COVID-19 crisis has shaken the world but it has changed lot many things which were never expected by business community in the world. Work from home, remote working, virtual trade fairs. Initially, Business leaders and employees both faced the challenges as transformation has never been easier.
How to lead teams?
How to grow business?
How to coordinate and allocate tasks among team members?
Would it be possible to do all the things virtually?
and endless confusions and questions…………….. Here are some tips to run a company virtually.
1. Use virtual meeting platforms
Just like for all of you for the past year, all of our meetings have always been run through video conferencing. There are several members of my team I’ve never met in person. Some because they live in other parts, some because they started during COVID, and others because I just haven’t travelled to their city since they started. As I’m sure you’ve experienced, video conferencing is awfully close to being in person. You still know a colleague’s strengths and weaknesses. You know what motivates them. If anything, it’s far more effective because you’re more in tune with them as human beings because you’re not physically together.
2. Schedule meetings every week for updates
Meet with your direct reports twice every week and meet with the entire team once a week. Unless you have some unavoidable situation, never miss those meetings. When we were together in an office, it was easier to miss or cancel those weekly meetings because you see and talk to your team constantly. “Do we really need an hour-long meeting? We just discussed that in the hallway.” Having intimate time together makes things work much better.
3. Set targets for work
When new people start, they always have about 30 days of bewilderment while they try to figure out if no one really cares that they took a two-hour lunch because they’ve started work at 5 a.m. all week. Everyone has very specific goals. We track against those instead of number of hours worked. Here’s another little-known secret: when people work from hom against goals, they actually work more and are more productive. Don’t wait until the annual review to see if people met their goals. Talk weekly about where we are and what still needs to be completed. Have a quarterly plan in one page. Keep it in a printed format on your desk.
4. Offer Flexi-working
Here, it is not about better health insurance or more against their retirement savings. It is about unlimited paid time off and four-day workweeks. You’ll find you have to force people to take time off, both when they’re sick and for vacation, but people love the idea of working for companies that offer flex time and unusual benefits.
5. Maintain Timesheet
To run a virtual company successfully, use the online time tracker for time entry and project management tools. Both will allow, at a snapshot, to see how people are spending their time, where we are at capacity, when it’s time to hire, and who is meeting—or exceeding—their goals.
6. Ensure transparency in meeting
It is suggested to begin with, “How was their week?” It gives an opportunity to everyone to talk about what went well and where there are challenges. Sometimes there are client concerns and other times it’s about the technology we’re using. It allows to keep a strong pulse on what’s really going on … even from miles away. Sure, there are challenges to run- a virtual company, just like there are challenges to having everyone in one space.
Add Value Consultants is a leading Management Consulting firm providing services in the areas of, Growth Acceleration, Strategic Consulting, Global Business Advisory, HR Consulting and Corporate Training.