Entry Software Corporation

Entry

Leadership

Remote Project Management

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Managing projects remotely requires effective communication, collaboration, organization and dedication.


During the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic many businesses have turned to working remotely. You need the right remote project management software to ensure that your remote team has a central space to communicate, collaborate, and organize work-related data.

Let’s look at each of these further…

Communication

Communication is the key to successfully managing projects remotely. To ensure the success of any project, the team leader takes on the responsibility of ensuring remote team members have the tools and resources they need to be efficient and productive while minimizing the risks of any miscommunication. When communicating online with your team, make sure you are as specific as possible about the project objectives, goals, and expectations.

Organization

When it comes to remote project management, keeping the work clearly organized and visible is crucial to staying on track. As a project manager it’s important that everything is organized from managing documents, project plans, and project status updates ensuring team members are on task. In order to remotely manage tasks, you need to have complete project access via your browser from anywhere. 

Collaboration 

Remote team collaboration refers to the ability to engage with team members in different places. Employees who have the same goal may collaborate more effectively to reach it. The remote project manager is responsible for breaking down projects into smaller tasks, setting milestones, assigning responsibilities, and tracking progress online. Effective collaboration and setting clear expectations will increase overall productivity. 

Dedication

A dedicated project manager plays a vital role improving overall team performance and motivation. Setting aside a dedicated time for the team to review and report on the project while it’s still fresh in everyone’s mind is key. This will ensure that all updates are documented and can be used to update the project sponsors, customers, and project team for effective status updates. You can refer to this data to optimize your processes for your next project so you can continuously improve and scale your project management skills for best practices.

Tips for Managing IT Team Effectively

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How to utilize your team effectively
Your team can either lead the company to success, or failure, which is why you need to utilize them as best as you can.

Teamwork is essential for creating the foundation of a high-performing business. Good team ethic leads to the success and smooth operations of your company. By identifying employees’ skill sets and assigning tasks that are well suited to their abilities helps to improve team efficiency. An effective team includes skills such as good problem-solving skills, decision making, communication and interpersonal skills. Here are some tips you can use when managing your team to benefit your company.

First, behind every successful business lies a great team. Teamwork maximizes the individual strengths of team members to bring out their best. Selecting individuals with the proper skills for the job is an important part of building a strong and successful team. When the right people are in place, work is always a priority and projects are completed effectively. You can find this out by:

  • How they embrace challenges
  • What motivates them
  • How the work with others
  • What their strengths and weaknesses are
  • How they handle stress and negative situations

When an effective team is set in stone they ensure success for your company operations.

Second, communicating the idea of success you’ve developed to your team in a way that clarifies both goals and expectations. All team members should trust, respect, and support each other, once the team is established and each member should know the value of their personal contribution to the team goal. By involving team members in the decision making process, it helps to limit conflict and complaints related to projects and tasks. The quality of decisions made will improve when the whole team is involved. Team decision making is beneficial, as it offers a diverse set of views that work towards creating a positive outcome for the company.

Third, conflict often arises when team members focus on personal issues rather than work related issues. Building a positive relationship with your colleagues can make for a much less stressful environment and work to reduce conflict. Teams who work particularly well together enjoy each other’s company and get together outside of the office from time to time to socialize and have some fun. This will lead to more productivity and success in the long run.

Finally, motivation can be in short supply during times of stress for some employees. However, if you have employees that approach work with a positive attitude and complete their tasks, other employees with recognize their hard work. Seeing others working productively will encourage underperforming employees to work harder as well. This will help to increase motivation and efficiency in your workplace.

Overall, these tips help to create an effective team and successful company!

How to Motivate your IT Team

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Employees may lose motivation over time leading to a decrease in work efficiency. This declined motivation can cause the company’s productivity rates to go downhill. The implementation of incentives may improve employees’ health and drive. Happy and healthy employees make for satisfied managers. Incentivizing properly provides a motivating and energized work environment which leads to a successful company. Here are a couple pointers below on how to motivate your employees to improve productivity and company success. 

Set Individual Standards

Setting quotas may be just what you need to improve the motivation of your team. Working and being held up to a standard is a key motivator for everyone to complete tasks. When setting a quota it must be challenging but not unreachable in order to maintain motivation. Employees must maintain confidence in their abilities to reach their quotas. Quotas can work to measure employees productivity levels and help employees take accountability for unfinished work. When setting quotas, it is important to review each employee separately to find the rate at which they work. realistic Individual goals and requirements can then be set for the following month that are greater than what they are currently producing. With company standards in place, employees are motivated by the fact they may be rewarded or penalized based on their work productivity.

Facilitate Friendly Competition 

Naturally we all want to be the best at what we do or at least on the same level as those around us. This translates into the workplace where creating friendly competition for employees can positively affect their productivity levels. Providing a visual representation of each employee’s sales or project milestone completions can enhance motivation. This may be used in combination with rewards for the top performers to push them to their full potential. Rewards can be as simple as a gift card or you can get creative with them. Competition allows for employees to visualize the work and progression it takes to get a promotion or raise within the company.  

Implement Incentives

Offering rewards for accomplishments in the workplace can improve the motivation of your team. Recognizing quality work gives your employees the feeling that they are of value to the company. Depending on the nature of the project, these rewards can be large or small, material or cash. However, incentives must be implemented properly in order to be effective. Different types of incentives can be used for all the stages of a project. For example, when the first milestone is met you may have an incentive for the top performer on that team. This could be small, something as simple as a gift card to their favorite restaurant. Then the rewards may increase in value as the project progresses towards greater milestones for optimal motivation of the team.

 

What Employees can do to Help the Boss

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Across the hierarchy of the business world, co-operation and teamwork are vital. As the crew works hard on the front line, efficiency is maximized when they do their best to assist the managers and bosses who keep the operations in check. To further improve the overall health of a business, some employees go above and beyond to help their managers handle the workload. It is this kind of employee that can send productivity through the roof, increase relationships among all types of workers, and overall profits. To these workers, benefits come in the form of favourability among superiors, increased value as an employee, and higher chances of getting a raise or promotion. To become one of these so-called workplace superheroes, follow these tips on how employees can make their boss’s life easier.

Beat Your Deadlines

While it may seem simple, one of the best things an employee can do to help out their boss is to exceed the expectations set on them for time management. By putting in some more effort, picking up the pace, and avoiding procrastination, time spent doing the work assigned can easily be reduced. As an initial goal, try to make the most out of the time you are given and cut time spent on tasks by 10-15%. Let the manager know that you have finished, and take the extra time to get started on a new task or help out your co-workers. If this is done consistently while the quality of the work is maintained, it can really help the company and will catch the attention of your superiors.

Forget the Words “Free Time”

Continuing on the aspect of time, employees who sit around and twiddle their thumbs after they have finished a task will stick out like a sore thumb to managers. Even when they have finished everything required, their bare-minimum attitude towards working will often catch them in a bad light from the boss’ perspective. In contrast, proactivity will always attract a positive opinion from superiors. Once a task is finished, ask what you can do to make better use of your time. If you can assist your manager with whatever task they are doing, then extra points for you. Either way, always be sure that you are providing as much value for the company and the best working experience for whoever is working above and beside you.

Fix Problems Before They Become Problems

To most managers, one big difference between a good employee and a bad one is their ability to think and act independently. If you see a leak that can be fixed or covered easily, do so before you alert your boss. If an angry customer can be comforted with an incentive that you have the authority to give, give it to them. The majority of small troubles within a workplace can be solved by the lowest levels of employees with some common sense. However, this isn’t to say you should hide issues from your boss. If it is a problem that could recur or an issue that requires further attention, notify them immediately after doing what you can to provide a solution. Situations are much easier for management to deal with when they have already been handled. When superiors know that you have the ability to deal with complicated matters on your own, they will see you as more capable and able to move up the ladder. Even if an issue does not need to be reported, your bosses would recognize your responsibility and will once again see you in a positive light.

Good Boss, Bad Boss: What’s the difference?

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What’s one thing that almost every person in the working world loves to complain about? Here’s a hint: it’s one of the most popular things to talk about on first dates, has become a cliché in western movies, and it’s the primary source of conversation between co-workers behind closed doors. In case you haven’t guessed, it’s bosses! It could be an unreasonable manager who doesn’t show any empathy when something goes wrong. Or a short-tempered time bomb who explodes on employees who don’t deserve it. Sometimes it is even a bad leader who leads a team to failure or kills any sort of progress within a company. Whatever the reason, employees love to complain about those in charge. There seems to be some sort of backwards rule that authority comes to those who least deserve it, and bosses who rise to the top aren’t the best for the well-being of employees and customers. So what traits are present in a leader that brings them to this position? What makes a good boss good, and a bad boss bad?

First, it should be clarified what a good or bad boss is. An effective leader is someone who inspires people to work hard and achieve company goals, but also who makes employees feel like they can be comfortable in the work environment and have a say in the company. Defining a bad boss is much easier: someone who is unfair, treats people poorly, is bad for business, or who don’t fulfill their duties and responsibilities as a manager. A good boss maximizes the experience for the business, the employees, and the customers all at once. When one of those segments are neglected, they become a bad leader. So how can those with authority make sure there are no compromises in those big three areas of a business?

Well, the way the business world works in a capitalist market is always putting the customer first. The responsibility of most managers is to ensure that customers get the highest quality product or service that the company is capable of offering. When the customer’s needs are met and exceeded, bosses then look after the company. Margins must be maintained, profits maximized, and extra costs kept to a minimum. This is how businesses sustain themselves and are the reason that employees keep their job in the first place.

Meeting these two goals are not easy, but possible for most people. A manager can push themselves and their employees to meet the needs of both customers and the company’s bottom line. However, when balancing the needs of those two, the needs of the workers are often left out. Authorities are pushed to achieve, and therefore must push the workforce they oversee to do the same. This is truly where great bosses are separated from the rest because leadership skills are tested to the extreme. Managers need to maintain the customer’s level of satisfaction while producing income for the company and preventing employees from becoming overworked or having low morale. It is harder than it seems to do so, and that is the reason why it seems there are so many “bad” bosses out there. Those rare leaders who balance the needs for profits, satisfied customers, and happy employees are the good ones.

Businesses Should Use SMART Goals Too

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SMART goals are one of the best way to set, organize and achieve personal goals. Since the concept was first introduced in the early 1980s, it’s been imprinted into the brains of North Americans through schools, books and workshops. For those that need a refresher, SMART is an acronym for the qualities that goals should have. They should be: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. Using each category as criteria and as a guideline, broad goals can be outlined with detail and smaller targets can be set to reach the endpoint. SMART goals have proven very effective for educational, personal, and financial planning when used properly. Anyone with targets to reach should try the method, however, its use isn’t limited to individuals and small groups. Businesses and organizations can also benefit from the outstanding power and structure that SMART goals provide. Sales targets, projects, productivity, and quotas can be empowered using the 5-step outline. SMART can be used by all levels of employees and managers and offers a great way to maximize, track, manage, and review the targets that businesses set for their employees or for the overall company. Here’s how SMART goals can apply to the workplace and improve productivity.

S is for Specific

Without a specific desired outcome, it becomes difficult for businesses to set a goal and actively work towards it. The point of setting goals is to reach something at the end, not just to work for the sake of work. To set specific goals, organizations should agree on what is desired of a task, or what can be gained by having a continuous objective. Goals that seem general or broad to some of the workforce will limit their motivation to achieve, and therefore will be less effective.

For example, ABC Inc. realizes that employee retention and job satisfaction rates are dropping, and decide to make an effort to improve quality of their employment experience. Instead of aiming for “higher workplace morale”, a specific target would be to “grant employees more freedom to choose what they do in the workplace”. This allows ideas to come more quickly and will improve the speed at which goals are achieved.

M is for Measurable

Objective goals are the best way to measure, track, and analyze an overall goal. Using smaller “stepping stones” along the way, it can be simple and less intimidating to reach the overall milestone. Targets that can be measured on a monthly, weekly and even daily basis will provide a precise guideline for all stakeholders involved in reaching the big goal.

Measurable goals have small targets for growth that are reached in short fragments of time, ABC Inc. could make their goal measurable with short-term steps like: “in the first month, employees should be allowed to choose what times to come into work” with more stepping stones that increase each month.

A is for Achievable

Once the quantitative aspects of a goal have been laid out, it should be considered whether or not a business can use their resources efficiently enough to achieve the desired rate of success. It is important not to overestimate in this area because too much effort into an unachievable goal can be bad for productivity.

ABC Inc. could make their goal achievable by acknowledging the restrictions on employee freedom. Certain boring or repetitive, but necessary tasks may be left out in favour of more “morale-boosting” projects, but neglecting the tedious work can falter an organization’s success. To measure how achievable a target is, organizations should take into account how achieving this goal could affect other parts of operations in a negative way.

R is for Reasonable

The fourth stage of the SMART process is another where it is essential to accurately judge the capability of a business or department. Big, broad goals are great for marketing and for huge risk-taking companies, but the majority of businesses should be logical about the size of their goals relative to the timeframe given. A big, seemingly impossible target renders the concept of SMART ineffective. Improvement is the idea of goal-setting, not necessarily perfection.

ABC in. could make it their goal to pay every employee a 6-figure salary with unlimited vacation time and full coverage benefits, allow complete control over how much work is done, and leave the company’s fate in the hands of all employees. It would certainly increase morale, however,0 their efforts must be reasonable. such a tactic would likely mean the company wouldn’t be around much longer. Something like “the ability to come to work with a smile each day, have room for creativity and control over what they do, and have strong relationships with co-workers and clients” is a much more reasonable goal.

T is for Timely

It’s nearly impossible to spark motivation across an entire organization without setting some sort of timeframe or deadline. Each goal must have a broad timeframe, broken up into smaller stepping stones along the way. If the goal is ongoing, then certain deadlines for small aspects of achievement should still be set.

ABC inc.’s low morality is an immediate issue that shouldn’t have a deadline far in the future. To make the issue timely, they should make a measurable target in the next 6 months to increase employee retention by 50%, with a monthly increase of 7% to track their progress.