5 Key Time Management Strategies for Remote Project Managers

In this guest post, Moriah West of Next Modular outlines time management strategies to help remote project managers keep track of tasks, communicate better with team members, and achieve results faster.

Time management is at the heart of a project manager’s responsibilities. Since project deliverables are tied to time, time management becomes even more crucial and challenging in the case of remote projects. According to PMI Pulse of the Profession, 48 percent of completed projects missed the initial deadline. This not only reflects badly on the company but also increases the costs. 

If you are a project manager and you are always trying to beat the clock, then these five key time management strategies may be of use to you.

1. Start Right

Well begun is half done

Aristotle

The importance of starting well cannot be stressed enough. The start of the project calls for the keen attention of the project manager. Starting a project is like getting on a ship. You need to start with the right crew on board. The crew plays a big role in helping the ship reach its destination. They also have a big hand in whether the ship sinks or sails. 

“Get the right people. Then no matter what all else you might do wrong after that, the people will save you. That’s what management is all about.”

Tom DeMarco

For your project to be completed successfully on time, you must have the right people on your team. Switching the people midway if they turn out to be unsuitable will cost you more time. Once your team is ready, you need to consult them and ensure that they are on the same page about the (realistic) goals of the project. Begin with a well-defined plan. This is how you get a ‘headstart’ on the project. 

While you should communicate effectively at every step of the project, hold a project kickoff video call in the beginning. This will allow your team to ask questions and get clarifications on points that cause errors and delays later. Focusing well in the beginning is a way to ensure smoother workflow, lesser stress, and more efficient time management.

2. Delegate Some Authority Along With Responsibilities

Once you have the right people on board for the project, you must delegate work. It’s based on a simple formula — a team can get more accomplished in the same amount of time. Within your project team, create mini-teams and their leaders. 

“When you delegate tasks, you create followers. When you delegate authority, you create leaders.”

Craig Groeschel

Through delegating authority as well as responsibility, you demonstrate trust, instill confidence and develop personnel power. Instead of following up on each member of your team all the time, you can save time by checking in with the leaders. It helps you avoid a situation where you have too much on your plate. When you have far too many things to look into, the possibility of errors increases. 

Do emphasize the fact that the ultimate goal of all the subdivisions is the same — quality output in the designated time. The more you encourage a collaborative work environment, the higher efficiency will be. 

3. Leverage Technology

A team can achieve quicker results than individuals, and a team that leverages technology can achieve even more efficient results. Here are a few project management software tools that are leading the market in 2023:

GanttPro
ProofHub
SmartSheet
TeamGantt
Celoxis
LiquidPlanner
Teamwork

Technology will not only help you achieve the expected results, but it will also help you do so within budget and time constraints. With the help of technology, you can:

Streamline communication
Store and organize data, and make it available to team members as required
Track work progress
Track the budget
Identify and mitigate risks
Automate workflow

Artificial intelligence is changing the game these days. Learning how to wield its power could make a great impact on your time management skills.

In the case of remote work, technology plays an indispensable role in the management of time. Its effect can neither be ignored nor underestimated. An important point to note here is that using cumbersome and outdated technology can eat away at your time and may prove counterproductive. 

With time, technology will bring even more change in the way projects are handled and tasks are performed. You should try to keep updated with the latest technology that might prove useful in completing projects on time.

4. Minimize Distractions and Delays

Another important time management strategy is to identify possible causes of delays, recognize distractions and find ways to deal with them in advance. 

Communicating is of the utmost importance in managing expectations. Communication takes up the majority of the time of a project manager. It becomes harder to focus on other key tasks because of communication-related distractions. Missing out on important emails and calls is also not an option. 

Here are some actions you can take:

Schedule often and carefully
Set a time in which you only read and respond to emails
You can set up signals with your team to let them know the time when you must not be disturbed except for the most urgent matters. This could be great team-wide practice as well so that no one is disturbed in the middle of tasks that require high focus. 
Use tools that offer a bird’s eye view of assigned tasks, track performance, and conduct analysis. You may need to shake things up if they are going slower than required in any section.
Look into techniques that might help you increase your productivity and manage time better like the Kanban method, eat that frog, and Pomodoro technique. You could choose to use the Eisenhower matrix. Select something that works for you and the project at hand. 

5. Invest in Your Workspace

Your workspace is the place where you spend all of your work day and a large chunk of your time every day. A cluttered workspace will hinder your workflow. Personal distractions could affect your productivity. Lack of proper lumbar support or lighting could affect your health. The health and time of a project manager are important; you play the most crucial role in a project.

To protect your schedule from the distractions that revolve around remote work, invest in your workspace. You could get a small modular office built with a proper desk, chair, and good natural lighting. These changes will have far-reaching long-term benefits. 

Optimum utilization of time and money is the defining factor of successful projects. The most advantageous utilization of one is dependent on the other. Superlative time management is one of the most sought-after skills in a project manager. Adding time management strategies to your repertoire will increase your effectiveness as a project manager. 

Author Bio

Moriah West is the head of sales at Next Modular. She has an extensive background in urban planning and 4 years of experience in modular home construction. Mixing her years of expertise with a passion for writing, she’s an expert in helping clients find the home of their dreams and contributing through content creation.