The software development building can be troubled with the remote-related obstacles. Zoom fatigue, lack of syncing up, asynchronous working hours and no possibilities to chat while drinking coffee - these are only a few factors that can become problems.
The good news is that you can turn the same factors into the project’s superpowers. In this article, we disclose the practical tips that will level up your project management. Introduce them in your remote cooperation to achieve better results more quickly.
Tip 1. Don’t Be Afraid to Over-Communicate
The team that works in one office often relies on the office chats. But when you hire skilled remote developers working from home, you can rely only on digital means of communication. Meanwhile, the surveys show that nearly 20% of remote workers think that the lack of communication is the biggest challenge in their work.
To beat this challenge, encourage software engineers to share progress updates and summarize key decisions daily in a written form. In case of any doubt, you will be able to recollect information from chats. This practice is already successfully implemented in GitLab’s daily operations.
Tip 2. Make the Most of Your Communication and Management Tools
Sometimes a single tool cannot give you everything the team needs. It makes sense to create your own mixture of tools. However, it is important to standardize these tools when managing remote software developers.
The usual project management tools include Slack or Microsoft Teams, used for instant messaging. The task tracking is often conducted through Trello or Jira. Google Meet and Zoom are the common tools for video calling. To recollect the information from the calls, distributed teams often record meetings.
Tip 3. Take Advantage of Time Zones
How to manage remote developers who are located across several different time zones? It is a tricky question. To succeed in planning and executing, try a “follow-the-sun” development cycle. In this approach, the consecutive tasks are performed when an engineer in the corresponding timezone starts working.
Well established, this option will help you push code almost round-the-clock. To make it work, the developers hand off tasks at the end of the workday in each region. Remembering that it might be difficult to schedule meetings in these conditions, it is important to organize a comprehensive documentation exchange.
Tip 4. Reward Your Employees
Recognition of their input will naturally drive the retention. It can be a daily action, like praising during calls. But it can also be a spot bonus or an employee award for the most successful dedicated engineer. For example, Automatic sends personalized packages to top developers.
The statistics say that companies that have employee reward or recognition programs have a 31% lower workforce turnover rate. In turn, this saves budgets and time allotted for the sprint. You don’t have to conduct an extra round of headhunting and recruitment, and spend time onboarding and training new team members. It decreases the risk of running out of budget.
Tip 5. Schedule Everything
When you have a project’s roadmap on your table, it’s high time to continue planning downwards. It will be much easier to collaborate consistently and keep productivity at a high level with a defined structure of work.
Team leaders who know how to manage a remote team of developers contribute to the structured scheduling firsthand. Regular sprint reviews and fixed daily stand-ups help track progress and spot blockers early. The scheduled one-to-ones make collaboration predictable and make the team more confident.
Tip 6. Growth Mindset Encouraging
Sometimes, for the project’s success, it is not enough to effectively manage it. You might need to offer continuous learning and professional development options to increase retention and loyalty.
LinkedIn reported that 94% of employees would stay in the project longer if the employers invested in their learning. Some companies even reserve an annual budget for the employees’ professional growth. It not only adds to the retention, but also to the quality of the code they’re writing.
Use Tips for Managing Remote Developers Smarter, not Harder
Positive and effective communication, clear scheduling, and a well-defined employee retention plan are the cornerstones of a successful development process. If you know how to build them, your project wins.
These tips will add to the increased motivation and efficiency of the management process. Introducing them into the project, you get a chance to reach out to the market faster. Your clients will get an appealing and functional product, giving you a competitive advantage.
