known to your remote workers:

• Somewhere with an Internet connection
• Somewhere where they can activate their webcam when needed
• Somewhere where they can have their computers, work phone, notepad, etc. all in one place

And so on…

Organize Work Hours Around Team Meetings

There will be times when your remote team will need to gather for team meetings. In that case, make sure that your time management action plan takes into account everyone’s schedules, including yours. Some people may be in your time zone, while others are in different time zones. So, make sure that you find out when people are available, and when they’re not, so that you all can have an effective meeting together.

Use Time-Tracking And Web Restriction Apps

Nowadays, apps make it easier for people to track their time spent, and restrict web access during business hours. Therefore, make this a part of your action plan by encouraging your remote team to use approved apps – ones that can help them stay on track as they work.

Schedule Breaks

Finally, make sure that your remote team takes breaks when needed. Encourage them to take time to stretch, go to the bathroom, grab a snack, go out for a walk, or anything else until they feel ready to get back to work. This prevents burnout from affecting your remote staff at any time during the work week.

Conclusion

As we’ve explored, having an action plan for time management can help your remote team:

• Stay on track
• Limit distractions, AND
• Prevent burnout

So, when having a remote team for your business, make sure that they’re doing their jobs, while doing it well at their pace. We hope that this quick guide helps you create a plan to help you and your remote team manage time wisely.

About the Author:

Christina Lee is a writer and editor at Research paper writing service and Australian writers. As a project manager, she oversees many projects in various companies nationwide. As a content writer, she writes articles about remote work, coding, computer science, tech trends, and development technologies.