Best practices for virtual team communications

 

 

This new form of working brings opportunities and problems for both employees and organizations as it becomes more widely recognized. Among other advantages, working remotely gives employees more flexibility and helps employers access a larger talent pool. Building trust and maintaining open channels of communication among virtual teams may be challenging, though. (Best Practices for Communication with Your Virtual Team, 2022)

Teams must devise fresh strategies to guarantee good collaboration since virtual and remote workers aren't exposed to the routine workplace humour and day-to-day interactions.

Maintaining communication can be challenging, particularly when multiple time zones, time constraints at work, and availability are involved. However, regardless of team members' schedules or locations, recognizing and adopting into practice the best practices for virtual communication will help your team communicate more successfully. (Best Practices for Communication with Your Virtual Team, 2022)

With a renewed focus on telecommuting, a new reality has emerged: Teams need a plan for interacting through the internet, and leaders must change how they handle their teams and meetings from a distance. (Best Practices for Managing Virtual Teams and Meetings | CCL, 2020)

Virtual cooperation might be difficult, but most people who have done so can relate to its benefits. Managing virtual teams has certain particular challenges, such as managing disagreements and building trust issues, where some team members participate more than others. The dissatisfaction that team members feel is frequently made worse by technical difficulties on calls, network problems, and varying standards of comfort and technology use. (Best Practices for Managing Virtual Teams and Meetings | CCL, 2020)

Working virtually can make a worker feel alone very quickly, which is one of the issues with it. According to the size of the company, this may occur in various extents. However, it will become more challenging to guarantee that everyone has the opportunity to voice their thoughts and opinions as the company grows. ((2022) Virtual Communication: Challenges & Best Practices, no date)

The effectiveness of communication within a company will certainly have an impact on its output, to wrap things up. Since most businesses are made up of individuals from various backgrounds, there will certainly be a variety of views and viewpoints. It is crucial to capitalize on these contributions, which could aid companies in coming up with creative solutions to issues. ((2022) Virtual Communication: Challenges & Best Practices, no date)

Practice 1 - Create a relationship of trust and develop it with certain expectations.

People need to trust each other for virtual collaboration to be successful. Trust does not appear by magic. It starts when you get your team together for team building exercises or training, and it keeps growing as a result of leaders continuously setting and expecting clear outcomes from their teams. It's crucial to have gatherings at least once a year. When meet in person, team mates frequently grasp a concept that wasn't clear before. When meet virtually again, then they have essential knowledge that they wouldn't have had previously.

Practice 2 – Control outcomes rather than activity

In a physical office setting, "busy work" frequently passes for actual labor. When you can't see what individuals are doing in a virtual environment, managing results is essential. Establish goals and keep an eye on the outcomes rather than the everyday activity. For those who are driven and take the initiative, this is motivating. On the other hand, it acts as a virtual magnifying glass, exposing those who lack initiative and motivation. A bad hire can typically be identified within a few months, saving both you and the employee a lot of time and misery.

Practice 3 – Utilize effective communication methods.

Virtual communication can be streamlined and made more effective by using a variety of communication technologies.

Software for video conferences - In the absence of in-person meetings, video conferencing software can foster better relationships and collaboration among employees by allowing them to communicate with one another face-to-face. Zoom, GoTo Meeting, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams are some of the most popular video conferencing programs.

Apps for messaging - Messaging apps are accessible for fast queries and team-building, while video meetings are useful for more strategic and complicated discussions. Many messaging apps include groups or channels along with to direct communications for different teams, business updates, or the individual interests of team members. Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Chat, and Discord are examples of famous chat programs.

Systems for managing projects - Understanding the status of each project is crucial for all team members considering large campaigns and initiatives have a lot of components that change. With the aid of project management tools, teams can keep track of the numerous activities involved in a project, allocate assignments to individuals, fulfill deadlines, and cut down on meeting time for small project updates. Asana, Hive, Monday.com, and Trello are a few of the best project management tools.

Shared Files - When changes are made to a file, attaching a new version each time can create problems like reviewing an old version or having many team members give the same input. Shared documents, which are often saved in the cloud, make it easier for teams to collaborate since everyone has access to the same version of the document and its revision history. Dropbox Paper, Microsoft OneDrive, and Google Drive are examples of shared document applications.

Practice 4 - Create guidelines for responsiveness.

When people work remotely, leaders need to define what is expected of them in terms of attentiveness. How quickly should a person answer to a phone contact, email, or chat message? What process does the business use while employees are on vacation or out of the office? If you work in customer service, it's critical to have a clear understanding of what is expected of you in terms of how to respond to each client enquiry. Nobody enjoys waiting, and it makes things much simpler for both the customer and the company when everyone is aware of what to expect.

Once team leaders got their communication keys in place, they need to lead by example in terms of the behavior they want to encourage. The boundaries that leaders should impose on their team members should be made clear. If leaders are taking a leave, let everyone know well in advance and let them know how long they will be gone. If they are unavailable, involve others.

Practice 5 - Be brief and straightforward.

The tone that comes across in your communications plays a huge role in how well you communicate. Remember that unclear communications might easily be misunderstood while composing an email or conversing in an instant messaging app. This is especially true on a worldwide, remote team.

Re-read the note to be sure it delivers the point you're trying to make before sending it. Be flexible and modify your communication style to suit the audience as certain team members may need more or different information than others. If clarification is required to help prevent confusion, think about engaging in a live dialogue.

Video ; Virtual Team Communication Tips | Weekdone

Source : YouTube

References;

1.     Best Practices for Communication with Your Virtual Team (2022) www.upwork.com. Beth Kempton . Available at: https://www.upwork.com/resources/virtual-team-communication-best-practices.

2.       ‌Best Practices for Managing Virtual Teams and Meetings | CCL (2020) Center for Creative Leadership. Available at: https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/best-practices-for-managing-virtual-teams-and-meetings/.

3.       (2022) Virtual Communication: Challenges & Best Practices (no date) www.coffeepals.com. Available at: https://www.coffeepals.com/blog/2022-virtual-communication-challenges-best-practices

4.       Team, V. (2020) Virtual Team Communication Tips | Weekdone, YouTube. Available at: https://youtu.be/PbT-rmoGxJ4?feature=shared (Accessed: 24 August 2023).