Content teams are an integral part of a business. They are responsible for brainstorming ideas, producing, and disseminating content. That content aids in the development of brand identity, customer relationships, and lead generation for companies.
Many content teams are becoming fully remote. And to manage your team, it’s important to scale project management to educate your target audience and convert them into loyal customers.
Managing a remote content team effectively increases quality content production, builds consistent brand awareness, and ensures a good working relationship among team members.
Benefits of a Remote Content Team
Cost-effective
In terms of overhead costs, virtual projects are less expensive to execute than conventional, in-person projects. Research has also shown that this cost-effectiveness does not affect the outcome of projects. For instance, digital campaigns have produced better results in terms of visibility and ROI.
Flexibility
Remote projects are not restricted to specific timeframes or models. This flexibility allows team members to work from their comfort zones, which improves their creativity and maximizes the impact of projects.
Diverse talent
Remote content teams are not restricted by location; therefore, they can hire candidates from diverse backgrounds. This diversity broadens the perspective of the team.
4 Strategies to Scale Project Management
Managing a content team remotely is not without its challenges; however, efficient project management can maximize productivity, encourage team members’ creativity, and achieve marketing goals.
1. Foster team culture
Your team will be more likely to support and collaborate with one another if there’s a strong working relationship. And to foster this relationship and team culture, you need to:
- Provide regular feedback to team members and show appreciation for work done.
- Have regular meetings to touch base with team members and ensure they have everything they need to achieve their objectives.
- Use conversation starters to encourage participation and provide a relaxed space for members to share ideas.
- Plan off-sites so that team members can meet each other in a setting other than the workplace.
2. Set clear objectives
You need to create a plan that outlines the objectives of each project. This plan specifies the responsibilities of each team member, so everyone knows what to do, when to do it, and where to do it.
“Create a framework for your team to follow. It helps with streamlining communication and encourages accountability right from the point of onboarding,” says Vanhishikha Bhargava, founder of Contensify, a B2B SaaS content marketing agency.
Sometimes, even with a clear plan, team members can default on their tasks or due dates. It is also vital to correct behaviors and establish boundaries.
3. Offer collaborative tools training
After onboarding new members, conduct training on the work tools your team uses. Allowing your team to figure out how to use these tools on their own may confuse them and reduce efficiency.
This training equips them with the knowledge to manage themselves and builds their self-esteem, so they can deliver projects as required.
You can also share helpful resources with them, such as brand guidelines and demos of your product or service. That way, they can understand the brand.
It’s integral that your content production is streamlined to meet business goals. It’s easier to help your team meet those goals with project management tools.
4. Be flexible with time zones
Your team members might be spread across different time zones, and while location doesn’t affect the quality of work, managing the difference in time zones can be challenging for a fully remote content team.
The best way to maintain flexibility is to schedule meetings at times when all team members can attend. Discuss meeting times with your team and allow them to come up with options for ideal timing. This way, everyone is willing to accommodate for the time differences.
There’s also another option for having real-time meetings. Luc Viterale, full-time project manager at Finder, says “using Vidyard or Loom has helped to reduce the inconvenience around time zones.”
These video tools allow you to record meetings, which you can then send to team members. This saves time while increasing team members’ productivity because they can listen repeatedly. The videos can also serve as a reference for future projects.
Project Management Tools for Remote Content Teams
Asana
Asana is not only a project management tool for remote teams, but also can be used to manage campaigns and creative production. It covers all aspects of project management to enable you to share projects, assign tasks, create milestones, and set due dates on content projects for team members. These features improve performance and ensure your team works effectively together.
ClickUp
ClickUp is an all-in-one customizable workplace. It is used to organize roadmaps, nurture talents, and enable content collaboration in one place. Its task management feature allows you to assign subtasks to help your team members complete their projects easily and enables you to monitor their progress on each stage. Also, it offers collaboration detection.
Trello
Trello has a pre-built playbook designed for remote teams and marketing teams. It helps your team get work done and keeps it organized as well. It offers features such as power-ups to link your other teamwork tools with Trello plugins for easy collaboration. This tool makes it easy to manage all your content projects in one place. It also provides automated views on team projects, allowing you to easily track your team members’ progress on assigned tasks.
Slack
Slack is a messaging space for members of a remote team to stay connected and build conversations. It uses channels and Slack Connect to enable collaboration among team members. It provides huddles and clips that allow multiple-person screen sharing for content teams to have an engaging co-working session.
Notion
Notion doubles as a knowledge base in addition to remote work management. Its Wiki feature enables team members to create and find content in one central location. That way, your team members can make decisions and share feedback quickly.
Project Management Helps Remote Content Teams
Project management is crucial to the success of remote content teams. It is also ideal to use the process that fits your team.
About the Author
Deborah Sabinus is a freelance writer for B2B brands. She specializes in bridging the gap between businesses and their audience through content. Her hobbies include traveling and reading fiction. Follow her on Twitter.
