Improving Remote Work Communication

For me, one of the most important skills that needs to be either learned or improved upon for most people when working remotely is how to communicate effectively.

The dynamics of remote work communication are so distinct to in person comms, that understanding the differences and the most effective ways to communicate are paramount for successful distributed teams.

Remote Work Communication Challenges

Common remote work communication challenges include:

Lack of non verbal cues – this can often lead to misunderstandings with body language not being present.

Technical difficulties – Communication can be significantly interrupted, particularly due to poor internet connection

Over/under communicating – some colleagues can offer too much or too little detail to a subject which can result in a loss of valuable time.

Cultural differences – as remote work has caused a globalizaiton of workforces, differences in cultural communication norms and preferences can cause breakdowns in comms. Time differences can also be a blocker to productivity.

Communication lag – communicating over digital tools is a slower means of collaboration than face to face.

Skills & Tips For Better Remote Work Communication 

Try learning these skills or incorporating these tips to help improve your internal communications:

Choose The Right Tool

Good communication can be put on the right footing from the outset by choosing the right medium to get your point across.

My rule of thumb is:

It’s not always clear cut, but by understanding which tools work best for certain collaborations, we can save time further down the line, avoiding too much back and forth, making us and our co workers more efficient.

Use the 4 Cs

Keeping the 4Cs back of mind (Clear, Concise, Complete, Courteous) when framing your communications will help give you a framework for success.

In the busy world of digitized communications (parred with people’s attention spans getting shorter every year), my recommendation would be to particularly focus on being concise. 

Cutting out fluff and getting straight to the point and including your desired outcomes will ensure communication with others is as efficient as possible.

Visualize

Text heavy comms is another medium that isn’t overly compatible with modern ways of thinking.

Where you can, try to visualize your point and objectives with clear data, graphs and the use of imagery and diagrams to make information more digestible. 

A picture speaks a thousand words.

Encourage feedback

Communication is nuanced and everyone has their preferred style.

Soliciting feedback on how you can improve both team and 121 comms will undoubtedly be useful in making you a more effective communicator.

For those that you work with frequently, taking time to ask what their preferred style and medium of communication is could save you a huge amount of time by reducing back and forth/follow up questions etc – a key part of productive communication. 

Remote Work Communication Best Practices

Best practices for remote work communication can be both implemented across the business/departments, or individuals can install their own best practices to make collaboration better.

Establish channel use – companies should provide guidelines on the best channels to use for each type of communication. If your business doesn’t have any guidelines, create your own rules for when to, and when not to use each channel. 

Document – Documenting conversions and planning work items in a structured way can be done through project management tools. Employees can help this process by sending meeting follow ups to attendees to solidify goals and outcomes.

Show flexibility and adapt – Individuals should take it on themselves to show initiative through constant learning on effective communication and adaptation to other’s styles. Those who are stubborn and show no desire to change will come across as poor communicators through their lack of flexibility.

Set expectations & boundaries – Having clear expectations – information on what you need to complete a task, for example, is a good expectation to instil within others to make teamwork more productive. Boundaries such as times of the day that you are available to receive messages and take meetings will help ensure you don’t get burnt out. Being overworked and overstretched can often make our standards of communication drop as we rush out messages/emails etc.

Regular check -ins – With both your manager and frequent collaborators will help you stay on top of your communications with them. Moreover, regular catch ups help alleviate any misunderstandings/gaps in comms and form part of your continual learning on how to best communicate with others.

Commonly Used Tools For Remote Work Communication

Some of the most commonly used tools for remote work communication (that you can get more fimiliar with on their websites) include Slack for instant messaging, Outlook and Gmail for email, Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams for video conferencing and Asana/Monday.com for project management.

Summary

Good communication in remote work can take time to learn

If you want to learn more about increasing productivity in the workplace, this blog on improving remote work collaboration offers some further insights.