How to manage a project from home

These are undeniably challenging times for all professions spanning across all industries.

As a current or aspiring Project Manager, your skill and experience on the job would have prepared you to meet challenges head on; however, there is a good possibility that the team you manage may not be as well equipped for these times as you are; but that’s okay, because MOL are here to support you with that.

Please take a look at our tips below for managing your team and project whilst working from home.

Keep in regular contact with your team

The most important aspect of working in, or managing, a team is communication. Ensure your channels of contact are open and suitable for your team. That may be daily conference call meetings or 1-2-1 calls that help you stay on top of workloads and monitor the progress of your team members. It’s also a chance for them to fill you in on any challenges and to come up with solutions to any issues that may arise.

Use document sharing platforms to share the workload

The prevalence of remote working technology in the usual day-to-day business environment has changed significantly over recent years, and even accelerated as remote working becomes the new normal for many organisations. Platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Google Documents are making it easier for teams to share and contribute to workloads and documents whilst working from home.

Monitor and support the wellbeing of your team

We all know the value of a motivated and dedicated team. It’s important in this difficult time that you are aware of the individual challenges of each team member and support them accordingly. We previously published a guide on how you can support team members who may have conflicting priorities such as caring for children.

Regularly check in with your team and ask them to give feedback on any methods they are developing to help them cope and encourage them to talk to each other and share their ideas.

Most importantly, be understanding. These are unprecedented times and we are all facing challenges for which we could not adequately have prepared for.

Manage expectations

The spectre of important deadlines and requirements will always remain with us as project and team managers. It’s important that you are assessing these and where necessary managing the expectations of those you are required to deliver for.

We have all faced unforeseen hurdles that we needed to overcome. Be open and honest about these hurdles and be prepared to outline solutions for how you are attempting to manage them.

Don’t sweat what’s out of your control

You can only control the controllable, in this current environment there is a lot that remains beyond your power to manage. It’s important for your own wellbeing that you only take on the burden of problems for which you have the ability to influence. Prepare for as many eventualities as you can, but try to remember that this is something that is impacting every team in every industry.

Remember you aren’t alone. There is free help and support available for free from mind.org.uk and this can be useful resource to support your own wellbeing, as well as that of your team members.

If you’re interested in developing further project management skills, our Level 5 Live Online Project Management qualification, accredited by theChartered Management Institute is a great way to develop.