“Effective communication is 20% what you know and 80% how you feel about what you know.
– Jim Rohn”.

In the current situation, more businesses are adopting and encouraging employees to work from home, resulting in the rise of remote teams of an organization. To win and thrive in the remote work culture, strong and effective communication are fundamentals.

In the given reality, the remote teams are turning wheels for many organizations as they get the opportunity to involve and on-board many resources from across different locations and time zones all in one place.

Despite being more advantageous, How to improve communication with remote workers and How to collaborate effectively if your team is remotely working are the two crucial questions for most organizations. A single and easy solution to address this difficulty is Effective Communication.

Remote Teams: Their Roles and Management

Remote teams usually refer to a team at the organization wherein their employees work from their homes, from different geographic locations and time zones despite the organization having a physical workplace. A remote team is the one which works together and reports to the same manager from a different workplace.

Breaking Down the Challenges faced in Managing Remote Teams

A remote team is a bliss at the same time, unlike the office-based team it has its difficulties. Here are the 5 top challenges that pop up when managing a remote team.

1. Unstable work environment

Distractions from work are Common with young children and family members at home. Well, at the office the focus is more on work!

2. More Asynchronous Communication

It is so easy to get an instant reply from a teammate while at the office, working in the same cubicle. In remote teams, teammates can be in different cities, even at different time zones. So, expecting an instant & quick chat is the first-miss in remote team communication methods.

3. Struggles in Idea reach, Discussion & Decision-making

At the office, a team meeting for brainstorming ideas for a project and discussion over whiteboard is so easy to execute at the conference room, enabling the management to arrive at easy decision-making. In the case of the remote teams, it does not happen that way, especially while having teams from different time zones.

4.Team Collaboration

Not just at the discussions, the whole team has to come together and involve a project and focus on completing tasks together in real-time with dependencies on each other. At times, it becomes difficult for remote team communication, when two or more team members from different time zones must share information, and coordinate to complete an activity. It results in a delay in work progress and underutilizing the team’s efficiency.

5.Work Culture Transitions

A successful team depends on how happy and together the team members feel. The impact of work culture is so evident as it builds a strong trust between colleagues, enabling them to bond together. Now at remote teams, socializing and having a casual break meeting at the office cafeteria is not possible, the transition is a real nightmare to handle.

Effective Remote Team Communication Strategies to Build a Successful Remote Team

Here are the ten Remote team communication best practices for a successful remote team.

1) Spill Magic with Daily Stand-Ups

Daily Stand-Ups is a regular agile methodology ritual for every remote team. A daily minimum of 15 minutes, depending on your team size, a quick meeting to discuss the remote team’s focus of work for the next 24 hours can cast a magic spell.

Never miss out on discussing these 3 What?

1. What is everyone planning to accomplish on the project in the next 24 hours?
2. What support do they require to complete work?
3. What hurdles may pop up or prevent them from achieving their work goal for the day?

2) Implement calendaring and task management tools

Using online calendars like Google calendar, thunderbird lighting Calendar, and schedules are best communication practices for remote teams to plan and participate in team meetings and discussions. For tracking the progress of work in real-time applications like Asana(free up to 15 people), Jira can be a saviour while putting an effort for Effective Remote Communication.

3) Manage time zones with Group chats: A simple Remote team communication tips

Working in remote teams requires collaborating with people at different time zones and contributing together as a whole. In such scenarios prioritizing based on time, and availability can ensure less delay in work progress. Schedules and chat broadcasts of the next meeting time to the team using messaging apps like slack can be more helpful.

4) Virtual Team Bonding Exercises for better Interaction

Of course, in the Daily-stand up team gets the opportunity to interact with one another. But that is on the professional front alone. A remote team, for sure, miss lunch break chats discussing a football match or a movie and post-work meetups. Virtual team building activities including virtual Pictionary, birth map, Among us and a team movie night can be exercised to build a rapport between team members and can strengthen their bond.

5) Create a Dedicated Talk Space with a virtual “water cooler”

Well, with a dedicated talk space in your team management app can act as a virtual “water cooler” corner to initiate the random fun and non-work related conversations. It is a definite hit team-building practice on the long go.

6) Milestones Success Celebrations

Tracking the work progress with remote collaboration tools or to-do-list apps with the whole team on the same page and appreciating the team member for achieving a milestone will motivate and set examples for the team to contribute effectively.

7) Invest In Remote team communication tools

To establish effective internal communication, investing in messaging tools is a must. With several messaging app tools available, teams can exchange instant messages and share updates, notify others on the work progress and impending activities, it is worth the investment.

8) Schedule Weekly Sprint Planning Meetings for Analyzing the Progress.

The Software developments teams must exercise sprint plans to track on work progress and establish effective communication while working remotely. When you have an in-house team, it is easy to carry out a weekly sprint plan in the office discussion room. In the case of a remote team, you need to get them all together in a virtual room using a collaboration tool. Sprint Plan Meeting with the product backlog, Daily Scrum, estimate sprint backlog, backlog tasks, sprint review it becomes easy to analyze the work progress.

9) Retrospective Meetings to establish a constructive work environment

Followed by sprint plan meetings at the beginning of the week, the sprint retrospective meetings are the ones which take place at the end of the week. It involves feedback sessions, problem-solving and unravelling of product prototypes. Use this to effectively gel-up the team and provide space for improvisation and help them catch up the backlogs.

10) Have one-on-one Video Call and Chat

Remote Teams function much better without face-to-face interactions and meetings. But building a strong work culture can multiply the work progress. Sometimes a one-on-one video or a voice call or even a chat can channelize the team bond and render better work progress.

Remote Teams, the new age team for establishing a Successful Business

Benefits such as working with the right tech stack at the right time from anywhere over time, many organizations are going to adopt remote teams.

The possibility of working with remote teams is much easier when you adopt effective remote communication methods. With CONTUS DigitalTeams, finding your remote team member and streamlining your operations is an effortless approach and the best way to tap in to establish a successful business.