Teams working remotely often face challenges related to communication. Incorporating the right strategies can improve how your remote teams work and communicate.
Communication is one of the most important aspects of a professional team, be it working together at the workplace or collaborating remotely. Although, how team members communicate when working remotely differs from in-person communication in the workplace. As a manager, you need to understand the challenges and importance of communicating well in a remote work mode.
Team members see and interact with each other daily at the workplace. It builds familiarity and strengthens the bond between them. While working remotely, they don’t get to see and meet each other. They not only get physically separated, but also become less emotionally connected as a team.
Teams often face communication challenges when working remotely. According to the State of Remote Work report by Buffer, 16% of remote workers struggle with collaboration and communication with their teams. Communication-related problems like miscommunication, scheduling difficulties, and ineffective online meetings also affect team productivity.
Nowadays, organisations are adopting hybrid models that include remote working teams as well as teams working in offices. Both modes have their own communication styles with distinct capabilities and limitations. You cannot achieve effective team communication without achieving smooth communication for both in-person and remote team members.
Managers need to prepare actionable strategies for improving the communication skills of remote workers to tackle this challenge. Mastering the art of remote team communication through the right strategies can empower your remote working professionals to communicate clearly with each other.
Why is Remote Team Communication Important?
Effective remote team communication is important because it bridges the physical and informational divide between remote working professionals and ensures everyone understands and fulfils their job duties. Collaboration becomes easier and it makes your team members motivated and engaged. Read more benefits signifying the importance of effective communication in the workplace here.
10 Excellent Tips for Improving Communication Skills of Remote Teams
Effective remote team communication helps professionals stay on the same page regarding the organisation’s priorities, enabling them to achieve those objectives efficiently. So, it's important to explore effective strategies that will benefit your remote team the most. Read on to discover ten ways that will help you improve team communication.
1. Take a personalised approach for a unique communication style
Everyone has a distinct communication style and you need to handle them accordingly to reduce the chance of misunderstanding and conflict. For example, action-oriented people are inclined towards quick and direct conversations whereas an analytical person may move methodically, thus slower than the former during conversations. You need to follow a personalised approach and encourage the same in the team for smooth communication.
2. Use the right communication tools
If you want to get your remote teams better at collaboration, you need to utilise the best communication tools. There are a variety of platforms to communicate remotely like Google Hangouts and Meet, Skype, Microsoft Teams, BlueJeans, Slack, FaceTime, and so on. Choose a few that suit your team's size and needs.
Avoid using many communication channels, that might lead to confusion or misunderstanding. Also, avoid spending too much time on such platforms to avoid complications like Zoom fatigue.
3. Prepare comprehensively for meetings
Remote work communication cannot be imagined without online/virtual meetings. You need to optimise the meeting experience for your team members to improve team communication. Next time when you have to organise a big meeting as a host or a key member, use these preparation tips to make sure you and other attendees get the most out of it in minimum time.
4. Begin the week with a quick meeting
Pulling the remote team members together for a quick meeting can save you time throughout the week. It will help in aligning everyone on objectives and daily tasks. It also provides an opportunity to team members to convey to others potential issues and find necessary measures to resolve them.
5. Take regular surveys from the team
You may not get the best remote team communication process right on the first attempt, and may need to make adjustments with time to improve team communication. Surveys provide an effective way to identify such needs along with probable solutions. Encourage remote team members to share their concerns and suggestions in the next survey. Be open to hearing communication issues and take adequate steps to address those concerns.
6. Encourage documentation habits
Documentation is essential for quality and process control. Encourage stringent documentation habits among your remote team members to gain many advantages.
● There will be no multiple versions of a document
● Stop multiple requests for the same information
● Save team members from searching a folder that doesn’t include the file they need
● Save team members from seeking information from several sources
● Save valuable time and decrease the chances of miscommunication
7. Conduct communication training
Strong team communications are paramount to success for any organisation. Conduct regular communication training programs for improving the communication skills of your team members. Robust communication skills empower them to perform well and eliminate inefficiencies. These skills boost morale, engagement, productivity, and satisfaction.
8. Conduct team-building activities
Team building activities offer an efficient way to fulfil a major difference between an on-site team and a remote team, i.e.; emotional connect. Virtual group events and other such team-building activities strengthen relationships and build trust among the team members. They get to know each other beyond their skills and roles reducing the chances of conflicts in future.
9. Avoid micromanagement
Avoid watching over people’s shoulders while managing remote teams. Some managers or colleagues call their team members multiple times during the day to check on the progress. Unless the particular task is not very urgent, refrain from such practices. Your team members are responsible and qualified professionals, even when they work remotely.
10. Celebrate achievements
When in the office, we celebrate all kinds of events and achievements. Do not stop doing that during remote work. Cherish individual milestones and celebrate team achievements together. Such celebrations and appreciation can go a long way. This approach makes employees feel acknowledged and inspired and subsequently, reduces the attrition rate.
Your efforts as a leader to improve team communication may result in a high-performing remote team who delivers at its full potential. Always encourage collaboration and communication to strengthen your remote teams and provide an edge to your organisation over its competitors.
Do you communicate smartly or need help to enhance your communication skills? Take the Free Communication Skills Assessment to take the first step to speak with confidence.
Smita D Jain is a Certified Life Coach, Executive Coach and NLP Practitioner. Smita’s ‘Empower Yourself’ Performance Enhancement Coaching Programs enable introverted executives to speak with confidence and communicate with impact so that they emerge leaders sooner than envisaged.
Prior to her journey as a coach, Smita had extensive experience of 14 years as a corporate and business strategy professional with Fortune 500 companies. She is also a TEDx speaker, a panellist cum speaker at various public forums, a published writer, and an Amazon bestselling author.
You can learn more about Personal Empowerment Life Coach and Certified Executive Coach Smita D Jain’s ‘Empower Yourself’ Coaching Programs by visiting www.lifecoachsmitadjain.com and book a strategy session at https://www.lifecoachsmitadjain.com/booking.
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