You're struggling to keep your team on track. What tools can you use to manage their workflow?

To manage your team's workflow effectively, use: Project Management: Trello, Asana, or Monday.com. Communication: Slack, Teams, or Discord. Time Tracking: Toggl or Harvest. Document Collaboration: Google Workspace, Office 365, or Dropbox Paper. Kanban Boards: KanbanFlow or Jira. Gantt Charts: Microsoft Project or Instagantt. Video Conferencing: Zoom, Google Meet, or Teams. Task Automation: Zapier or IFTTT. Feedback Tools: 360-degree surveys or performance software. Analytics: Google Analytics, Tableau, or Power BI. Efficient use of these tools streamlines workflow, enhances collaboration, and boosts productivity.

If you get to the point where things are off track, then tools do not solve the problem. Use the tooling to lay your plans, tasks and milestones. The problem will always be that you will not be aware that you’re off track until you are wayyyyy off track. If you are in that position, get the team together out, work out why it happened and keep regular frequent meetings in the diary until you’re stable again .

Feeling overwhelmed? Remember, simplicity is key. Start by prioritizing tasks based on importance and urgency. Utilize your calendar to schedule dedicated time for each task. Whether it's a digital calendar or a physical planner, use what works best for you. Effective time management doesn't have to break the bank; plenty of free or low-cost tools are available, Like your calendar or prioritization tools. Keep it simple, stay focused, and tackle one task at a time, starting with the most important. Put the time in your calendar and execute as planned.

Don’t look back at where time was spent, unless you had assessed how much time something should take in the first place. If you thought something should take five hours and it took five days, what did you get wrong? Lessons learned reviews are important. Are you being far too optimistic in your time estimates to keep a manager happy? If you need to compress a task, record a risk that this compression might fail. Cater for this in your planning.

We find time-tracking software like Hubstaff is great for monitoring VAs. It can track activity and takes screenshots so you know they are working on your jobs. Provides an easy oversight.

Feedback software is great, but shouldn’t replace honest and objective discussion between team members. If someone asked you to review something for them, review it. If you’re needing to make extensive changes, discuss it with them, what was they thinking when they did it this way?

Are you actually collaborating? Listening to 10 people giving an update is not collaborating. Collaborate in the right way, at the right time for the right purpose.

Collaborating on Google Sheets is a smart choice for team productivity. Assigning a moderator to oversee the process and prompt specific team members for their input can streamline communication and keep the project on track. By clearly defining responsibilities and establishing a protocol for contributions, you can ensure that everyone's expertise is leveraged effectively. Remember, effective collaboration is all about communication and coordination. Keep the lines open, stay organized, and watch your project thrive!

All workflows start with business needs and processes, we should take into consideration that we should simplify them as possible to be able to manage, take advantage, facilitate daily tasks, and automate as possible. Tools to use, will be defined accordingly to have better visibility and tracking methods. Collaboration tools, will then be a great addition to enhance productivity.

I would not focus on the tools mentioned above to bring teams back on track. You need to build trust quickly for a team in limbo and that means to use your mouth tool to speak to them, to listen to them with your ears and brain tools, to look and observe with your eye tool and last but not least to work with your compassion tool and your soul tool to work with emotional intelligence, respect and recognition for their work. As simple as that, and those tools are for free.

I said this a few times in different articles. Technology and tools do not solve personal problems. Complaining that you want something to be green when it is red can be solved by just making it green. At the start of any venture, be clear on what you’re trying to achieve and build a system around this of digital tools that support your objectives . Don’t implement tools rapidly when things have started to deteriorate . this will only compound the problem and the tool just becomes an instrument of blame. Basic tools used consistently are far more effective than complex systems used inconsistently.