Top: 5 Best Management Methods and Tools to Manage Online Projects (2021)

Best management tools for virtual employees 2021: In recent decades, societies and the men and women who compose them have changed their attitude. The company has relaxed a lot in favor of employees.

Today, managers want to take into account the needs of each individual. Why ? Because they understood that with a minimum of consideration (more and more claimed), they will obtain much more.

Whether employees want to drop their kids off at school in the morning, work only certain days a week, or take long time off to care for a sick relative, managers are much more likely to do whatever they want. can to adapt to these needs.

This change in attitude (along with the changing nature of work, advances in technology and the reduction in management levels in many companies) has led to a new category of employees: virtual employees, passing most of their working time away from offices and factories, employees managed remotely, employees with flexible or arranged hours, and employees who work remotely from the comfort of their home.

In this article we teach you how to lead virtual employees, we offer you our list of the best team and employee management tools in 2021.

Management: Understanding and Leading Virtual Employees

With the proliferation of personal computers, both in the office and at home, plus an attractive choice of modems and communications software, the question is not whether your employees can work remotely but whether you are ready to allow them to do so.

You see, the problem of teleworking for managers does not arise in terms of technology but of personnel management.

Of course, these changes are not easy to implement. For managers who are used to having their employees on hand, ready to respond instantly to customer needs, managing employees remotely is somewhat overwhelming.

In this part, you will discover this new kind of employee and the best way to work with them.

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You will learn how to effectively lead employees who work remotely or benefit from flexible or arranged hours. Finally, you will become aware of the future of teleworking.

A new kind of employees in the company

Today, the company welcomes a new kind of employees: virtual employees.

What is a virtual employee?

He is an individual who regularly works for a company outside his office. Virtual employees are in addition to those who have accepted (and often demanded) certain alternative working conditions, including arranged or flexible working hours.

Work remotely, why?

More and more employees are opting for these alternative working conditions, which may include arriving and leaving the office outside of traditional hours or simply working from home full time.

A challenge for managers

Managing individuals who are not physically located at the company's headquarters is a real challenge, which requires a totally different approach from managers.

Whether employees are in other premises, in other countries or at home, whatever the reason for the physical separation between them and management, long-distance relationships make it difficult to monitor behavior and performance.

Managers need to systematically determine whether virtual employees are performing their duties as well as those in corporate headquarters offices.

Are you ready to welcome virtual employees?

Is your business ready to work with virtual employees? And you, are you ready?

Here is a checklist that will help you find out quickly :

• Your company has set criteria for evaluating the performance of its employees.
• Potential virtual employees have the equipment they need to do their jobs properly remotely.
• The work can be done remotely.
• The work can be done without permanent interaction with other employees.
• Potential virtual employees have proven that they can work effectively without daily supervision.
• Executives can manage and supervise employees based on their performance rather than through direct observation.
• The workplace of the virtual employees was examined in order to verify the suitability of its equipment.

Did you tick a lot of boxes? If so, your company is ready and able to implement alternative working conditions for its employees.

If you've left a lot of boxes empty, you're going to have some work to do before you can welcome virtual employees into your business.

The evolution of corporate culture

When many employees become virtual employees, managers are faced with the following problem: What will happen to the company's culture (and employee performance) if more and more employees work outside the office?

Indeed, a company's culture is largely based on the day-to-day interactions of employees. Those who work outside of these interactions and therefore do not take part in them, are unlikely to feel concerned with the culture of the company and are no more committed to the values ​​and goals of the company than they are. 'to other employees.

result: potentially less productive employees than others, whose team spirit and dedication are inferior.

Fortunately, there are a number of steps you can take to help your virtual employees to get involved in the culture of the company, to have a team spirit and to support the objectives of the company.

Here are some ideas:

• Set up regular meetings that all employees will need to attend, in person, by teleconference, or in an Internet discussion forum. Discuss the goals to be achieved and plan a time slot during which the group can resolve at least one of the most pressing questions, or more, if time remains.
• Create communication supports accessible to every employee.
• With the help of a facilitator, periodically organize workshops aimed at building the team spirit and confidence of all employees, virtual and non-virtual.
• Schedule regular group activities that can inspire virtual employees to meet, mingle, and get to know each other. For example, organize a lunch at the company's expense, a picnic in a nearby park, etc. - the possibilities are limitless.

As a manager, remember that virtual employees face problems that conventional employees do not know. For example :

• Virtual employees may think that they are not being properly compensated for the resources they bring (professional space in their home, computer, electricity, furniture, etc.).
• Virtual employees may feel that their superiors are not respecting their privacy if they are too intrusive. Remember, your employees are not available XNUMX hours a day, seven days a week. Stick to their working hours and use their work, non-personal phone number and email address to communicate with them.
• Traditional employees can be jealous of the “privileges” of virtual employees.
• Employees who work from home are more likely to be interrupted in their work by family obligations than traditional employees.

This does not mean that you have to give up on offering your employees alternative working conditions. Keep these risks in mind and make sure they are not a problem neither to your virtual employees nor to your traditional employees.

Remote management

The very nature of work has changed and managers need to adapt the way they manage their employees. How to monitor the performance of an employee when he has no physical contact with his manager for weeks or even months in a row?

Part of the answer lies in a return to the basics of human communication.

Take the time to meet

Nothing beats a face-to-face meeting to create a relationship of trust. Management is a people business. Therefore, you should devote some of your time to the people around you - not only when you have the opportunity, but when your employees are available and feel the need.

The more the distance increases, the more communication must increase

If some of your employees want to be as independent as possible and reduce their contact with you, others feel overlooked or ignored if you don't make the effort to communicate with them regularly.

The further away employees are from their superiors, the more effort both parties have to make to stay in touch.

Increase communication by regularly sending information and / or organizing more meetings.

Encourage your employees to contact you (it takes two to communicate) and multiply the meetings by calling different teams each time so that everyone ends up meeting.

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Using technology

Know how to use technology as a vector of communication and not just to distribute information: promote information exchange and encourage questions.

Create discussion forums that managers and employees can participate in, or e-mail newsletters that record all conversations, team progress, issues, and solutions.

To manage employees remotely, choose the strengthening working relationships and clear communication. Do not hesitate to reach out to others to set up a reliable communication network.

In the next part, we suggest the best team and employee management tools in 2021.

Best Management Tools to Manage Online Projects

Technology offers us a multitude of solutions to make our lives easier as HR professionals and business managers. Or at least she's trying.

It doesn't matter if you are migrating from an outdated system or looking to implement it from scratch for a new business. Sometimes the main challenge is to choose the right remote management solution among a wide variety.

Zoho Projects

Zoho Projects is a simple project and task management system that divides your large, complex projects into manageable units and schedules recurring tasks, dependencies and subtasks according to your deadlines.

Once projects are completed, Zoho Projects gives you access to detailed information presented in easy-to-understand tables and graphs, so you can report on your activities, track opportunities and see potential drawbacks.

It also offers a very competitive pricing system for small businesses. You can easily sign up for the Zoho Projects free trial at the link at the top of the section.

Bitrix24

Bitrix24 is a compact project management, collaboration and CRM suite that takes into account all parties involved in large and complex projects.

The key functionality of the system revolves around time management and time planning functions, which will not only help you meet your deadlines, but also produce detailed and accurate reports. You can use it to coordinate projects, schedules and tasks, and benefit from its CRM & communication platform to engage customers when they are concerned.

With up to 12 users on board, you can use Bitrix24 absolutely free.

Trello

Trello is what we like to call a user-centric software system because it offers one of the most engaging and interactive interfaces out there.

What is most specific is its unique smart card methodology and nearly limitless configuration tips that allow it to adopt even the most complex and specific projects.

Additionally, Trello connects both individuals and teams, and offers a variety of social interaction features that make collaboration more enjoyable.

It's also one of the cheapest and best integrated tools on this list.

Asana

Asana is another well-known project management and collaboration system that offers a user-friendly interface and is reminiscent of social media. Teams love the live activity stream that keeps them informed of changes and updates, and the ability to initiate private / group chats from the comfort of the same dashboard.

In terms of project management, Asana developers point to relationship and change management as the strengths of their platform, reminding users that they also offer the best customer support available in this niche.

With Asana, customers will also benefit from a dedicated success program and develop new project management and collaboration tactics.

Teamwork

Teamwork was designed for teams of medium and large companies working simultaneously on different projects, and therefore belongs to the group of feature-rich systems that facilitate data access and make metrics more understandable for different power users.

With Teamwork, you can organize your projects, teams, resources, calendars, and more with ease and speed, and make sure all team members are up to date with changes and updates.

Underneath the user-friendly and seemingly straightforward interface you will nonetheless discover a powerful risk and reward analyzer, and one of the most sophisticated forecasting mechanisms in the industry.

BONUS: Slack

Slack is a team messaging app that allows all members of a project to maintain clear lines of communication. Users of the app can receive notifications on their desktop when new messages are posted, integrate the app with office tools, and create custom channels.

Conclusion: Learn to say "Thank you"

Every employee needs the recognition of their manager. Just because an employee is working away from company offices doesn't mean you have to forget about them. Here are some steps you can take to make your virtual employees feel as valued as everyone else.

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Ask your virtual employees to let their manager and other team members know about their accomplishments, as these cannot be directly evaluated.

Pay particular attention to virtual employees in the case of a mixed team - which includes both virtual and traditional employees. Write down each person's accomplishments.

Make sure your virtual employees are included in any programs aimed at expressing your appreciation. Involve them in all activities just like everyone else.

Don't overlook the Internet's potential for recognition. Think of email or virtual flowers. Involve executives in the recognition process through teleconference calls, for example.

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Consider offering virtual employees items bearing the company logo (mugs, t-shirts, caps, etc.) to remind them that they are part of a team.

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