Many companies are currently following the local lock downs and keeping their entire workforce at their home offices. A large proportion of employees in America have been working remotely for many months, including employees who are doing their daily work remotely for the first time. Managers and executives are now faced with the challenge of leading their teams completely virtually and of making day-to-day business productive and efficient.
Thanks to the distinct home office culture at Computer Futures, our managers are already successfully leading their teams virtually. Only a few tools are necessary to make collaboration efficient and maintain the team culture. We have summarized the tools you need for this for you below.
Communication: Microsoft Teams
As the name suggests, groups can be created in Microsoft Teams . Members are added to this via the e-mail address so that the selected people can join the team. The tabular arrangement of the individual teams ensures an optimal overview of the groups that have been created. In the respective team area, documents can be stored, chatted with each other or notes made. Emojis, gifs and the like can be sent in the chat itself. Documents can also be stored in the group folders and edited by all members. A special plus is the good quality of the video conference function within the team. The application is also available as an app.
This tool connects a team throughout the day, in an uncomplicated and extremely efficient manner. Internal communication is maintained thanks to the chat function, which helps to maintain the team culture during these difficult days.
A popular alternative is the Slack software . The conversations take place here in channels, which can be organized according to topics, projects or teams, for example. Depending on the intended use, these can be named yourself. The shared information remains find able and accessible.
Documents: Google Drive
Google Drive is ideal for working on documents together or making relevant documents available to a specific group of people. You can create your own folder structure in Google Drive in which the documents are stored. The documents can be edited online and changes are saved automatically. Approved colleagues can use the comment function to leave comments and suggested changes in the document. Advantage: The online storage also allows large amounts of data.
The tool is very useful for teams who do not have access to the company network or who regularly need certain documents. By simply sharing, you can work efficiently and without barriers without causing a flood of e-mails in your inbox.
Organization and management: Jira
The project management software Jira facilitates teamwork by assigning projects that determine exactly who is doing what and for how long. By creating transparency, team managers can also see who is currently pursuing which tasks. Each project is created individually, milestones describe the process progress and the status shows which To Do's are still outstanding. The assigned projects with their subtasks not only make daily tasks transparent, but also create liabilities in the team.
The current situation demands the structuring and precise planning of the open and upcoming projects. Project management tools help to plan efficiently and to set priorities correctly.
Video meetings: Zoom
If you don't see each other personally in the office as a team, you should at least keep regular video contact. At Computer Futures, for example, the morning stand-ups, in which each team member presents their to-do's today, are held in a video meeting. In addition to Microsoft Teams, Zoom enjoys increasing popularity. Zoom Cloud Meetings offers high-resolution video quality and brings together up to 100 participants in the free version. However, the video chat length is limited in the free version, meetings can be scheduled for a maximum of 40 minutes. During the video chat, the moderator can share his or her screen or write notes on a virtual whiteboard. The tool can simply be saved as an add-on on the desktop or as an app on the smartphone.
Facial expressions and gestures are crucial in a conversation, emotions are better transported, which counteracts the risk of misunderstandings. Especially in times of social distancing, short video chats are a pleasant change and maintain that team feeling.
Online presentations: GoToWebinar
With GoToWebinar , companies can continue to broadcast their messages to large groups via live stream . With a number of participants of up to 1000 people, GoToWebinar enables companies to hold familiar lectures such as a monthly review, company updates and presentations in front of a large number of employees, even in times of Corona. The desired webinar can be set up in a dashboard with just a few clicks. The link to the webinar with the start time will then be sent by email. At a certain point in time, participants only have to click the link and they are automatically forwarded to the virtual webinar room.
Regular communication of corporate developments and decisions is particularly important in times of crisis. The tool supports companies in providing their employees with regular updates.
We support you
Do you have any questions about the organization of your teams? Contact us - we will advise you and give you tips on how you can manage small and large teams these days. We support you as usual with individual solutions for your success.
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