As the corporate world continues to move towards remote work and ecommerce in the wake of the COVID pandemic, project management departments need to evolve in order to support their teams from a distance. “Growing” means both in size and in ability, and here are 5 ways to help your PM team grow and adapt in a post-pandemic office environment.
Digital Evolution
One silver lining of the pandemic was a realization by many corporations that a majority of their employees can perform at high levels from the home office. This means more flexibility and job satisfaction for workers, but also is a big time money saver for business. Having a hybrid team of in-office and remote employees is not, however, great for project management. Luckily, many cloud-based programs became necessity during lockdown, and those programs make it much easier to track your team’s efforts and workflow.
Apps for your phone are available for many of these PM programs, making it even easier to achieve your project management goals while away from the office.
Enable Through Education
Knowledge is power, and encouraging your company to invest in you and your teams’ education will only result in a more capable workforce. Another realization that was caused by necessity during COVID was how successful distance learning can be, and for project managers, attaining a master’s in project management online has never been more accessible. If your company is not the type to invest in education, pursing this yourself is more realistic now given the flexibility that online school affords students.
Communication Training
More often than not, project success is dependent upon team members working together, and project managers keeping in constant communication with each other is paramount for timelines to align and remain realistic. With that, education in the form of communication training saves your team time and money, and allows for capabilities to expand. One of the most effective ways to enhance these skills is through project management certification courses, which not only focus on communication but also equip teams with the necessary tools to manage projects efficiently. Group courses or individual training sessions are available online, but depending on the size of your operation and the nature of the interactions of your PM team, training should be customized accordingly.
Diversity and Inclusion
In addition to being morally sound, workplaces that make conscious efforts to promote diversity and inclusion also tend to perform better and retain their employees longer. An inclusive workplace is a workplace that performs at a high level, and with the potential hiring pool for remote companies being, literally, the world, it is more important than ever to have a team who knows how to display inclusiveness and cultural awareness.
Continued Commitment
Any part of an employee’s day that is secondary to their job description tends to be sent to the backburner, even if it’s a required entity like a training session. With that, building a project management culture that focuses on these points and re-instills them often ensures that any new members of the team will be immediately groomed to have a growth mindset and communicate respectfully and economically with other members of the PM team, as well as the colleagues who are working on a given project.
Technology related to project management, like those mentioned in the first paragraph, is rapidly evolving as more and more companies are allowing employees to work from home. Keeping an eye on the tech offerings that are available to project managers is the best way to practice the mantra of “work smarter, not harder!”
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