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It is always a challenge to manage projects. To succeed, you must adopt the right methodologies, build and align your team members, and have clear visibility into project progress. If your team works remotely, status reports and other updates are crucial for keeping coworkers and leaders informed about work progress, blockers, and potential delays.
But what if the methods we were all used to are now outdated, and a thing of the past?
In this article, we will explore a new way that we believe will make your team more efficient while giving more precise insights into the status of your projects.
Before exploring a solution, let us go back in history to understand how project management techniques have evolved from linear processes to agile methodologies. In the past, projects were more linear: planning, executing, and finally delivering a final solution to the customer.
This was known as the 'waterfall method.' However, this process was proven too long and lacked feedback from users or stakeholders until the project was completed leading to poor solutions or failed projects.
The agile method was created to combat waterfall's linear and rigid nature. This project management process breaks up large projects into smaller, more manageable tasks, involving teams carrying out continuous collaboration and improvement at every stage of a sprint or cycle.
It opens the door for feedback to be acted upon quickly by making the necessary changes promptly. This allows teams to work faster, adapt quickly to changes, and improve their workflow. In essence, agile methodology is far more flexible and open.
The 'daily standup' or 'daily scrum' (the first check-in type) came from this process. It is a quick session or 'huddle' of team members answering questions about what they accomplished the day before, what they will do for the day, and any potential blockers in their way. The daily scrum helps teams align with themselves and project progress, like a huddle in a football.
Agile project management is a great way to ensure project success, but it can be hard to implement with a distributed team. The traditional daily check-ins or standups may be impractical or inefficient in their current form. Providing a consistent routine for teams to follow each day can become lost when you have a distributed team.
We faced the same challenge at Vineforce. So as a result, we developed our own way of check-ins and check-outs to support teams using agile project management.
We have redefined the concept of check-ins for remote work. When you and your team start your day by checking in, the first step in the process is a dashboard that prepares you for the day ahead. It allows you to have a structured starting routine to plan/start your day.
It entails the following:
1. Thought of the day - A bit of inspiration to start the day.
2. Tasks – Let you see every task assigned to you including what is new and past due.
3. Announcements - Keeps you aware of notable events happening in the company.
4. Holidays and Time -offs - Helps you plan workloads according to team availability.
5. Mood - Helps your teams cultivate a supportive culture.
6. Yesterday - Gives you a quick recap of your work summary, notes, and productivity from the previous day.
Checking out is equally important as checking in. We believe in ending your day well. Most times, employees are reluctant to report what work they did to their team or superior by the end of the day. Our check-out feature automatically creates a report for your day and allows you to modify it to your desire.
The check-out process entails the following:
1. Overall Progress - Your calculated work progress in percentage form based on what you had planned for the day.
2. Tasks - Shows all tasks you took part in, whether individually or with a team.
3. Personal Notes - Notes to use as reminders for the next day.
4. Work Summary - Here, you write a summary of the tasks you did, any potential blockers to progress, and your objectives for the next day.
5. Performance rating - This allows you to rate how productive you are so you can spot patterns.
6. Meetings and Hours - This displays the number of meetings you attended, and time spent working (Check-in and check-out times).
Vineforce's check-in feature allows your team members to plan for their day before they start, thus helping them to be more effective throughout the day. It helps to have a clear-cut vision of what you need to accomplish before your day begins because when vision is plain and clear, you move along quicker and get more done while saving time. The daily check-in and check-out add routine and rhythm, which cultivates a sense of standardized self-discipline for everyone within the group. In addition, this encourages team members to be more engaged and collaborative.
Our new way of checking in and out helps to improve streamline workflows. When managing a team from a remote location, it is essential to set clear goals ahead of time and review the progress made the day before. Submitting brief progress reports at the end of each workday ensures your team is advancing as planned or desired. A remote work environment increases everyone's sense of responsibility compared to a traditional in-office setting, where a manager would physically oversee or micromanage your progress. In contrast, remotely, the onus weighs heavily on the individual.
At the end of your workday, the checkout feature of the VF app lets you see what you have accomplished. A progressive percentage on this page will show how well you did for individual and team projects or tasks. This insight enables you to evaluate how you performed for the day and gives you the chance to think of how you can bounce back for the next day. This checkout function of the VF app gives a virtual "tap on the back" for a job well done each time a progress bar reaches a very desirable rate, which helps boost an employee's morale.
Transparency is essential to any organization, and the VF app helps maintain this among team members. All information about everyone's workspace is on the VF app, from the time you checked in, your mood or thoughts for the day, company announcements, upcoming holidays, and birthdays up to the time you checked out. Your colleagues will be able to see each other's summarized notes and progress in various projects, which secures a sense of accountability.
Trust and support are key factors for business success. Holding oneself accountable and transparent about work builds trust, fostering stronger working relationships. Nothing is more potent than a group united because of trust and support. When you trust your colleagues, you are more likely to support one another, and isn't that what a successful, cohesive unit is all about?
The Vineforce app is the best tool for leaders like you managing remote workplaces. Our tool supports the agile framework but replaces the need for daily standups with check-ins and check-outs instead. It has many advantages over the scrum process and its check-in/check-out feature solves the problem of keeping up with what everyone is doing daily.
Interested in trying out Vineforce? Book a demo.
