While working remotely, effective, clear and concise communication must be the key between managers and remote in order to survive and keep connected.
Good communication habits during this quarantine season are important in order to good interactions, team building and a sense of togetherness. But the question is, how do you connect and engage when your co-workers might be spread across different cities, countries and time zones?
Nowadays, companies are enabling their remote teams to engage and deliver their daily tasks on project management tools. Companies will meet and connect through virtual platforms like Teams, and share important files with Microsoft’s SharePoint. All these allows an easy and effective collaboration experience that improves productivity even when working remotely.
The truth is that, with a plan in place, effective remote team communication isn’t hard.
Follow our 5 suggested tips on how to communicate successfully while working remotely?
1. Give a purpose to each of your designated communication tool
With all the communication tools or apps to choose from, it can be easy to fall into using multiple of them when one or two might do. Sometimes more isn’t better and having too many communication tools may disorganize and distract teams.
Microsoft Teams is an example of a perfect communication tool; It enhances productivity, while remote teams can easily access files and documents thanks to the integration with SharePoint.
Remember that communication tools are meant to be time-savers and efficiency boosters; designate a purpose for each communication tool even if it’s funny, formal, or just for virtual meetings.
2. Use Calendars and Project Management Tools
When team members aren’t located in the same place or time zone, collaboration may seem impossible. In that “chaotic” scenario, special care needs to be taken to keep track of team members availability and schedules.
Projects and meetings require proper planning. Sharing online calendars or schedules, posting updates about availability and time off are all be good practices. For remote teams, project tracking and management tools are a must.
Successful communication will not only require effective planning, it needs to include proper calendar and project management tools to keep teams updated and organized while working remotely.
3. Connecting virtually is the key for remote teams
When working in an office, all team members are bound to get to know each other personally to some extent, collaborate and work side by side during the weeks, but, how do you do connect when you’re part of a remote team?
Connecting virtually through virtual meetings once a week or when required is important. Microsoft Teams offers a virtual space where remote teams can meet face-to-face and discuss projects or share feedback.
Additionally, creating a virtual space for informal and funny communication (like channels on Teams) will set the tone to get to know each member, or even update about announcements, recognize, and share relevant news. All these habits will help to create a sense of community!
4. Keep track of your progress and milestones
Working remotely doesn’t mean that you have to lose track of your activities, making a progress-tracking or to-do list app part of your workflow can be a great way to keep your whole project team on the loop.
5. Humanize your communication
When just written, messages tend to read as angry or rude even if it’s not that way. Many remote teams find that using emojis can sometimes help humanize up the tone of a message, but it all depends on a company’s culture and tone of voice.
What do remote teams need in the era of the modern workplace?
As our daily interactions continue evolving in the era of the modern workplace concept, is really important to consider that the solution to manage communication effectively while remote working will not come only from new technologies; the solution will depend entirely in building a communication skill set that reflects the demands of our digitally-driven age.
Additionally, as remote working continues to gain success in companies and industries across the globe, team members will need to have the correct communication strategies, tools and policies to opera and get their work done without distractions and errors.
Consider this: to perform at the highest levels, remote teams have to find new and better ways to operate in order to perform better, so you have to enable your company with the proper resources to make remote work happen.
Building a positive and strong relationship with remote teams may seem complicated. By keeping communication straight and clear will help you achieve success!
