November 1, 2021 (Updated April 3rd, 2024)
How to manage a distributed team with Ayoa
Once upon a time, working with a team limited you to a physical place. Most work was done solely in the office and when you looked for a job you sought one in a location close to you. Luckily, in the age of the internet this is no longer the case.
After COVID especially, the world has learned the incredible possibilities of working remotely – it’s something which can be massively liberating, not only providing workers with increased flexibility but allowing companies to hire employees from all over the world, increasing their pool of talent. Of course, as great as remote work can be, it can still pose its own unique challenges for managers trying to run a cohesive, in-tune team. Without the luxury of being able to call a quick morning meeting or pop over to a colleague’s desk for a chat, keeping everyone on the same page can be more of a challenge than when working in-person.
The good news is that with the right tools and techniques, managing a distributed team well is entirely possible – keep reading for a full list of tips on how to manage a distributed team with Ayoa.
Keeping everyone on the same page
As they say, there’s no “I” in team, and in order for colleagues to work well together, it’s absolutely essential that everyone is on the same page. Long email chains get tiresome and confusing, while phone calls aren’t always possible when team members are situated in different time zones. So how can you make sure everyone is working together, regardless of when they login? First and foremost, you need a one-stop place where all key information, tasks and goals are scored. Working in Ayoa means there is one source of information for all team members. With features such as the Team Pulse dashboard, managers can see at a glance what each team member is working on and what they hope to achieve in their day. This feature eliminates micromanagement and ensures that each distributed team member can get on with their personal tasks while keeping sight of the work being undertaken by the team as a whole.
Strong communication
Communication is the foundation of every successful team. Keeping in touch isn’t only important for individual tasks, but for overall morale and clarity on what it is that’s motivating the team to keep going forward. Emails have been the dominant form of communication in workplaces for many decades now. This is despite the fact that they are long-winded, text-heavy and inconvenient to look back on when it comes to getting to work. After all, how often have you found yourself dredging through your inbox searching for a particular attachment or accidentally sent an email only to realise not all the correct people are copied in? Ayoa chat amends all that by offering a space for both group chats and one-on-one messages. The ability to delegate via chat means that managers can rest assured the conversation topic remains work-based, while employees can easily check their ‘Tasks Received’ column and organize any tasks sent to them into their daily plan. With everything from top-level communication for managers to individual task breakdown for team members, Ayoa perfectly facilitates seamless communication.
Work in ways that suit everyone
You can’t make a square peg fit a round hole no matter how much you try. For many, many years workplaces tried to force all employees into conforming into a single way of working. Of course, the general motivation for this makes sense – when everyone works in the same way, it saves on confusion with work spread across different areas and approached in different ways. Still, what works for some doesn’t always work for others. The best managers know that you don’t get harmony when everyone sings the same note. Instead, it is the varying skills and talents of each individual which comprises the strength of the overall team. The beauty of working in Ayoa is that its multi-view functionality means everyone can see the same work in a different way depending on the style that suits them. As an accessible tool, Ayoa is also suitable for neurodiverse teams making it not only flexible but inclusive too. No matter where your team might be, or what their work preferences might be, Ayoa therefore really is the perfect option for seamlessly managing and empowering a distributed team.
The all-in-one remote work toolkit
Ayoa is an all-in-one platform that allows teams to collaborate seamlessly while working from home. Integrations with Dropbox and Google Drive allow you to stay productive and avoid switching between apps.
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Caragh Medlicott
Caragh Medlicott is a freelance writer and interim Editor of Wales Arts Review. After graduating with a First-Class Honours degree in English Literature and an MA in Creative Writing from Cardiff University she began a full-time writing career in Wales. She is the author of several published short stories and was shortlisted for the Lunate 500 award in December 2020, and a finalist in Narrative’s 30 Below competition in 2021. She is a regular contributor to BBC Wales' The Review Show.