Managing a remote team in India can be a challenging task, especially for those who are new to the field. If you are a first-time remote manager, you may need help with project management, time management, and overall effective management.
There are other factors to take into account, too. The cultural differences, the language barriers, and the time zone differences can all pose significant challenges as you manage projects, time, and people. This article will explore all things management: from projects to people, and how the right tools can help you effectively manage your team in India and ensure they are productive and satisfied.
Here are five types of project management tools to help you manage your India-based team more effectively.
Communication Tools
There are many tools that can help you improve communication skills and avoid miscommunication among team members. While the right project management techniques are crucial for this, using the right tools is also key. The ideal tool will support your team in completing important tasks, facilitate conflict management, and help everyone stay focused. But what is the right fit for your project team?
Slack
Slack is a great way to talk with your team in India and improve productivity. Slack allows real-time communication by supporting direct messaging and group chats. You can integrate Slack with other tools to manage your India-based team, such as Google Drive and Trello. Slack connects employees to the information they need.
In addition to direct messaging, you can also host a Slack huddle. This is a great feature for voice and video calls. Through Slack, you can create various channels to focus on different functions of your business or project team.
You can also make channels just for fun to create avenues for colleagues to interact and bring their authentic selves to work. There’s nothing like a mid-day meme to pick you up in the middle of a workday – it’s also a great way to interact and get to know your colleagues in India.
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is another tool that allows for team collaboration in real-time and facilitates effective project management. Teams supports video meetings, screen sharing, file storage, and file sharing. You can also integrate Teams with other Microsoft tools, such as Office 365.
Unlike Slack, you can also host remote interviews or live webinars on Teams. If you want to expand your project teams in the next while, this tool might be for you. Microsoft Teams is a great communication tool that helps teams stay informed, organized, and connected, no matter where they are.
Google Meet
Google Meet provides a high-quality web-based video conferencing experience that can be accessed on any device for up to 250 people. You can sign in from any web browser, no software installation is required and it’s very user-friendly!
Google Meet is an easy way to host scrums, hold team happy hours, and and streamline project planning. It makes real-time communication a whole lot easier. Google Meet is also another way to host interviews or live webinars. With Google Meet, you can share screens, documents, and breakout rooms.
You can also record meetings and integrate Google Meet with other tools or applications, especially other Google applications, such as Slides, Calendar, Drive, Chat, Sheets, Docs, Gmail, and Calendar. Google Meet helps your team communicate and collaborate to improve team productivity. If your organization already uses Google Workspace, Google Meet is a great way to stay in touch with your team without too much hassle or setup.
Zoom
Zoom is another video conferencing tool. You can connect to Zoom via video, audio, phone, and chat. Unlike Google Meet, Zoom is cloud-based, has many more features, and can integrate up to 1000 tools and applications (such as Dropbox, Zapier, Calendly… to name a few!). On Zoom, you can host breakout rooms and record meetings for free too. These features are only available on Google Meet’s paid plans.
If you are worried about security, Zoom is a highly secure platform that can host up to 1000 people in a call. In Zoom, you can create waiting rooms for attendees and password protection for more secure Zoom sessions. With these new security measures, you can feel confident that your meetings are always private and secure.
If your workplace is not integrated with Google, you could consider incorporating Zoom! Zoom is a great tool that can host larger team meetings and live webinars – it makes real-time communication simple. Many managers also use Zoom for interviewing potential candidates. All in all, Zoom is a great tool for effective project management.
Loom
If you’re in a different time zone than your India-based teams, you may need to work asynchronously. All the tools discussed above are meant for synchronous, real-time communication and collaboration, but if you prefer or need to communicate asynchronously with your team India team, use Loom.
Loom is a video messaging platform that allows you to record shareable videos. Whether you are recording a tutorial, presentation, project update, or a message to a coworker, Loom helps you get your message across to the right people no matter what your work days look like or the time zones you are all working in.
In Loom, you can create a workspace, or multiple workspaces, to share these videos. Before sharing them, you can edit them too. Loom is a great communication tool for project managers who need to effectively work with an asynchronous team.
Project Management Tools
Project management is a critical aspect of effective project execution. Project management gives you the framework and organization needed for your team's efforts to be successful throughout the project life cycle. Project managers will find these tools helpful for project portfolio management, project monitoring, and ensuring project deliverables. There are certainly project management types and ways of managing projects, so the ideal tool for you will depend on your team scale and project objectives.
Asana
Asana is a simple project management solution that helps in assigning specific tasks, defining workflows and setting objectives, and tracking their progress. Asana supports creating a project plan and defining deadlines in multiple views. Asana can be integrated with 200+ other tools like Slack and Google Drive.
In Asana, as a project manager, you can use in-app direct messaging to set priorities and manage each project phase. You can break down one task into sub-tasks and also have a personalized list of daily tasks. However, you cannot assign multiple people to a single task. While this is so, Asana is also free for up to 15 people! If you are managing a small team in India and want a more simple or traditional solution, this could be ideal.
Trello
Trello uses boards for program management and tasks. This is known as the Kanban method. In Trello, you can add comments, attachments, and task due dates. There is a feature for visualizing project progress. Trello also has Power-Ups to customize boards and automate processes according to your team’s needs.
There are no limits on the number of members in a workspace in Trello. You can also integrate Trello with 350+ tools like Slack and Google Drive. However, unlike Asana, you can't assign tasks to individual people on Trello. You can only tag and notify members about task progress.
With this in mind, it is important to consider the degree of collaboration your team needs to be successful in each task. This will help you consider if Trello is the right project management tool for your team in India.
Monday.com
Monday.com is another project management tool for your team in India, especially if it’s a sales team. Monday.com has pre-built products for sales, marketing, and work management. Developers can also use Monday.com to track bugs.
On Monday.com, you can automate tasks and communication directly in the software. This eliminates the need for lengthy emails or to move important documents. You can also create workdocs on Monday.com.
While Monday.com is intuitive and has great features, it can only integrate with 70+ other tools. When you are considering Monday.com, make sure your tech stack is part of their integration gallery. Monday.com has a forever-free plan for teams of 15 people or less.
JIRA
JIRA is an excellent agile project management tool for software development teams, product management teams, and more. With JIRA, you can track bugs and issues, manage the entire project lifecycle, and automate workflows how you want – you can customize these processes.
If you are not managing a technical team, this may not be the project management tool for you. JIRA was built for scrum management. Therefore, it can be complex, and it may take a long time to learn how to use it efficiently. There might be a better fit for some teams. Furthermore, collaborative features are limited, and load times are longer than other project management tools.
If you are considering JIRA, you should keep in mind what the function of your team is in the organization and whether you can collaborate on JIRA. Choose a project management tool that sets your team up for success.
Notion
Notion is a multipurpose AI-powered workspace that can also manage projects. Notion has ready-to-use templates to track tasks and manage projects from end to end.
Notion is extremely flexible. You can use Notion to create roadmaps or project plans, write to-do lists, create tasks or a database, build Kanban boards, and create and store documents – all of which can be useful when managing a team in India. You can also customize it to your team’s preferences. It’s very configurable.
However, it may be too flexible and needs more communication features. While Notion is powerful, it can also be chaotic. The options may be overwhelming, and you must find a way to streamline project management and other processes since there is no set path. There is also no reporting or goal tracking.
Nonetheless, it is a very cost-effective way to manage projects. It is easy to use and saves time. You can also view Notion on various devices easily.
Team Collaboration Tools
Looking for a space to collaborate and document ideas, processes, and projects? Team collaboration tools are different from project management tools — there is less need for reporting or goal tracking. Instead, the focus is on ideating, brainstorming, and you guessed it, collaborating!
Notion
We just discussed Notion as a project management tool, but it’s also a great team collaboration tool. You can create wikis and create notes on your personal or workspace. You can also share notion pages with non-members. You can share them with clients, potential partners, or the world!
Notion is a great way to brainstorm and document processes that you can share easily within and beyond the organization. Notion pages also sync in real time. This makes it easy for teams to collaborate no matter where they are, when they are working, and what device they are on.
There are many ways to communicate asynchronously and synchronously. Notion’s goal is to keep teams organized to cut down meeting times, ensure remote teams can access the information they need around the clock, and meet goals and deadlines. This is when Notion’s capabilities and flexibility come in clutch.
Notion is particularly useful for asynchronous teams. If Notion is on your mind, consider what your team’s working style is and whether Notion is a good fit for your team’s nature of collaboration.
Coda
Coda is another great tool for asynchronous and synchronous team collaboration. Coda’s team hub is a great place to create and store important resources, discuss projects, and communicate where you are with your tasks. You can consolidate all your assets, workflows, and discussions.
Like Notion, Coda is very powerful and flexible and can integrate with 1100+ tools and applications with a click. It can be overwhelming, but Coda also helps you save costs on tool sprawl. With Coda, you can condense multiple productivity tools into one!
What is the difference between Notion and Coda? While they’re both collaboration platforms, Notion is focused on organization, while Coda is focused on documentation. This is something to keep in mind when you are deciding on a team collaboration tool!
Confluence
Confluence, like JIRA, is an Atlassian product. However, unlike JIRA, Confluence was built to help remote teams share knowledge and collaborate without focusing solely on scrum. On Confluence, you can build, organize, and collaborate from anywhere!
Confluence connects ideas between team members and helps teams come to an informed decision by providing an open space for deliberation. Confluence is a central hub for team resources, too.
Confluence is one way to bring everyone on the same page. Confluence also has many pre-made templates for strategic planning, status updates, etc. Confluence is purely for knowledge sharing, so when you are considering Confluence, make sure you have another project management tool that can integrate with Confluence! Many technical teams use JIRA and Confluence side by side.
Miro
Looking for something more visual? Miro is a visual collaboration platform built for remote and hybrid or asynchronous and synchronous teams. Miro’s whiteboards are your team’s blank canvas to create the next big idea. Here, you can create, collaborate, and connect.
Many companies use Miro boards to brainstorm alongside a video conference or to simply jot down ideas asynchronously. You can also use Miro boards to keep an idea list going so that you can refer back to it when you need new concepts or campaigns. Miro boards are great for marketing, communications, UX, and graphic design teams.
If Miro is on your mind, you should consider whether it is a good fit for the team you are currently running. Collaboration tools should help you reach your bottom line quicker, not slow you down.
Effective Management for Performance and Employee Engagement
Engagement differs greatly from communication. Your team may communicate every day, but are they engaged? Engaged employees are happy employees who perform better and stay motivated. It's important to create a process that will enable you to develop more opportunities and better engage employees throughout your projects. That’s why you should give these performance and employee engagement tools a try.
MyZenTeam
MyZenTeam is an excellent tool for encouraging employee engagement within Slack. MyZenTeam has created Slack engagement bots to automate custom greetings for workaversaries and birthdays on Slack. With this automation, your team will always remember a birthday.
MyZenTeam’s Slack engagement bots also help teams celebrate each other and each other's success! There is a Slack bot to remind members to give kudos and also reflect on what or who they are grateful for in the work week.
On top of that, there is a Slack engagement bot to get to know your colleagues better. You can create a question bank and automate questions with MyZenTeam’s Slack bot to get to know what your colleagues' favorite pizza topping is, or whether they prefer traveling to big cities or exploring nature. You may be surprised by some of the answers. You can customize how often this happens in a week.
If you are trying to give your Slack workspace a boost in engagement. MyZenTeam is the solution for you.
15Five
15Five is a performance management tool that encourages employee engagement through its feature, High Fives. This feature helps managers and employees recognize each other’s achievements and celebrate wins together. Employee recognition motivates employees to do the good work that they are doing. This promotes a positive culture of appreciation within a workplace – remote, hybrid, or in-person.
15Five also encourages performance management and employee engagement through regular check-ins. MyZenTeam also has this feature. This offers management insight into how an employee feels daily and how to keep them engaged by asking employees to fill out a simple 1-minute survey. These check-ins are also great for managing performance.
If you are a manager looking for actionable insights, 15Five is a great performance management and engagement tool. You can back up your team management with data and make the best decisions to maximize performance.
CultureAmp
Want to back employee engagement with even more science? CultureAmp offers ready-to-use surveys, benchmarking, turnover forecasts, and more. With these features, you can establish a culture of accountability and openness where your employees can express themselves and realize how they can contribute to positive change.
On the performance management side, CultureAmp offers OKR tracking, check-ins, and skills coaching. This helps managers identify areas of improvement and empowers employees to achieve more.
You can also use powerful insights to ensure managers like yourself know how to support their staff. Use research-supported information and observations to make informed decisions for your team to maximize performance.
As a manager, you are an extension of your company’s HR team with CultureAmp. These insights will be valuable in cultivating a positive team culture and effective management.
Time Management Tools
When managing a distributed team in India from abroad, time management skills are crucial. Good time management can make all the difference in your successful project completion and reaching your project goals. Here are some tools to help your team manage time effectively across time zones.
Clockify
Clockify is a great time-tracking tool that helps with time management. You can track how much time you spend on various projects, so there is no wasted time. This gives you a brilliant insight into how productive you and your team are and how time could be spent better otherwise.
There are different features to track time, such as a calendar, timesheet, etc. You can track time your way. It can also help you block time with its timer feature so that you can multitask. The best part? Clockify is free, and there are no limits to users.
Team Timezone
Team Timezone is a web app that supports distributed remote teams in different time zones. At a glance, you can see where and when everyone is and don’t have to bother doing any time zone math. So, this is ideal to avoid poor time management and manage the entire team's time effectively.
This helps managers schedule meetings across different time zones and adjust for daylight savings. This web app also integrates with Slack, so updates are automatic. This is an excellent tool for planning team meetings or bonding sessions across time zones, making time management much easier.
LeaveDates
We’ve talked about time tracking during work hours, but what about tracking vacation time? LeaveDates is a leave management system that makes annual leave planning easy. No one wants to be stressed before going OOO (Out of Office).
Vacation management is an important aspect of time management. We all need breaks. As a manager, this is an excellent tool to ensure that vacation is taken in non-peak periods without conflicts in roles. It will also avoid time constraints for your ongoing projects and you'll spend less time on tracking and more on productive tasks. This easy-to-use platform is free for up to five users.
Manage Your Team in India with the Right Tools
Managing a remote team in India can be easier with the right tools. The tools mentioned above can help in:
- Communication
- Collaboration
- Project management
- Performance management
- Employee engagement
- Time management
This makes your job as a manager much easier and more efficient. Want more tips on how to manage your team in India effectively?
Here are some resources you might find useful:
- How to Build an Indian Remote Work Policy
- Have a remote team in India? 5 things that can land you in hot water.
- Reimburse your Indian Team's expenses Instantly
- Looking for an AI Developer in India? Use an EOR.
Disclaimer
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