Collaborating in the era of remote teams is an empowering experience, but at the same time, it can be a little bit challenging. Research carried out by a Harvard Business School study stated that about 40% of managers don’t feel confident in managing and collaborating with their remote teams. Most employees are used to sharing ideas during lunch break or dropping by the boss’s office for a quick opinion which is no longer possible.
So many businesses were forced to work from home due to the covid19 pandemic to keep their employees safe from the virus. Remote working also comes with many perks, such as working in PJs and no lengthy commutes, which saves time and energy.
However, quarantining at home all the time, juggling house chores, and trying to be productive with office work can take a toll on anyone’s mind. This article will guide you on how to collaborate effectively with your team while working remotely.
How To Collaborate in the Era of Remote Teams
Remote collaboration means working together towards a common goal using digital tools without any or little physical interaction. Co-workers can virtually share ideas, work files and communicate in real-time. Here is how to effectively collaborate in the era of remote teams.
Work on collaborative tasks
You can choose to work with your colleagues on time-consuming projects. Working collaboratively with your team keeps the workplace alive. With more hands on deck, the bond between employees grows.
The more you work with others, the more eyes you have on the project. It also ensures employee productivity is improved and mistakes are easily avoided. More importantly, it is advisable to set deadlines and expectations.
Remote teams can access each other using TeamViewer, and collaborate on Slack and SaleForce.
Set up recurring meetings
Set weekly recurring meetings for remote teams to connect via video meetings to discuss everyone’s plans, potential hurdles, accomplishments, review upcoming work, ask questions, and gain clarity on a particular task.
You can set up virtual meetings using Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and other video conferencing platforms. Soapbox is best for creating meeting agendas.
Maintain transparency
Lack of transparency takes a toll on employees’ morale. Transparency builds trust and fosters collaboration among employees. Maintaining transparency while working from home can help the company reach its peak. Managers and other team members should ensure to share both internal and external information.
Remote teams can be more transparent by planning together using tools like Miro.
Utilize digital tools
Utilize digital tools to check in with employees to ensure everything is going well or if they face difficulties with the task they are currently working on and if they need help.
Give honest feedback
Creating a space for honest feedback can be highly rewarding for virtual teams. It creates room for sharing small victories as well as constructive criticism. Additionally, it goes a long way to breed friendship and increase productivity.
Set up the sprint and milestone goals
Employees who are aiming for some goals collaborate more effectively to attain that goal. You can achieve productivity by setting up monthly milestones and weekly sprints goals.
Teams can establish a bigger picture goal for the month, including the outcomes they expect. The tasks can be reduced into weekly or bi-weekly sprints aiding the team to set priorities and schedule time to collaborate.
You can keep track of the projects using Trello. It allows remote teams to create a checklist for every goal. At the same time, employees can add comments along the way.
Virtual team fun activities
Work and commitment can be quite stressful. It is important to participate in some fun activities to strengthen bonds and to get to know each other better. Team building activities are one of the best ways to collaborate in the era of remote teams effectively.
Remote teams can have some fun with virtual group games like War of the Wizards, Team Building, Typing Speed Race, and many others.
Benefits of collaborating in the era of remote teams
While there are challenges that come with collaborating with remote teams, there are lots of benefits that are worth considering:
Organizational flexibility:
Working from home makes employees’ tasks flexible. Remote teams are not limited to the 9 to 5 workday. Teams can collaborate at any time of the day they feel more productive.
Healthier workforce:
An organization working towards improving team collaboration while maintaining a value-based culture will help the employee’s stress level and toxic health conditions to drop significantly.
A healthier workforce occurs when the employees feel a greater level of trust between them and the management. When trust is established, and stress is lowered, it empowers the remote employees to stay focused and committed to the task at hand.
Clearer and more effective communication:
Communication has its advantages while working in person, so does remote communication. If you are concerned that working at home could falter communication without face-to-face discussion, then you can opt for aided digital tools to keep the communication going.
Regular real-time communication using digital tools like Microsoft Teams reduces the hassle of unnecessary meetings and can also help lower stress levels and more effective communication as employees can literally take their time to listen to each other’s voice notes and read emails at their own pace for better understanding.
Increased productivity and profitability:
According to ZDNet and board room, 58% of teams working from home have a greater sense of responsibility towards their work and are willing to work overtime.
An infographic released by Reliable Plant explained how virtual teams could increase profits. Greater profits for organizations depend on effective communication among virtual teams and effective marketing communication.
With the help of improved collaboration of remote teams, productive competition, innovation, and high customer satisfaction, the organization can establish a work culture that can impact the overall bottom line.
Innovation and effective problem solving
Working together online connects employees from various backgrounds bringing more skills and experience to the table.
This diversity generates innovative ideas that are effective for expanding businesses and helping the team find new ways of solving problems.
Final Thought
Effective collaboration is significant for every team to succeed. Creating and maintaining synergy among employees can be tough when your team works remotely. However, implementing the strategies highlighted in this post can enable work together productively and seamlessly.
