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Working on a remote team is one of the best ways to improve productivity and collaboration in your organization. However, it can also be more challenging than working with co-workers who are in the same office as you. To make sure that your remote team is staying on track and communicating effectively, here are 10 tips that can help.
Create a Communication Plan
Creating a plan for how you will communicate with your remote teams is one of the best things you can do to ensure that everyone is on board with your vision and has the information they need to get their jobs done effectively. Your communication plan should include the frequency and timing of all communications including meetings, who needs to be involved in each type of communication, and how these types of communication will be managed across time zones.
Use a Project Management Platform to Communicate With Your Team
A project management platform is a software that helps you manage your team’s tasks, build and track the progress of your project, and collaborate with your team members. It can be a standalone tool or integrated into another piece of software.
Project management platforms are especially useful for remote teams because they provide an easy way to communicate with all members at once, share files securely, assign tasks and create deadlines that everyone can see — no matter where they are in the world.
Schedule Regular Check-ins
Schedule regular check-ins with your team. Check-ins are a great way to stay on track and make sure that everyone is in sync. It can be as simple as a quick chat over the phone or a team meeting. If you use virtual meeting software, you can even leverage unique audience response tools to ensure that everyone has a chance to participate. Check-ins can be scheduled once a month, once a week, or as often as needed.
Try Video Calls Instead of Audio Calls
Video calls are a great way to see faces and expressions and can help you connect better than you would in an audio call. Video calls help people to feel more connected and engaged when they work remotely as well. Video calls are also more efficient than audio calls for meetings, presentations, or training sessions that require visual input like charts or graphs.
This is because it’s easier for people on both sides of the call to see what’s being presented without having to ask questions about what’s being shown on screen. Video calls can also be used for demos and walkthroughs.
Share Calendars
Use project management software to share calendars to ensure that important events and meetings are on everyone’s schedule. This is a great way to communicate with your team when they need to participate in meetings or meet certain project deadlines.
You can also use a tool like Trello or Asana for tracking tasks, and Slack for communicating with your team. These tools will make it easier for everyone on the team to stay updated on the progress of each part of the project, as well as provide clear instructions for delegated tasks.
Try Screen Sharing
Another way to communicate with your team is to use screen sharing. You can present what you are working on, show progress, and troubleshoot problems together. Screen sharing is also a great way to hold one-on-one meetings with team members who aren’t in your office. This technology allows you to have face-to-face conversations with remote employees and can help them see and understand what you are trying to communicate.
Invest in Collaborative Tools
There are numerous collaboration technologies available to help remote teams work together. Communication tools like Slack can help you get quick answers to questions throughout the day, while emails can help you get answers to more in-depth questions that can wait a little longer for responses. These can help marketing teams, sales experts, and others who work remotely. Additionally, using visual task management tools can help everyone see what needs to get done and who needs to do it.
Don’t be Afraid to Ask for Help
People who have never worked remotely need to be trained in how to do it. Help them by providing simple tools, easy feedback, and creating an environment where collaboration and connection are applauded.
Photo by Surface on Unsplash