In the last month, the need to keep remote teams connected and productive has shifted into high gear like never before. The COVID-19 pandemic, which TIME recently called “the global work from home experiment,” has thrown remote work into the spotlight, with people and companies all around the world doing their part to flatten the curve. Whether your team has been spread out for a while or is currently undergoing trial by fire, the key to success is making sure everyone has the resources they need to collaborate digitally.
Microsoft Teams is a great way to keep team members connected, no matter where they’re working, with features like instant messaging and video conferencing. But Teams alone isn’t designed to facilitate project management, which is especially important when co-workers are spread out and working independently. Integrating cloud-based collaboration management platform like Wrike with Microsoft Teams helps keep workers engaged and productive, and allows easy visualization of projects and progress.
What helps workers get more done?
- Being able to access work at any time and work effectively from anywhere
- Having an easier and more effective way to collaborate in context across teams and stakeholders
Source: Wrike productivity survey
Turn chat into action
Adding Wrike to Teams makes it easy to transform conversations into structured work. Once you install the Wrike app, simply log in to your account to connect Wrike projects and tasks to Teams channels. Instead of discussing projects in one application and moving to another to see details and complete tasks, everyone can work together in real time, in one place.
Up-level your remote productivity and create a culture of virtual collaboration
Wrike can help team leaders keep a pulse on upcoming projects, so you can decide which ones to push forward with and which may need to be delayed or canceled given the current climate. Centralizing new projects in a shared workspace will enable you to get your whole team on board and aligned as you decide the best course of action. It’s also a great opportunity to evaluate your workflow management processes and determine what’s working and what’s not.
Start your free trial today to see how together Wrike and Microsoft can help you plan smarter, execute faster, and work better.
4 tips for bridging the gap
With this “new normal” of working from home, it’s important to make sure your teams understand that they’ll be held to the same standards as they would be in the office. This may require new technology, processes, and mindsets.
- For starters, follow a set schedule and create shared routines to keep everyone aligned. You might want to set a daily check-in meeting via your Teams video conferencing software to make sure everyone knows what they’re working on each day.
- Walk through tasks, due dates, and bottlenecks, and prioritize work by setting daily goals using Wrike's work from home template.
- While email reigns supreme in the office, moving everyone to Teams chat channels or a customized dashboard avoids miscommunication and keeps everyone on track throughout the day. And with Wrike, project managers can update details and team members can see changes as they’re being made. It’s an agile way to keep everyone on track, especially compared to email. In fact, Wrike teams have reported 90% fewer emails and as much as a 30-hour reduction in weekly meetings.
- Project intake is also challenging when you’re not in the office, and now is a great time to put a structured process in place. Start by funneling requests through a single channel. Wrike’s dynamic request form helps teams simplify intake, specify what needs to be done, and assign tasks. It all comes back to accountability and visibility. Plus, setting boundaries can help you focus on projects that are in tune with your business goals.
Popularity of remote work has grown 91% in the last decade
And there are plenty of studies and stats that prove the benefits of remote working. With medical experts unable to predict how long the COVID-19 pandemic will last, and some suggesting it could even be here to stay, making changes that empower your teams to collaborate better remotely is a smart business move.
- A Stanford University study found that remote working increased performance by 13%, and 85% of businesses say greater flexibility has increased productivity.
- A Regus forecast predicts that by 2030, the U.S. economy could see a $4.5 trillion boost due to flexible working.
Figuring out what works for your team now could put you ahead of the curve
The future of collaboration is a unified digital platform. Consolidating all your communication around projects in one place and connecting those conversations to tasks will help you keep your team on track, accountable, and productive. That’s the power of Microsoft and Wrike together. Visualizing projects helps you manage deadlines, milestones, and dependencies more efficiently, so you can keep everyone on schedule. Wrike makes it easy to see the big picture and zoom in on details, so you always know where things stand during this time of self-isolation – and for the long-term.
Start your free trial today to see how together Wrike and Microsoft can help you plan smarter, execute faster, and work better.
If you want to find out more about how Wrike can help your remote teams collaborate and communicate seamlessly, read more about our flexible work platform here.
