Remote working isn’t just something that enables us to continue working when we can’t get to the office. Before the challenges that 2020 bestowed upon us, remote working provided a host of benefits to organisations around the world and was becoming increasingly popular.
When staff are able to work remotely it can help them create a better work/life balance, reduce exposure to illness and minimise wasted time; all leading to improved mental health and increased productivity.
However, when operating with a remote team, it is essential that your employees are able to communicate and collaborate with their colleagues effectively.
There are a number of practices that need to be put in place to ensure that your teams can work efficiently when away from the office. This ranges from helping them to take care of their mental health and manage working with young children around, to providing the tools for them to conduct virtual meetings, collaborate with colleagues and maintain a positive organisational culture.
Maintaining a Good Level of Communication
Ultimately, effective remote working boils down to maintaining a strong level of communication. When your team works in different locations – whether on a permanent basis or just when circumstances demand it – they need to be able to communicate with each other. For client or customer-facing employees, they also need to be contactable remotely.
There are many different elements that make up good communication – effective communication doesn’t just involve speaking with one another but involves sharing schedules, collaborating on projects and more.
Top 5 Remote Working Communication Methods
- Instant messaging
- Instant messaging provides a fast and informal way for colleagues to chat – providing a quick answer to a question or allowing a conversation that flows more quickly than email but is less interruptive than a phone call.
- Shared calendars
- When you can’t physically see what everyone is up to, a shared calendar allows colleagues to know when others are available, enabling them to plan their time and reach the right people at the right time.
- VoIP
- Voice over IP (VoIP) allows users to make phone calls over an Internet connection. This means you don’t need to provide all your staff with mobile phones or rely on them to use their private phone lines. A VoIP system can even allow them to access the office phone system remotely so they can keep their existing phone number and help with answering calls.
- Audio or video conferencing
- Audio or video conferencing allows teams and clients to meet in a virtual setting. There are a variety of tools available including some that allow real-time document collaboration and file sharing. A good communications consultant can help find the right tools that provide everything you need.
- Screen sharing
- In an office setting we often find ourselves gathered around someone’s screen to have discussions. However, this can’t be done if we are not all in the same location. Fortunately, there are tools that allow us to share our screens remotely with as many people as necessary. When combining this with conferencing tools, we can achieve the same results as a face-to-face meeting.
Kane Can Help
Kane Communications are here to help. We provide free and impartial advice to help you get set up with everything you need for your teams to remain effective when working remotely.
Many of the systems we offer can be deployed remotely. This means we can get you up and running quickly without needing to meet face-to-face or come into direct contact with anyone.
We understand that no two businesses are the same and use our knowledge and experience to deliver secure and reliable systems to help you provide your customers with an experience that is second to none, even when your circumstances can change in an instant.
Please feel free to drop us a line to discuss your needs in more detail.
