4 Ways Remote Teams Can Communicate Effectively
With the COVID-19 pandemic along with social distancing guidelines and travel restrictions, many business owners have adopted remote working to keep everyone safe and healthy from the virus while working together to get the jobs done. However, effective communication with the remote teams can be one of the biggest challenges of companies that are moving to an office-less culture of work. It’s important to understand the proper dynamics of this setup in order to get the most out of it for your business.
Fortunately, there are many ways for your remote teams to stay connected and engaged without the benefit of sharing a physical office space. Here are four of them:
Be Proactive In Keeping Lines Of Communication Open
Due to your inability to personally see your teams on a daily basis, it’s easier to take your communication with them for granted. Unfortunately, this situation can impact your remote teams’ performance in the long run. Hence, when everybody is working from the comfort of their home, it’s best to be proactive in communicating with your teams This means that leaders like you should communicate with accountability and engagement.
In order to do this, the following things should be considered:
- Show empathy: If the organization is new to remote work, it’s vital to understand that things will not be easy for everyone. As such, you should try to show empathy to all team members by assuring them that you’re available to help throughout the transition and that they’re welcome to voice out their concerns. In short, you should create an open dialogue with them for effective communication moving forward.
- Make time to chat over a morning coffee: As mentioned, remote work lacks human interaction. But to minimize this issue, helping team members to feel more connected to one another by chatting to the team first thing in the morning can be an excellent idea. It can help them feel a little less remote which also encourages them to talk to their colleagues as if they are in the office.
- Watch your tone: Make sure your words come with a certain amount of warmth when communicating remotely. Doing so can help you make people feel respected and heard even if you’re unable to meet in person.
As you can see, there are methods that can help you achieve effective communication among your remote teams. But, if you want this setup to support the company’s business objectives, implementing more internal communication strategies can be of great help. With this strategic plan in place, business owners and leaders like you can positively impact employee engagement which can lead to improved retention and productivity of the workforce.
Check The Teams’ Communication Preferences
As a business owner or leader, it’s important not to confine your communication methods to one option only. While you may prefer to communicate using emails, your remote teams may like collaborating using a different channel. Thus, to ensure everyone in the team can communicate effectively, find time to check their communication preferences to obtain more favorable outcomes.
Once you communicate in the way that suits their needs, you’ll realize that there are several options to consider in order to build a successful team when working remotely. These can include:
- Video conferences: If you have good Internet connection, talking to the remote teams via video meetings can help everyone to better connect and collaborate. Not only that but it’s also one of the closest things to interacting with members in person.
- Email: It’s one of the most interactive way of communicating with remote teams. If a team member isn’t online or unable to chat, email can be a good method of conveying your message to the recipient without waiting for them to be online.
- Chat: With the advent of modern technology, there are plenty of instant messaging apps that allow remote team members to chat someone in real-time. It’s also an interactive way of having human conversation with somebody with less waiting around. Also, when the teams make use of chats, the timing of the reactions is much more natural, making the communication more effective.
Do Regular Check-Ins With The Remote Teams
Typically, remote working can be a lonely experience because all you have to do during the work hours is to face your computer or laptop and do your work. However, this kind of setup can cause communication barriers among the team members. That’s why it’s important to ensure regular check-ins with the remote teams.
By checking in on a daily basis, you can encourage the members to effectively communicate any potential or current roadblocks before they can become a big problem. As a result, you can ensure proper collaboration with your projects, thereby achieving the desired results.
Use Diagrams And Visuals When Communicating Processes
When working remotely, it’s important to communicate essential processes in an effective manner. In order to do this, using diagrams and visuals can be an excellent idea. For instance, diagrams can be an ideal way of communicating difficult ideas and processes. Also, other visuals can also help remote team leaders like you to explain things simply to ensure processes are followed consistently.
Thus, don’t hesitate to utilize diagrams and visuals for effective communication among remote teams regarding important processes.
The Bottom Line
Indeed, managing a remote workplace comes with a lot of challenges, especially in terms of communication. But by following the ways mentioned above, you can make your company’s communication processes much more effective among the remote teams and make remote work sustainable in the coming years and beyond. Consequently, all team members will be able to attain the company’s desired goals and objectives essential for its success.
