Improving remote communication doesn’t have to be a monumental task. All you have to do is to take a look at your team and see what their needs are. By assessing your individual needs, you can make targeted improvements that will help the overall quality of communication.
That said, there are several universal improvements that can be made that will make a real change for your team. These can be rolled out all at once or in stages to help the team ease into new expectations. If you are unsure about how to implement these changes in your own team, it can be helpful to consult your collaborators and get their input.
Define Schedules
For many people in collaborative teams, one of the issues that they have is having their team’s availability. When people are working from home, they will often work around their own lifestyle to ensure their individual efficiency. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, it can be very difficult to then get time to collaborate. The best way to resolve this is to set clear schedules. If your team sets out a predetermined schedule for the week, then you will be able to find times to gather your team together.
Be Clear in Communicating
Research has shown that remote communication has many roadblocks. Many of these stem from the fact that much of the nuances of communication are lost when there are no body language or tone indicators to contextualize the conversations. What does this mean for your team? It means that you are going to have to be explicit in your communications and provide context for everything. It may seem like overkill to you, but you should never assume that the person that you’re speaking to knows what you’re talking about or understands your implied tone.
You can also assist with this by using different channels to communicate. This way, there are no misunderstandings when it comes to expectations. For instance, if you had a task that needed to be done immediately, you should relay that task through instant messaging rather than through email. You may also have informal communications through instant messaging and save more formal communications for email.
Do Team Building Activities
Online team-building activities can seem a little more awkward than in-person activities, but they are possible and well-worth while keeping your team connected. For example, there are plenty of multiplayer games available that can help collaboration. Additionally, you can determine other activities and games that can be played over video calls.
Get the Right Tools
Having a remote team means that you ample communication tools to get the job done. This means that you may need a video call system like Zoom. You may also need some sort of cloud-based app to keep everyone on the same page. There are other collaborative tools that can help keep your team organized while also providing the space to brainstorm. An online whiteboard tool like Hoylu can help. Try a few different tools to see what works before rolling them out with the rest of your team.
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