Your remote team is struggling to meet deadlines. What can you do to help them stay on track?

•Improve communication and transparency. Have regular check-ins, both one-on-one and as a team. Discuss progress, obstacles, and plans openly. •Look at resource allocation across the team. Re-prioritize and redistribute work if some members are overloaded while others have capacity. •Check in about roadblocks early and often. Don't wait for members to miss a deadline before you find out. •Build relationships and trust between team members. Remote work can feel disconnected, so spend time allowing team members to know each other. •Allow for flexibility in working schedules when possible. The key is facilitating collaboration and communication, providing project clarity, and supporting team members to set them up for success.

To help my remote team stay on track with deadlines, I would firstly ensure clear communication of expectations and deadlines for each task or project. Secondly, I would encourage regular check-ins and updates to monitor progress and address any issues promptly. Thirdly, I would provide necessary resources and support to overcome any obstacles hindering productivity. Additionally, I would foster a collaborative and supportive team environment where members feel comfortable seeking help or guidance when needed. Finally, I would lead by example by demonstrating dedication to meeting deadlines and maintaining accountability within the team.

Maintain frequent check-ins for progress sharing of on your problem statement. Utilize appropriate tools and channels to maintain effective communication (best suited with your team). Ensure collaboration among remote team members.

Establish regular check-ins: Schedule regular virtual meetings to discuss progress, address any challenges, and provide support. These meetings can help keep everyone accountable and aligned.

Schedule regular team meetings to discuss progress, challenges, and upcoming deadlines. Use video calls to enhance communication and maintain a sense of connection. Leverage collaboration tools such as project management software, messaging apps, and video conferencing platforms to facilitate communication and seamless collaboration. Ensure that each team member has a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities. Clearly communicate expectations for tasks and deliverables.

Ensure that communication channels are open and transparent. Regularly check in with team members to understand their progress, challenges, and concerns. Clarify expectations and provide updates on project timelines.

Gather the team very early on in the discovery process, you should include team members right as you document insights from customer interviews so you can share the problems to be solved and the team can ask clarifying questions.

Meeting deadlines can be challenging for both remote and in-person teams. Often, individuals encounter difficulties in their personal and professional lives; sometimes, deadlines are unattainable, or the team may not be collaborating effectively. As a first step, I recommend employing tools like the 5 Whys technique to identify the root cause of the problem. Next, keep abreast of team tasks, impediments, and focuses through daily meetings. If the company hasn't implemented daily meetings yet, try scheduling a 15-minute timebox with your team for one week as an experiment, and inquire if and where they need support. Observe any improvements, make the necessary adjustments, and then repeat the process the following week.

Firstly, you will have to identify why there are delays in the first place. Is it because of poor communication of requirements or lack of adequate resources or anything else. Once you understand the cause of delays, begin to address them in the decreasing order of positive impact they will have towards the output of the team.

There will be instances where either you or the project manager miscalculate the bandwidth of the team or the scope of work. Particularly with complex projects, it’s essential to adopt a flexible approach to organizing sprints or timelines. By incorporating buffers or additional time into the schedule, you provide the team with the necessary flexibility to address any unforeseen challenges or delays while still maintaining overall project momentum. This strategic allocation of time ensures that even when milestones aren’t completed as initially anticipated, the team has the opportunity to regroup and deliver without derailing the project timeline.

Work with the team to prioritize tasks and set realistic deadlines. Consider the team's capacity and workload to avoid overcommitting.

1. Break it down: Overly ambitious goals are demoralizing. Small, achievable milestones boost motivation and make progress visible. 2. Be realistic: Collaborate with the team on timelines. Their input leads to better buy-in and more accurate estimations. 3. Celebrate progress: Publically acknowledge milestones met – the little wins keep morale high.

Having worked in multiple high-achieving remote teams, it is crucial to set *realistic* goals. This can be done by ensuring that all parties who would be required to work are a part of the goal-setting process. For instance, if a designer is working with a PM, the PM must consult with the designer before giving them a deadline for work. This would give the designer a higher sense of ownership over their work, fostering better outcomes.

In order to set realistic goals, it's important to have a clear understanding of your team's capacity, including the number of hours they can dedicate. Additionally, it is advisable to incorporate a buffer of approximately 15-20% to account for any unforeseen obstacles or delays.

Ensure that objectives are well-defined, achievable, and aligned with the team's capabilities. If necessary, adjust deadlines or break down tasks into more manageable components.

Its always a balance between the goals leadership sets and what the team can achieve, never just hand out deadlines, as for feedback from the team, your job is to negotiate for the team, not demand unreasonable deadlines.

Ensure that team members have the necessary resources, tools, and support to carry out their tasks effectively. Address any resource constraints promptly.

Provide support and resources: Ensure that team members have access to the resources, support, and training they need to complete their tasks effectively. Address any obstacles or challenges they may encounter promptly.

When a product succeeds is because of the hard work of the team, when the product fails, is the failure of the product manager. Always pass down the successes to the engineering and design teams, it is easy for the PM to take all the glory.

You foster trust by genuinely caring about your peers and not shying away from the hard conversations. Trust is built when you have a hard conversation with the team and they know you are not trying to be an asshole, you just deeply care about them. You have to take the time to show that you indeed care about them.

Empower team members by delegating responsibilities based on their strengths and expertise. Trusting your team can boost their confidence and performance.

1. Utilize the right tools: Project management platforms, shared calendars, and video conferencing make virtual collaboration smoother. 2. Encourage peer support: Teammates can help each other with troubleshooting, keeping small problems from becoming big delays. 3. Trust is foundational: Micromanagement kills remote productivity. Trust your team with autonomy while providing the structure they need.

In addition to empowering and supporting your remote team, it’s crucial to conduct regular sprint retrospectives to foster continuous improvement and team collaboration. Sprint retrospectives provide a structured opportunity for the team to reflect on what went well, what could be improved, and any actions to take moving forward. By encouraging open and honest feedback, you demonstrate a commitment to listening to your team’s insights and addressing their concerns. Implementing the insights gained from retrospectives helps refine processes, enhance team dynamics, and optimize performance. Moreover, it reinforces a culture of learning and adaptation, contributing to the overall success and well-being of your remote team.

Recognize and celebrate milestones and achievements. Positive reinforcement can motivate the team and create a positive work atmosphere. Provide opportunities for skill development and training if needed. A well-equipped team is more likely to meet deadlines efficiently.

A streak of missed deadlines is often a red flag for systemic issues, such as overestimation, gaps in scoping, or even not accounting local holidays. Then, step back and review the process: 1. Dice each behind schedule project in retrospective, looking beyond just execution mistakes, but to planning hiccups, scope slip-ups or even the quality of work. 2. Map out your project pipeline from the big idea to the final wrap-up in blocks and mark the failures found in retro. 3. Redesign the process, not shying away from major overhauls (like changing to dual track agile) or tiny tweaks (reducing tasks into two-day chunks). 4. Trial it in upcoming projects. If it works, great—you've set a new standard! If not, repeat!

Remote teams missing deadlines? Help them: 1. Clarify expectations: Goals, timelines, deliverables. 2. Open communication: Regular check-ins, and address roadblocks. 3. Identify root causes: Workload, technical issues, external factors. 4. Prioritize & break down tasks: Manage work efficiently. 5. Support & motivate: Resources, training, celebrate achievements. #productmanagement #remotework #teammanagement

There might be too many distractions to stay focused. It helps to clearly define deep work times and keep them free from meetings, interruptions in slack or other messaging apps and turning off all notifications (Email, Slack, WhatsApp, etc...) for the duration of those times. Setting these times early in the day and ideally at the same time for all team members really helps to get work done.

The most common cause that introduces delays is poor prioritisation or frequent changes in the priorities. This causes team to lose momentum and constantly change gears and probably grow confused about the final deliverables and thereby miss deadlines.

One thing I’ve found helpful is the “Forest” App - it uses the Pomodoro Technique where you work in 25 minute undisturbed intervals and grow trees in your virtual forest 🌳 The trees die if you allow yourself to get distracted and you can connect with your team so it’s a visual to help the team increase dedicated working time and productivity. You can even plant real trees through the app, as well as have some fun.

Consider offering flexible working hours if feasible. Allowing team members to adapt their schedules can contribute to improved work-life balance.

Use project management tools: Utilize project management tools and collaboration platforms to track tasks, deadlines, and progress. Tools like Trello, Asana, or Jira can help streamline communication and ensure transparency.

Assess the overall workload and deadlines. If necessary, prioritize tasks, delegate responsibilities, or adjust timelines. Also, consider external factors that may be affecting the team's productivity, such as personal challenges or external disruptions, and address them appropriately.