We all know that during the pandemic there was a massive shift to remote work. While many people have gone back into the office, many have not, or others have a hybrid schedule.
For remote workers, it can sometimes be a challenge to stay productive. There are lots of distractions in the home, and you don’t have your co-workers around to keep you on task. As a project manager, this is where your leadership skills are needed most.
As a certified Project Management Professional, I am here to share my productivity tips for working from home as a project manager:
3 Tips For Being Productive Working From Home
Get the right project management software
This tip is crucial regardless of whether you are in the office or working remotely. However, a team that works from home relies more heavily on these tools to understand what is going on in the project. There are a number of tools to choose from, including:
- Monday.com
- HubSpot
- Slack
- Trello
- Asana
Some may work better than others depending on what industry you work in.
Have open communication channels with your team
While remote work has many benefits, one drawback is that your team members can feel isolated. As a project manager, you want to foster a culture of collaboration, no matter what time zones your teams are in. The project management tools above will help facilitate this, but there are other things you can do too.
No one wants to be overwhelmed with meetings, but quick check-ins over video call are a great way to connect with the team. Schedule weekly check-ins with your team members.
Encourage work-life balance amongst your team
Another drawback of working from home is that work and life can end up blending together. This can end up leading to job burnout, and you don’t want you or your team members to experience this. Encourage them to take breaks as needed, create separation between their work hours and personal life.
A huge temptation when it comes to remote work is to micro-manage your team. Outside of the office, it’s hard to know of others are doing their work. However, you should avoid this at all costs. Instead, be open to work schedule flexibility if possible and focus on empowering your team instead of micromanaging.
In fact, you may not even need any of these tips. Studies have shown that employees working from home are actually more productive than those working in an office.
Leave a Reply