Category: Distributed Teams

How to Use Trello for Project Management

Managing a team has always been a very tricky job. However, there are some things that you can do to get the most out of your staff. Today we’re going to learn how to use Trello for project management. This tool can help us manage all kinds of job responsibilities and tasks, regardless of how many employees are a part of your team.

Now when we’re talking about responsibilities, we’re not talking about a daily to-do list. We’re talking about job roles or the type of things that you might find on a job description. So without any further ado, let’s get into it. 

What is Trello?

In Trello’s own words:

“It’s a collaboration tool that gives you a visual overview of what is being worked on, who is working on it, and how far they’ve gotten.”

It’s essentially an online corkboard. It is used to organize “cards” into lists – these cards can be tasks, notes, projects, shared files, or anything else that can help you and your team collaborate better. The idea behind Trello is simple: effective team management needs full transparency over important tasks and flexibility to change or rearrange them if necessary. 

Trello will provide you with more:

    • Organization
    • Cohesion
    • Accountability
    • Sanity
    • Visualization

With Trello board at your disposal, you’ll be able to create order in your work by organizing it into a list of cards. You can quickly rearrange them if the situation asks for it. This makes it a great tool for team management, both in-house and remote. 

Trello will solve the problem of:

    • Long email threads
    • Unproductive meetings
    • Project clarification
    • Transparency
    • Absent-mindedness

If you’re using email or chat for task-based communication, Trello will prove to be a great replacement. Team members can learn all about a task just from reading a card. Plus, all discussions about a project can also take place right there. With all the information in one place, it becomes easier to:

    • Keep everything on track
    • Observe what is being done
    • See previous chats

Anatomy of Trello

Trello consists of three main things:

    • Boards: A Trello board is a big black space used to organize a project or process i.e. monthly tasks, department responsibilities, campaign launch plans
    • Lists: Trello lists are items that make up a project i.e. to-do list, completed tasks 
    • Cards: Trello cards make up a list and contain further details about a specific item

How to use Trello for project management

The not-so-well-hidden secret behind Trello’s massive success is how quickly it allows its users to customize it according to their needs. However, this open secret is exactly why Trello can be a tad bit intimidating at first. 

A blank Trello board can fill you with the exact same trepidation experienced when seeing a blank Word document. But where there is darkness, there is light. 

We’ll teach you some of the best Trello practices out there. Soon you’ll be a Trello expert in no time, allowing you to effectively manage your in-house and remote teams.

Upload a Unique Background to Your Board

Don’t let that this simple practice deceive you into thinking that its just style with no substance. 

Customizing your board is a productivity technique. How you may ask? Let us explain. 

How many tabs do you open in your browser? We bet that you open a lot. 

Simultaneously opening lots of tabs leads to inefficiency. These tabs are so small that you will need to open each one to remember what’s inside them. This is where custom Trello backgrounds come into play. 

Even when the tabs are small, you’ll still be able to recognize the Trello boards as the app’s website icon will look like the design of a board’s custom background.  

Be Clear About the Use of Your Boards

Before you make a board, be clear about its use. Don’t go crazy creating cards without creating a list first. 

Also, be clear about the point of your board. Is it being used to store information or track progress? 

A board consisting of information should have lists organized by topics. 

But if you’re creating a board to track some process or someone’s progress, it’s better to define each list as a different stage in the cycle. As Trello reads from left to right, you should place the first stage list on the left and go from there. 

Assign Big Projects Their Own Boards 

Don’t cram multiple projects inside one board. That’s a recipe for disaster. It will inevitably overwhelm your team members result in bottlenecks, lack of accountability and slower projects. 

To avoid cramming, create boards based on short-term projects and goals. An archive that project once it reaches its eventual conclusion. This will make it disappear from existence and you can concentrate on your next project. 

Each Board’s Workflow Should Be Clear

Plan your board in advance. You should know:

    • Where a card should go
    • When a card is ready to be switched
    • When a card is supposed to be archived

The workflow will not be smooth if your project isn’t planned in advance. To make things difficult, each team member will probably use the board in their own way. 

So how can everyone stay on the same page? Well, you can make the first list of every board an “About Board”. 

Don’t Forget to Use Trello with Another Tool

Trello is a great tool but there is no app in this world that can do everything. You need to use Trello with other tools like Google Docs and Microsoft Word. 

For example, if a card represents an article that is completed, attach that article so that other members can easily view it. 

Key Takeaways

Trello is a very powerful tool that can help you complete and collaborate on projects. It may look a little daunting at first but once you get a handle on the different functionalities, the app will make your life easier. 

If you found this article helpful, feel free to share it with people who may not know about Trello and its amazing features!

Additional Business and Data Privacy Trends Resources:

Want to learn more about Business and Productivity trends,

Employee Monitoring Software: How it Benefits Data Privacy

Learn effective strategies regarding data privacy include. Companies need to use encryption in every bit of data, end to end.

How does stripe work:

Stripe is an excellent credit card processor for online-only businesses. If you have experience as a developer then it’s very fast and easy to implement.

5 Rules to follow when managing Remote teams


Are you a manager struggling with managing a remote team? We are happy to help!

The future workplace is evolving, and the gig economy seems to be exponentially growing over the years. Work-life balance is of immense interest among employees in organizations, thus influencing retention rates. With preferences shifting towards flexible working hours, remote teams are becoming a significant part of our workforce.

Working remotely is relatively a new trend spreading across industries; It gives companies a chance to work with the best talent across the globe. However, while remote work provides ample benefits to employers and employees, there are also tons of challenges.  For example, gaps in communication might frequently occur, more distractions, scheduling and managing time.

Sometimes, remote employees struggle to understand the project approach and often companies are concerned about creating a corporate culture, that too, remotely.

According to Owl Lab survey, employees who work from home at least once a month are 24% more likely to feel happy and productive at work than their desk-bound colleagues and companies that allow remote work see 25% less turnover than those who don’t.

But how can you manage remote teams?

Let’s explore these 5 ways to manage a remote team and lead them to success from afar:

Hire those you trust, trust those you hire!

Yes, sometimes it can be hard to trust someone that you have never seen or met before. But the very idea of working remotely is built on trust, you can’t make it work unless you trust the person on the other end of the line.

Remote employees can bring a lot of benefits to the companies along with quality work. So remote employers should reciprocate with trusting, and a patient attitude towards their employees. On the flip side, they get to trust you.

We know, worrying about getting something done, is only natural but micromanaging and not trusting your employees to work independently is out of the question.

As a supervisor, it is your job to understand how to best manage your remote employees without undermining their autonomy and ownership over their work. Let them be accountable, let them think and work independently.

Empower them.  

What we are trying to say is; Trust the people you hire and then get ready for the fireworks!

Have ‘water-cooler’ communication chat-rooms

Again, as a supervisor, you need to be extremely good at communicating and understanding what’s happening within your remote team. Strong, effective communication is the key to success, and it is crucial for managing teams.

Coordinating and communicating the strategy with remote teams can be challenging. If not addressed properly, this communication gap can give rise to many unforeseen problems and in return, the progress may suffer. So it’s important you chat frequently.

Many companies are adopting live chat software solutions like Slack for internal communication.

So it’s better if you create a central communication ‘water-cooler’ channel for your remote employees where you can exchange ideas, greet each other, give feedback, share stories, in short, build relationships and then see how the communication flows!

Get Organized without losing it!

Getting organized is what’s important for the success of any business. Managing a number of projects on your own and working with teams across the globe can easily mess things up.

That’s why you need to have a proper structure. Set rules and organize data using a Project Management System such as Basecamp and make it available to the rest of the team to follow.

This way, you can see what others are working on, what’s in the pipeline and what’s done and delivered.

Arrange a Weekly Lunch n’ Learn session

Arrange regular meetings with your remote employees to see if all of you are still on the right page. These meetings will not only let you share feedback with your employees but also gives you a chance to say hi, to the people you don’t often get to see.

Moreover, the very idea of having a weekly lunch and learn session gives your remote employees a good chance to learn something new, share fun facts, or talk about their successes and failures.

Go time tracking (No Pun Intended)

One of the most common problems, when leading a team of remote employees is tracking time. If time is poorly managed, there is a good chance that the project may delay.

Because it’s not just about the final delivery, it’s about the quality as well and quality takes time. But the proliferation of tech gadgets and Time Tracking Software is making it easier for businesses to support remote teams.

It’s important to set clear yet achievable objects for your team and track their performance regularly. It will not only help you manage their time better but also they’ll be more productive.

Additionally, it gives them an opportunity to re-evaluate themselves, and analyze their abilities. At the same time, team leads can spot the weaker areas in their team members and suggest improvements. Tools such as Staff Timer App helps companies with trouble-free time tracking of their remote workers.
We know that…

… managing remote teams requires patience, time and effort. As tiring as the whole process may sound for both employer and the employee, but once you streamline a working system, running a remote team becomes effortless and beneficial for the business, altogether.

Do you manage a remote team? Or have you ever managed a remote before? What challenges did you face? Share your tips on how to build and manage a remote team in the comments section below!

Top 5 Collaboration Tools for Remote Teams

The upsurge in the market of Collaboration Tools for Remote Teams and employee monitoring tools suggests that long gone are the days when the employers were limited to the local talent pool. Today, companies and businesses do not feel confined to the 50km radius for hiring the employees.

The unfaltering connectivity has made possible for people situated thousands of miles away from each other to connect, collaborate and push towards common goals.

This new trend in the business world is supported by the many wonderful collaboration tools including online time tracking tools that we have at our disposal. These tools are crucial for a distributed team to survive.

Why Distributed Teams need Online Collaboration Tools

  • Lack of Proximity:
    Proximity is of great importance when teams want to work towards and achieve a common goal. People who are close to us inspire us and keep us motivated. And clearly, considering this point, distributed teams are at a disadvantage. Collaboration Tools make up for the lack of proximity and create a more human connection among the teams. While various online time tracking tools, help keep track of on-going projects.
  • Different Time Zones:
    When you are dealing with remote teams, you are dealing with people who come from diverse countries. The morning for one teammate might be the evening for the other. Nobody wants to work the graveyard shift every day. This problem is also solved by the collaboration tools that are available in the market today. Remote contractors work their part and update the online tools for the other teammates to find out whenever they log in to work. Hence, no matter what time zone the team members belong to, they can collaborate and deliver the results using the online tools. On the other, an employer can easily measure productivity through automatic time tracking systems, no matter the time.
  • Communication Gap:
    Good communication is the key to success for a team. If there is a communication gap in the remote team, people might feel disoriented and confused. Fortunately, this is not a problem today. Instant messaging services like Skype and real-time monitoring like Staff Timer App, have brought teams closer and made their voices heard, no matter how far they are from each other.
  • Lack of employee monitoring:
    The employee Monitoring tool is the key trick of ensuring the productivity of your employees and pushing them towards achieving the goals. Previously, remote employers found themselves handicapped when the question of Employee Monitoring came up. The situation has changed drastically. Many online Time Tracking tools and Virtual Office Softwares equip employers with employee monitoring tool capabilities.

Best Online Collaboration Tools

 

1. Highrise

Communication with employees can be messy. Communication with clients can be messier. And when the remote employer has to communicate with many employees and many clients, things can get confusing. But Highrise can rescue from all the hassle. Highrise becomes the personal database and online assistant for all the communication. And the employer can control the visibility of the activities by granting access to the employees so that they can assist the employers as well.

The user can also create and track the tasks for the employees through Highrise. It also lets him manage and follow the business deals with the clients.

So if you want to monitor remote teams and you want to be on top of every conversation, use Highrise.

2. Staff Timer App (employee monitoring tool)

Many times in the past, employers felt unsure about hiring telecommuters and remote employees. This is because of the limited employee monitoring capacity while working with remote teams. But now there is a solution.

Employee Time Tracking Software like StaffTimerApp solve all the problems related to remote employee monitoring. It captures screenshots of the employee’s screen after a regular time interval. These screenshots are then processed to calculate the billable and non-billable hours.

Hence, a remote employer does not need to fear being ripped for low quality work. Moreover, the employer can view the real-time progress and productivity of the employees by using the features of Instant Screen Capture and Real-Time Screen Sharing.

3. Basecamp

Working on a project while living away might seem like a bad idea. But it really isn’t. The problem of the communication gap is solved by Basecamp.

Basecamp allows all the team members of a project to engage in collective chats. This way, no one misses out on the important discussion and everything that’s said is on record. Basecamp also gives a common space for saving up the documents. There is no hassle of CCing everyone while sharing the documents.

With this tool, whenever a team member logs in, he can see who did what by when. It also lets the users make interactive To-do lists so that all the projects are under control. So BaseCamp is the ultimate Project Management tool for distributed teams.

4. BeeHopr

The phenomenon of remote work is very thrilling as it opens many doors of opportunities without crossing the physical boundaries. BeeHopr takes this up to another level by building a platform for online business networking. By using BeeHopr, you can meet up like-minded professionals from all around the world.

You can conduct business meetings online without actually leaving your home. You can further your dreams and business goals finding the people who are a great fit for your team.

So if you have a distributed business and you want to find the right employee, use BeeHopr.

5. Slack

Skype was the way to communicate a few years ago. Today, users want much more than the Instant Messaging feature of Skype. Slack provides all that and much more. With Slack, users can have common communication. They can search through the chats for relevant information. Users can create channels relevant to a certain subject.

They can also converse privately. It is a great platform for official communication for a Remote Team. The application is pretty simple to use and has applications for Android and iOS as well. Therefore, users can stay connected no matter where they go.

Conclusion

Using the right tools and mastering their use for collaboration can make the life of a remote team easier and simpler. Using the tools to their full extent can tremendously increase the productivity of the remote teams!

Additional Business and Productivity Trends Resources:

Want to learn more about Business and Productivity trends,

Strategies to Increase Employee Productivity in 2020: 

Employers need to prioritize efficiency. They should let employees make a list of daily, weekly, and monthly tasks. By creating a list, they will have a structure and plan to stick to. This will also give them a reason to chase and decrease their chances of getting sidetracked by irrelevant tasks.

10 Ways Managers Can Help Solve Employee Time Management Issues: 

Every employee has their own way of doing work. Some tackle the hardest tasks first and then move on to the easier ones. Others operate in the opposite way. If they’re completing tasks on time then leave them to their preferred pattern.