As a business analytics coach, it is our passion to talk about things that make your job easier. Today, we are going to talk about the subject of client support in a remote situation. We all know there is no substitute for physically being with a client. There is value in face to face interaction with your partner and helping them navigate through the complex world of business intelligence, especially if your client is new in the game. There are times, unfortunately, that being there in person is not possible for a variety of reasons hence, working remotely is necessary. Since the show must go on and timelines have to be maintained, companies like Lodestar Solutions have mastered the art of remote development and support. Here at Lodestar, we have conducted numerous development cycles in a remote situation with great success. Most projects started with the first and last week being on site and the in-between time is spent in remote collaboration with the client.

Our day begins with a 15-minute daily standup hosted by us via a web conferencing application. This allows the flexibility of the entire team to participate in the daily standup while some individuals are working remotely. However, most of the time, the client side team members attend the daily standup together in a conference room.

The use of web conferencing tools allows us to record the parts of the meetings that need to be preserved for things like requirements, issue resolution, or training. We find the use of web conferencing tools very powerful because we can share screens and that facilitates true collaboration. Everyone is on the same page and they can participate from their desks. Since the sessions are recorded, we save them and have them archived for later review. The team members that are unable to attend can review the sessions at a later stage and get up to speed with the latest developments.

We supplement web conferencing with video. Since everyone has webcams nowadays, we encourage everyone in the team to use them. We cannot overstate the importance of this since it enforces team participation and enhances communication.

We encourage our readers to try the methods that we have outlined above and reach out to us if they need help in either selecting the best tools or knowing the process that we follow to introduce and maintain remote worker strategy at your organization.

Here are a few resources and suggestions that you may want to check out that may help you when working remotely:

Camtasia by TechSmith is a screen recording device useful for recording lessons, tutorials, or demos – https://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.html

Overview of daily stand-up – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand-up_meeting

Web video conferencing is very useful on GoToMeeting – http://www.gotomeeting.com/

If you want to learn about how to communicate with naysayers & difficult personalities, how to gain executive sponsorship for your projects, and how road mapping your project will save you time and money, please reach out to us at 813-254-2040 or at Coaching@LodestarSolutions.com.