8 Tips to Improve Communication with Your Teammates When Working Remotely
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Your communication skills when working remotely will determine whether your virtual team sails through the projects or sinks.
Think about it: remote teams are drowning in a sea of messages Slack notifications to project management updates to document collaboration requests.
Reading and responding to these messages is almost a full-time job in itself. And that is before you can actually dive deep into your flow state work.
So how can you stay afloat?
You cannot ignore communication in the team. But you can make them better.
8 Tips to Improve Remote Work Communication with Your Teammates
Excellent communication skills are a top priority for field employees. This is the only way global teams can stay on the same page and achieve milestones and goals together.
These tips and techniques for communication at Remote work will take your team to the next level of productivity and efficiency while reducing misunderstandings:
1. MASTER THE BASICS OF REMOTE WORK COMMUNICATION
You need to master the basics of solid long-distance communication before you can improve your game. Our guide to Effective Communication in a Remote Team outlined five essential things you should have in place, including:
- Write and communicate clearly, concisely and consistently . A clear text sticks to the facts. It also requires an assertive, active voice instead of passive.
Concise texts get to the point as quickly as possible. Brevity is your friend here. Don't be afraid to include a few emojis to break up the tone of voice that might seem short to others.
Consistent communication creates reassurance and eliminates doubt about what someone should do next. It also ensures compliance with your team's remote communication guidelines.
- Pay attention to your virtual body language (read: attitude is everything). Your remote team will notice when you're not paying attention or focusing properly on the Zoom call you're on.
- Consider context . Communicating with global remote teams means that you need to develop an awareness of other people's cultural norms, time zones, native language differences, personality, etc. when reading and writing messages.
- Determine specific tools for different types of messages . Try to get your team to agree on a specific communication process. Each channel should have a clear purpose, e.g. B. the use:
- Slack and other chat apps for quick updates, daily check-ins, and employee bonding at the virtual water cooler.
- Project management tools for assigning tasks, managing deadlines, status updates, questions/comments, etc.
- Video conferencing for brainstorming sessions, project launches and debriefs, and weekly or monthly check-ins.
- Email for action-related tasks, formal inquiries and customer communications.
- Text messaging for emergencies and time-sensitive matters.
- You may need to do some trial and error to figure out what types of communication channels work best for your team. Then make sure your communication falls into the right silo.
- Think critically . Never play the blame game and accuse your team members of miscommunicating something that you may have just misunderstood.
Think about it if Messages are sent and the to send them. Ask for feedback if you are unsure. Try to clarify and summarize what you read and interpret ( So I take it you want me to... ).
Most teams outline these guidelines during their remote onboarding process. But if not, it's essential for your team to:
2. AGREEMENT ON CLEAR COMMUNICATION GUIDELINES
Communication - Source: kommunikationsatelier.ch
Remote communication guidelines establish a set of rules that everyone on your team follows together. These rules will help team members set healthy boundaries when working remotely. And they should include:
Available working/communication hours . When creating your personal work from home schedule, you might choose to have a morning off because you'll be more productive in the afternoon or evening. You may also have team members who come from different time zones.
Sharing your available time slot lets others know when you're available to respond to messages. This keeps everyone accountable during the workday and prevents others from waiting or expecting a response outside of business hours.
Check-in guidelines . Some teams prefer daily check-ins via Slack. Others prefer team check-ins based on project milestones. Be proactive and communicate consistently to avoid later confusion or misunderstandings, no matter which route you choose.
3. START COMMUNICATING WITH THE MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION (I.E. USE THE INVERTED PYRAMID)
Journalists have long used the inverted pyramid strategy to craft compelling headlines and news articles, and it can also help you share information more productively.
Following this strategy, you should structure your messages to start with the most important information. If someone doesn't have time to read the rest of your message, what is the most important information you want them to take away?
Start your messages with this.
From there, add the supporting details in descending order of importance. Conclude with additional content that might prove useful or "good to know" but could ultimately go unread without someone not understanding your message.
With this strategy, your team members quickly receive the most important information and can act quickly. If you need further explanation, you can read the rest when you have more time.
4. WRITE LIKE A MARKETER
Marketers know how to write messages that grab attention. They make people stop what they are doing, understand what they are saying, and move them to action. This is exactly what you should aim for.
So when you write an email or Slack message, go through and answer these questions:
- What do I actually want to convey here?
- What problem am I trying to solve?
- Who is my audience?
- What does my recipient need from me?
- How can this message fail or seem confusing?
- How can I simplify this message so that it is easier to understand?
- What can I delete without losing the meaning?
- Am I making assumptions about what my recipient should know?
- How do I define a successful response?
This requires a little more preparatory work, but there is less confusion and less back and forth later.
Marketers and web designers are also experts at using strong calls to action in their messages. A call to action leads people to a desired outcome . It is the equivalent of Click here or Buy now Links and buttons.
In communication at the Remote work CTAs give team members a helpful nudge on what to do next. Should they review an attached spreadsheet or start A/B testing a new strategy?
Only use one CTA per message . You don't want to confuse recipients or give them too many choices. They may then not know which one to follow, or they may have a hard time making a decision and do nothing because they are confused.
Keep teams focused on the specific outcome you want them to achieve and make it easy for them to track the outcome. Don't leave any doubts about your next steps.
Draw attention to your CTA through formatting (e.g. bold, italic or another font color). And putting your CTA on a separate line will make it stand out even more.
5. LONGER MESSAGES SHOULD BE EASY TO SKIP, AND VISUAL ELEMENTS SHOULD BE USED WHEREEVER POSSIBLE.
See how we use headings to structure different points and bold sentences to structure additional points?
When someone skims an article like this, they don't have to read every line word for word, but can pick out the most interesting points and focus on the new information they need.
So before sending a message, make sure it passes the scan test and contains the following:
- Action-oriented headings and subheadings that break up long or complicated blocks of information.
- “Condensed” information that is easier to read and digest than a giant wall of text. Keep sentences under 25 words and paragraphs between 40 and 50 words.
- Eye-catching colors and highlights to highlight and remember important points.
- Bullet points to quickly summarize information . Keep the explanations/descriptions for all points approximately the same length.
- Adequate white space. Readers need a visual breather from your words. Giving them a break with the white space or space left on the page around your text allows them to breathe without becoming overwhelmed.
- Easy to understand language. Avoid jargon, acronyms, abbreviations, and colloquial words and expressions, especially when speaking to an international team. These can get lost in translation and cause unnecessary confusion for everyone involved.
Visual elements are always more appealing than text alone. So whenever possible, try to include flowcharts to explain complicated processes or infographics and fun GIFs to break up less exciting text.
6. USE VIDEO MESSAGES FOR ADDITIONAL CONTEXT
Video messages - Source: visme.co
What if you need to share a lot of new information with your team? You could try to make an appointment for another With a Zoom call, you can gather all your teammates in different time zones in one place to hear them.
Or you can leave everyone a video message.
Remote-Tools wie Tier you can record yourself and your screen at the same time.
So instead of leaving a text-based novella for everyone, you can explain a new client's needs, describe a new process or complicated workflow, or guide your team with an easy-to-follow instructional video.
You'll avoid Zoom fatigue and provide everyone with convenient content to learn about and refer back to.
7. BECOME A MASTER IN ASYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATIONS
Asynchronous communication allows team members to respond to messages when it is most productive for them . Instead of sending a quick response as soon as a message lands in their inbox, they can wait until they have the time/brain capacity to give the request their full, undivided attention.
This means everyone can focus on their actual work without feeling like they have to interrupt their workflow to answer an email or deal with another project. But it is definitely not intended for emergencies or urgent requests.
For asynchronous communication to work, you need to give team members everything they need to get started on their own. This means outlining details, attaching files, referencing relevant documents, setting deadlines, etc.
Your recipient should not have to respond with questions and should be able to start working as quickly as possible thanks to your good communication.
8. COMMUNICATE ABOUT NON-PROFESSIONAL THINGS ALSO
Your team now has a Slack channel for virtual chats, right? Here you can discuss your latest Netflix binge, share photos of your pets and dream home offices, and have virtual coffee breaks or trivia nights together.
Keep it up and try some of the following unobtrusive team building tips for remote workers too.
Building rapport with your team is crucial to building understanding, trust and genuine personal relationships. When teams feel connected, communication flows more openly and with fewer misunderstandings.
Now you're ready to take your remote work communication to new dimensions
If you struggle with communication while working remotely, these tips and techniques should help your team become a high-functioning communication engine.
This makes it easier for you to keep everyone involved informed, avoid misunderstandings and work more productively both individually and together.
