Ever since the pandemic, more and more businesses have started to rely on virtual teams – and for good reason. The flexibility of working remotely appeals to many employees, and employers benefit from cost-savings and being able to hire from a larger and more global pool of talent.

The one thing you need to keep in mind however is that virtual teams rely on heavily on technology. That is why you need to make sure you have the right types of tools to run them effectively.

Communication and Collaboration

Communication and collaboration tools are essential for virtual teams. They are what allow such teams to keep in touch, host discussions, and ultimately work together on tasks and projects.

Some of the more popular communication and collaboration platforms nowadays for virtual teams include Zoom, Slack, Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365, Google Docs and Drive, Dropbox, and GitHub.

It should be noted that the focus of each of these communication and collaboration tools is different and you need to determine which is the best fit based on your needs.

Employee Monitoring

Employee monitoring software like Controlio are largely used to manage virtual teams. With the features of such tools you can track attendance, ensure virtual employees are working the hours required, and also measure their productivity.

A big part of the reason why tools like Controlio are useful is that they are a way to ensure accountability. When virtual employees know they’re being monitored they are more likely to adhere to company policies. On top of that the features in Controlio can check if employees are wasting time an or being unproductive.

It should be noted that the data Controlio collects reduce the risk of bias when it comes to managing virtual employees. That allows for evaluations and assessments that are fair and objective.

Project Management

When virtual employees are working remotely it can make it more difficult to stay on top of the tasks assigned to each employee, their progress, and how long it is expected to take. To solve that your best bet is to use project management tools.

Nowadays there are lots of different types of project management tools but some of the more popular options are Asana, Monday, and Trello. Each has slightly different features, but should help you to organize your projects, assign tasks, track milestones and progress, and monitor deadlines.

With the help of the right project management tool, your virtual teams will find it much easier to stay focused and on task.

Conclusion

By now it should be clear that all these types of tools have an important role to play and will allow you to run your remote teams far more effectively. That is why it is crucial that you take advantage of them and leverage their features to make it easier to manage your teams and their workload.

If you have the right tools and a proactive approach you should be able to ensure the success of remote teams and avoid many of the challenges that others may face.