Remote Work: Communication Excellence

If you are working with a distributed team across the globe, if any given team member does not maintain effective and tight communication, then that team member is likely not going to work out so well for your team and business. Communication is the core of how we move things forward and get things done, especially when your business is spread out throughout the world. If you try to run a business with a team and never communicated with each other, things are likely not going to get done, everyone will be working towards different goals and the direction of the business will be completely disjointed.

Credit http://www.topmba.com/why-mba/faculty-voices/business-jargon-and-clear-communication

Of course, this is extreme, however, even just one person who is not easily within reach during working hours can throw a huge wrench into your machine, aka your business. We are so obsessed with having the best tools to help us communicate these days, so not only do you need the right tools but also the means to overcome challenges of being part of a distributed team.

Challenges:

Time zone differences
It takes longer for things to get done
Sometimes it's easier to communicate when the person is right next to you

That's Absolutely Fine!

Yes, when you have a team member in the U.S. and another in Europe and the other in Asia, coordinating meetings can be, well…slightly inconvenient. Use time zone apps and tools to ensure you find the best possible time that works for your team. As teams continue to become more and more distributed, having a meeting at 5 am or at 11 pm no longer becomes something that is uncommon for teams to manage but they just do it anyway because you do what you need to do to get it done. Sure nothing can replace the face to face interaction when you need to get a message across or give feedback. When you have to communicate asynchronously, it may slow things down but you soon learn this becomes a much more effective means of communicating, as it forces you to find the right words that get the point across.

Credit https://redbooth.com/blog/tackling-clear-communication-departments

Also, you can always hop on a video call for longer discussions where sending a typed message is not as effective. In the end, this is also saving you time. Again, there's nothing better than real-time, real-life interactions between you and your team. Communication is one of the most important things to nail down with the right culture and expectations set, as well as the right tools to help your business continue running like a well-oiled machine. What it comes down to is realizing first that culture is moving the workforce in the direction of remote working and distributed teams.

The second part of that is we also are getting smarter at adapting to these new working cultures in such a way that we break down any barriers that restrict internal business communications to a single office, a single location. We continue to use technology and innovative tools….ahem….like Mailbird…to ensure no matter where our team is located you can stay in touch and feel as if you are actually working right next to each other.

BONUS!

Want to know more about this remote work phenomenon? Read "Future of work: collaboration and the trust of teams"