How To Improve Team Collaboration In A Remote Setting
Communication challenges are an everyday concern for all the people working in remote teams. This in my opinion is the biggest disadvantage to remote work. The asynchronous work setting reduces the probability of free overlapping hours. But given the present circumstances, more and more of our interactions are bound to occur digitally. Hence, better, and more lucid collaboration is key.
So here are a few ways of how a team can overcome this bottleneck.
1. Communicate Clearly not Often
People believe repetition is an effective tool to communicate. Alas! It’s not. If anything it irks people when they are already bombarded with notifications from all corners. Hence, be precise in what you say. Encourage people to ask their doubts and confusions. Do not kill productivity by making the employee waste all his time in just communicating. As a result, you may feel some people in the team are isolated. But honestly, it is more of a function of the lack of physical presence of everyone in a common space than a lack of miscommunication. Hence, avoid this trap at all costs.
2. Set up Recurring Meetings
It’s always challenging to find meeting times that suits everyone's schedule. So just find a time that suits the majority and communicate the same a few days beforehand and set it to become recurring. When people are aware of an impending meeting much in advance, it’s much easier for them to schedule their work and lives around it. For Example: Set up Monday Morning Catch-ups or Thursday Sales meetings, Monthly Sprints, etc.
3. Share Files and Data
Collaborating remotely becomes 10x simpler when teams follow the policy of sharing documents and data in one place. Ideally, everyone should have access and edit rights to a project document they are a part of without asking for it. Any changes should be visible to all the teammates, with version control to see the most recently updated version of the file. This approach prevents files and other information from getting lost in countless emails or other siloed systems. Teams work better when they have collective views. A visual depiction of milestones, due dates, dependencies, and roadblocks keeps the project on track.
4. Encourage Real-time Communications Via Video Calls
Video Chats form a better connection with fellow teammates. It is a richer format allowing colleagues to pick up both cues from speech as well as body language. Hence, opt for Zoom, google meet, WhatsApp video calls, etc. over communication using just text or audio.
5. Use a Project Management Tools
Tracking progress can be a struggle in a remote setting. Managers are hence often found to be micromanaging to overcome this hurdle, but that has a negative impact on the team overall and harms productivity. Instead, use the right software and solid work structures, to know your team’s progress and keep a handle on how things are going without micromanaging and constantly nagging for updates. And if you are on the fence due to the myth of online project management tools being exclusively built for big businesses or high-profile companies. Well, let me assure you that it’s a myth that you should dispel right away. The digital age belongs to everybody.
(This article is authored by Dr. Anshul Dhingra, Founder – MSME Centre of Excellence)
