Melbourne, Victoria Australia 
Remote working has become a normal method of working since the beginning of the “new normal” after COVID-19’s global pandemic lockdown effects. Even after the pandemic, more and more businesses began choosing remote work settings for their cost-effective benefits and ability to access world-class talent overseas.
However, upon the transition from on-site working to remote working, there were many difficulties that newcomers faced in this setting. Challenges included miscommunication, delayed processes due to late notice, and mishaps caused by a lack of scheduling.
As a result, remote communication strategies that help solve the challenges faced within these settings were born. Not only does it increase productivity and help employees embrace the new work setting, but it also helps in managing a remote team to build better relationships with each other.
Communication Challenges with Remote Teams
Remote communication strategies are solutions to common issues that occur when handling remote teams. These include overworking which can lead to burnout, prioritising work even during day-offs, consistent interruptions and distractions inside the household, increasing feelings of loneliness, and communication issues.
Working even after a shift is a common bad habit that reduces work-life balance among employees. Many of these causes come from the inability to separate work from home to their social life due to an established mindset. Feeling lonely and losing relationships that build key trust with co-workers are also a source of problems.
Both these issues that the majority of new remote workers face have a lot to do with management and miscommunication. To resolve this issue, management must consider these viable options to prevent any setbacks in their employee’s productivity.
9 Effective Remote Communication Strategies
Listed below are the best strategies you can utilise to help employees have seamless communication. Take note that the best way to take advantage of all these methods is to use them simultaneously.
Use Management Tools
Managing effective remote teams requires a set of tools that can provide communication about daily tasks and necessities without having to hold meetings. It’s great for a quick check on what each employee is doing and what they plan to do for the rest of the week.
Management tools such as Asana, Trello, and Monday provide the functions to assign tasks, complete tasks, update the status of work, and provide constructive criticism on tasks finished for smoother editing.
Establish Communication Channels
Remote communication strategies should also include a main channel of communication between employees and managers. A specific platform or application used to communicate with each other can greatly help employees contact one another at a faster pace.
Collaboration strategies are also fruitless without a main communication channel. Delayed completion of tasks, misunderstandings, and setbacks can occur if there are no instant messaging or video chat options used by all employees.
You can use communication platforms such as Skype, Slack, MS Teams, or WhatsApp to continue conversations that need to be dealt with immediately.
Create a Non-Work Channel
Once you have chosen a platform for communication, remember to create a non-work channel where your employees can engage in socialising with each other. Remote communication strategies in a company should also include allowing social non-work relationship building between employees.
There are two reasons why a non-work channel should be established. The first reason is to encourage employees to socialise with each other. The second reason is to create a space for team building that can help fix miscommunication between them, further creating trust and enhancing collaboration with your in-house team.
Do Not Micromanage
The biggest setback with remote communication strategies is micromanagement. Many employees feel more frustrated and stressed with consistent checking and observation rather than feeling productive. Having tracking devices, and being consistently checked up on can cause stress and reduce their output.
Micromanaging can also cause high turnover rates, wherein employees decide to leave the company due to being watched over. The employee’s health will decrease, lose morale, develop burnout, and overall dissatisfaction with the company and its management.
Remember to trust your employees rather than stir doubt regarding your company’s trust in them. If their outputs are done correctly and they respond in a timely manner, learn to accept their working habits.
Be Empathetic and Build Relationships
Remote communication strategies without empathy and relationship building can cause detachment within the company. By being strict with your company rules and regulations, the employees will likely do the same.
This means having a certain detachment from the company and having distrust with their co-workers and managers. Collaboration and communication greatly decrease because of this. Making the employees unwilling to cooperate and prefer to work on their own.
Utilise Team Building
In order to encourage your employees to become more motivated and build their relationships with each other it’s important to utilise team building. Remote communication strategies like team building help enhance understanding of each other’s natural behaviour, habits, and understanding.
Team building can be performed in the physical and virtual world. The traditional method is having teams go out for lunch, or socialise by going on trips together to enjoy a fun outing. However, it’s also possible to use virtual team building.
Virtual team building became a big hit during the COVID-19 global pandemic. This involves playing games online with each other such as escape rooms hosted by different event companies. It usually involves teamwork, collaboration, and exercises in a fun manner that brings the bonds between each other closer.
Availability and Consistency is a Necessity
Remote management is something that must begin with availability and consistency. Leaders of a remote team must always be available to aid those looking to them for assistance. It is important to keep them motivated by setting yourself as an example and being available during work hours.
Consistency is one of the things that management should have during remote communication. Being able to repeatedly aid the team members while focusing on their own tasks can help build trust and collaboration between employees and their managers.
Balance Asynchronous and Synchronous Communication
The remote communication strategies listed above require asynchronous and synchronous communication. Having only one of these can create mishaps. For example, asynchronous communication alone could only make notices and requirements that are urgent, or delayed.
Meanwhile, synchronous communication during work hours may result in misunderstandings if tasks aren’t delegated. Especially since there are no documents to support who is tasked with what due to continuous synchronous activities.
A healthy balance between both forms of communication can give more productive results for all employees who work remotely.
Create Communication Protocols
Effective communication can be formed with protocols in channels, task management tools, and team huddle meetings that are scheduled beforehand. Remote communication strategies involving protocols such as letting team leaders know when they are away from their keyboards can help divide up tasks when one member is currently busy.
That is why having a shift where all employees are awake and on time, scheduling weekly meetings, and keeping the team determined and focused on the production of the business is highly important.
Conclusion
Remote communication strategies for remote teams are tough work for those starting out their journey in digital working. However, there are many strategies to resolve sudden setbacks caused by miscommunication. Utilising all these methods to create effectiveness and improve production rates is the key to a successful business that generates higher profit. Applying these things may be difficult at first, but there are ways to understand how to implement them properly.
Contact us for a consultation on remote work communication strategies to increase your company’s production rate and motivation today!