The way in which we work is drastically different to how it looked twelve months ago. As a result of the global outbreak of COVID-19, millions of people all over the world are now working from home, some for the first time ever in their careers. Remote communication is a new skill that we all must master in order to maintain success in our businesses.
While this can be very daunting, thankfully we live in a time where working from home as part of a team has never been easier. We have access to many brilliant collaboration tools online that allow us to function to the same standard as we would if we were in the office, and communicate effectively throughout our working week.
We know that you’re bombarded with lists of the numerous ways to improve your business’s remote work situation daily, so here are the KEY factors you must remember for effective communication and collaboration on your team.
Remote work comes with its own set of challenges, especially if you’ve only ever worked in “in office” roles. Adapting to setting your own schedule and moving all of your communications digital can be difficult indeed. But if you’re aware of the difficulties you’ll be more prepared to face them.
Don’t be afraid to try new things out and ditch what doesn’t work. You can try having virtual discussion rooms that replicate the white board/projector in the boardroom experience. Or give your team a small assignment to come prepared to present at a meeting to try to get ideas and conversation flowing. If your team doesn’t respond well to these things, take their feedback and make a change.
You may find that not all of your meetings are productive or worthwhile. That’s okay, and it doesn’t mean you’re necessarily doing anything wrong. You may have the wrong team members on the call, too many team members that hinders active participation, or you’ve scheduled it for a time of day when everyone is busy or burnt out.
Remote work is new for most of us, so getting your team’s feedback and actually applying it is what’s going to set you up for success in the future. Don’t get left behind because you’re too stubborn to change or don’t want to take anyone else’s ideas on board.
Remote work can be isolating, so it’s important to check in with your team regularly. As well as having regular meetings where your team members can talk to each other, use Slack channels or other messaging services that are designed to certain topics – work related or not – like music, content, memes, or movies.
Checking in isn’t only good for mental health and morale. By checking in on a regular basis, you can touch base on any current or potential roadblocks before they become an issue.
Tryin using daily activity report templates that are available with services such as monday.com. You’ll be able to track problems and progress that may otherwise go unnoticed or fall to the wayside in a remote setting.
For management, scheduling regular one-on-one meetings with your team members will help you learn about the people that you might only see as a tiny thumbnail during weekly meetings. Individual calls will help you get to know your remote staff as complete persons with unique problems, strengths, motivations, preferences, and career paths.
If some of your best work has come from bouncing ideas around with your team, remote work might seem like a total disaster. But with good collaborative software, you can recreate that experience.
Slack is an instant messaging service that offers many IRC-style features, such as persistent chat rooms (channels) organised by topic, private groups, and direct messaging. It’s a really quick and handy way to chat with all the members of your team at once, in small groups, or individually.
Google Hangouts is a communication software product developed by Google. Originally a feature of Google+, Hangouts became a stand-alone product in 2013. In 2017, Google began developing Hangouts into a product aimed at enterprise communication. Hangouts is now part of the G Suite line of products and consists of two primary products: Google Hangouts Meet and Google Hangouts Chat.
Zoom provides a remote conferencing service that combines video conferencing, online meetings, chat, and mobile collaboration. Last year, there was a major increase in the use of Zoom for remote work, distance education, and online social relations, which led to Zoom being the 5th most downloaded mobile app worldwide in 2020 at 477 million downloads. Plus, you can download it for free!
Monday.com is an incredibly handy tool that can create task boards with several columns and move the tasks between them. Typically columns include task statuses: To Do, In Progress, Done, and it has a variety of work and personal uses including real estate management, software project management, school bulletin boards, lesson planning, accounting, web design, gaming, and law office case management. Essentially, it’s a super sophisticated, shared to-do list that is the future of remote work.
There certainly isn’t one “best” digital channel or tool for every business. You’ll need to experiment with a few to find the service that works best for your specific needs, communication methods, and project types.
