Today, the majority of brand managers in the fulfillment of projects on brand creation, brand promotion, brand rebranding, etc. mainly rely on cooperation with remote employees (freelancers) – designers, copywriters and programmers.
Managing the “remote work” of a team of freelancers is a lot of work!
In order for the business to grow, and to successfully implement each new project – the brand manager needs to create a “team” and properly organize remote work!
The following are useful tips on how to organize remote work:
- Team building rules.
- Allocation of roles in the team.
- Setting goals and defining project objectives.
- Creating a favorable microclimate in the team.
- Employee motivation system.
- Difficulties in building a team.
- “Team Wheel”.
The ability to work in a team and manage projects is a valuable skill for employees in any field, but few people possess it. How to organize teamwork? How to create a team that would pursue common goals and work together for the good of the business? These are the questions every modern brand manager asks.
Teamwork is more organized, more adapted to the implementation of business strategies and maximizes the useful effect of the tasks performed, in addition to improving the microclimate within the company.
To create a strong team of freelancers to fulfill the project, it is quite difficult, because the human nature is not inherent in such interaction.
A team is an artificially created organization of people, usually for a limited period of time, to achieve a certain common goal.And yet, let’s get back to “How to create a team?“.
First of all, three questions need to be answered:
1.For what purpose it is necessary to organize teamwork?As it is known – as common joy and common grief unite, so with the goal – a common goal unites, if it is clearly defined and each member of the team understands it and knows the ways to achieve it.
2.Who is the “leader”? There will be no team until a leader is chosen who can manage the process, distribute tasks and coordinate the work of the team. Who the leader will be and what his/her management style is.
3.What criteria will be used to assess the effectiveness of teamwork? Such criteria can be: interpersonal and intergroup relations of team members, their perception of the company’s values and mission, deadlines, etc.
Only after getting answers to these questions can you move on to the actual team building.
The following rules are mandatory when creating a team:
1.Thetransition to teamwork should occur at two levels: informational and communicative:
The two-tiered transition increases the efficiency of information assimilation and problem solving.
2.Self-improvement of the manager. The manager should change his habitual behavior and gradually come to the team management style.
The team style of management does not mean that the manager can remove all responsibility for the decisions made and now decisions must be made by the whole team, it means that the manager passes on the discussion part of the decision, but the responsibility for the decision still remains with him.
3.Graduality. A team cannot be built quickly, all changes in the work process should be introduced gradually. Employees are accustomed to certain traditions of solving issues and communication, so the transition should be systematic.
Main elements of the team
1. Role allocation
Renowned business consultant Itzhak Adizes has identified 4 main key roles in the management process:
- Results producer or performer. This is a person who creates a product or services in the company, knows all aspects of production technology, and implements innovations.
- Administratorilycontroller/manager. A person who controls and analyzes the situation, makes plans and organizes work to achieve them.
- Entrepreneur oridea inspirer. A person who generates new ideas, develops a strategy of activity, forecasts.
- Integratorily“superglue”. A human psychologist designed to bring the team together, organize corporate events and team meetings.
2. interesting tasks and projects
Projects and tasks should enthuse the team, stimulate their desire for self-improvement and develop team spirit.
3. clear objectives
A clear goal is a known effective result.
“SMART system”-goals should be :
- Specific – Specific;
- Measurable – Measurable;
- attainable – Attainable;
- Be consistent with the overall project concept – Relevant;
- Time-bound – Time-bound.
4.Comfortable environment
A favorable microclimate will increase the team’s efficiency many times over!
5.Tools and equipment appropriate to the tasks
6. Cohesion and “team spirit”
7. Understanding career development
Employees should be made to understand that they have room to grow and every action they take is a step up the career ladder, i.e. motivate the work of the team.
8. Remuneration
Rewards may not only be financial, sometimes ordinary praise plays an important role in motivating labor.
Difficulties in building a team
- Misunderstanding of priorities, goals and objectives.You need to help employees understand the goals of the company or a particular project, and allocate work time effectively.
- Improper goal setting.Use the principles of the SMART system when setting goals.
- Misallocation of responsibilities and roles
- Lack of a charismatic team leader.It is best to give the reins to an informal leader chosen by the team, for example, the most experienced remote employee who can supervise the work of the others!
- Conflicts and disagreements between team members.In a team, sometimes disputes and discussions are even useful, new ideas are born in them, but it is very important not to let the team split.
Ideally, the team looks like the following:
This diagram reflects the highest level of teamwork. Of course, in practice it is difficult to achieve such interaction between employees, but it is possible – by following all the rules and overcoming all the difficulties!
Branding agency KOLORO – will do all the work of a brand manager for you on realization of projects on creation and promotion of the brand, namingmarketing research, etc. We already have a solid team of specialists in marketing, branding, design, copywriting, psychology, etc. You will get 100% fulfillment of the project, exactly on time!
