Now more than ever, companies around the world are working remotely. It might be that only some of its partners are in other parts of the world, or that the entire company operates remotely. Due to technology, it is now possible to not even have a headquarter for a company, especially in IT companies. This reduces costs tremendously. But without face to face interactions, how do you communicate properly? How do you control productivity? And how do you keep morale high? It is hard, but not impossible! In this blog post, we will explore the best practices for working remotely.
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First, you need to connect with your team and establish personal connections, especially if they start as remote colleagues. For this, you need to establish rapport. One quick tip to achieve this is scheduling short meetings with remote co-workers. Sounds strange, right? But building a relationship little by little and respecting your remote colleagues time is essential to building rapport.
Another important skill is active listening. Since you don’t have the person next to you all the time, it’s important that you dedicate all your attention to them when you are having conversations so you leave the interaction with a clear idea of what was discussed and the next steps. A great way to practice an active listening skill: listen to what the other person is saying without thinking how are you going to answer. Only when the person is done speaking, ask questions and provide your opinion. Make sure to not leave the conversation until you clearly understand what’s going on and what you need to do. In the end, recap the discussion by repeating the key points and next steps.
Effective written communication and hiring people with this skill should be a priority. Most of your conversations will be via video, chat or email. The ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both in written form and in person, is crucial for remote employees. Look for this skill when interviewing. For this, you may check the wording of the emails in your future hiring. Employees should be able to get their point across clearly and directly. Efficiency in the message is essential for the whole team, but especially in remote environments.
Since nowadays more teams work remotely and some entire companies choose to work only remotely, we recommend to take these points into considerations to have an efficient and united team that works harmoniously.
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