How To Collaborate When Working Remotely

Remote working has become increasingly common in recent years. The pandemic accelerated the shift towards working from home, and many businesses have chosen to embrace more flexible working arrangements since 2020. As remote workforces have become more commonplace, employers and leaders face fresh challenges linked to remote teams working together effectively.

Studies show that if left unchecked, remote work can decrease collaboration by up to 25%. A reduction in cohesion and cooperation can contribute to a diverse range of knock-on effects, including decreased productivity, low morale, lower employee retention rates and reduced innovation.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll discuss and explore effective strategies business owners and managers can utilise to improve collaboration by promoting communication, productivity and teamwork.

How to collaborate effectively when your team is working remotely

There are multiple ways to collaborate effectively when your team is working remotely. These include:

1. Establish clear communication channels

Clear, open communication is essential for effective teamwork, particularly when teams are spread across multiple locations. If individuals and groups don’t communicate, this can lead to confusion and a lack of clarity, damage relationships and impact productivity and efficiency. To encourage open communication, it’s important to follow these steps:

Choose the right communication tools

Select tools and channels that cater to the requirements and preferences of your team: look for tools that align with your objectives and offer tailored targeted solutions

Consider what you want and need from the tools you choose: factors to consider include your current tech stack, the employee learning curve, required features, your budget and cost comparisons and whether you’d prefer to use a single tool or a selection of tools

Set communication expectations

Establish clear guidelines and goals
Explain why it’s important to implement communication guidelines
Ensure that every individual understands what is required of them
Implement policies and procedures to encourage positive habits and practices
Ensure that employees know how to utilise communication tools to achieve objectives and improve remote collaboration

2. Foster a culture of collaboration

75% of employers feel that teamwork and collaboration are “very important”. But 39% of employees believe that people in their own organisation don’t collaborate enough. This shows that there’s a big issue with collaboration being culturally embedded within organisations. With it being a behaviour that some people just do, without thinking about it.

Focusing on embedding a culture around communication and collaboration is crucial to becoming an innate behaviour of remote teams. To foster a culture of collaboration here are some top tips:

Sharing knowledge, ideas, opinions, thoughts, and feedback should be an integral part of communications between remote workforces. Knowledge sharing is an effective learning method, and it enables individuals to grow, develop and thrive. It’s important for everyone to have the confidence to speak up and share and for each individual or group to have the space and opportunity to impart knowledge and wisdom. Being open can enhance relationships, build long-lasting ties and provide valuable learning opportunities.

Steps to promote knowledge sharing include:

Planning regular team conversations via communication tools, such as video calls and conferences and Teams chats
Championing inclusivity: every employee should feel able to get involved
Using channels for FAQs and gathering knowledge
Hosting show-and-tell sessions
Creating shared files and folders
Running virtual learning and development and training sessions

Encourage cross-functional collaboration

Organisational silos can inhibit and restrict cross-department collaboration, resulting in reduced productivity and efficiency, delays, mistakes and disruptions, poor communication and employee isolation. To encourage cross-functional collaboration, business managers can:

Utilise company-wide tools and channels and implement universal guidelines
Host inter-departmental and cross-team events, training and development sessions and meetings
Encourage socialisation (this includes virtual hang-outs and fun events, such as quizzes, for remote teams)
Share a unified vision, which champions business objectives, as well as department goals and targets

Foster a feedback culture

Feedback is incredibly valuable for employees, team leaders and business managers and owners. Fostering a feedback culture enables every member to learn and ensures that people have an opportunity to share their ideas and opinions. Offering feedback, whether it be negative or positive, provides insight into existing processes, guidelines, projects and policies, and it enhances visibility for remote employees. By creating a feedback loop, business managers and leaders can identify strengths and weaknesses, gather ideas to promote innovation and development, get to know employees better and create a sense of collective ownership.

Facilitate virtual brainstorming sessions

Virtual brainstorming sessions are a brilliant, accessible way to encourage remote workers to engage with colleagues, share opinions, bounce ideas around and identify and solve problems. Encouraging participation and facilitating regular sessions enables everyone to get involved and creates a safe space for participants to share their views and listen to others.

Promote collaborative decision-making

Try to involve employees in the decision-making process to encourage commitment, shared ownership and the establishment of common goals. Provide opportunities for individuals to make suggestions and share ideas to help the team make well-informed decisions that reflect its opinions and perspectives.

Recognise and reward collaboration

Reinforce and celebrate the value and importance of collaboration by recognising and rewarding successful collaborative projects and examples of teamwork and shining a spotlight on people who are making a positive difference to remote work collaboration. Rewarding efforts motivates the individual as well as encouraging others to follow in their footsteps.

Provide collaboration training and workshops

Provide access to workshops, courses and training sessions that focus on collaboration and developing communication and teamwork skills. Training ensures that employees are equipped to work within remote teams effectively. Examples of topics to cover include:

Conflict resolution
Improving communication skills
Active listening
Cross-functional collaboration

3. Provide effective project management and collaboration tools

Providing effective collaboration tools is essential for bringing remote workers together and building cohesive teams. Without access to suitable tools and programs, employees may struggle to communicate efficiently, there may be a lack of clarity and understanding in relation to group tasks and team objectives, and individuals may not be able to share files or updates quickly and easily.

Here are some suggestions for how you can use tools and software to improve collaboration:

Utilise project management software

Utilise project management software to enable access to tools and features that centralise project information, actively facilitate collaboration and promote accountability. Implement tools that allow for deadline tracking, task assignment and progress monitoring.

Gain insight from team performance tools

Utilise team performance tools, which provide analytics and data linked to productivity and collaboration. Set metrics, such as task completion rates, response times and overall team performance indicators, to identify weaknesses and areas for improvement, address and solve problems, such as inefficiencies, and encourage data-based decision-making. Using insights from these tools, you can enhance performance levels, improve collaboration, provide targeted support for remote employees and allocate resources effectively. Review data frequently and share the findings with your team to provide transparency and encourage continuous improvement.

Enabling real-time document sharing and editing is a simple, effective way to boost efficiency and encourage collaboration between remote teams. It’s also a good way to ensure that everyone has access to up-to-date information, files and folders.

4. Support professional development and skill building

Supporting professional development and providing access to training can help to champion professional growth, encourage remote collaboration and enable remote workers to hone their skills, learn new skills and enhance their knowledge base. Training and professional development breed confidence, and they can also empower individuals and groups to be more proactive in sharing ideas and communicating and collaborating with colleagues.

Ways to support professional development include:

Offer virtual training and workshops

Virtual training sessions, webinars and workshops offer an easy, accessible way for remote workers to learn new skills and build confidence. They can also promote engagement and provide social opportunities.

Encourage peer learning and mentoring

Aim to foster a culture of peer learning by running virtual mentoring programs and pairing colleagues with complementary skills. It’s also beneficial to encourage knowledge sharing and the exchange of ideas between peers.

5. Encourage personal relationships and well-being

Establishing positive relationships at work can play a crucial role in promoting well-being and maintaining team morale. It is often more difficult to form relationships when you work remotely. A 2022 survey revealed that over a third of remote employees felt lonely or isolated. To encourage personal relationships and champion well-being, here are some ideas:

Virtual water cooler moments

Many people who switch to remote working find that the lack of social contact is one of the most noticeable and difficult changes. Virtual water cooler moments are designed to encourage casual, free-flowing conversation about everyday topics or subjects of interest that are not work-related. These may be groundbreaking stories in the news or the latest binge-worthy box sets, for example. The aim is to encourage people to open up, form friendships, get to know their colleagues outside of meetings or virtual training sessions and share their interests and hobbies.

Encourage regular check-ins

Arrange regular meetings and one-to-one catch-ups to see how employees are getting on, facilitate transparency and encourage individuals to share ideas or raise concerns. Frequent check-ins give people time and space to talk and listen, they can help to create a sense of unity, and they provide a platform for remote collaboration.

Promote virtual team-building activities

Team-building activities don’t have to be done face-to-face. There are multiple ways to encourage and enhance teamwork virtually. Examples include virtual happy hours, online games and lunchtime get-togethers. These activities allow for informal conversations, they tend to be fun and relaxed, and they can help to build team spirit.

Encourage self-care and work-life balance

Encourage self-care and help remote employees to enjoy a healthy work-life balance as part of an effort to promote well-being. Urge workers to take regular breaks, offer flexibility in terms of scheduling and work-life balance and implement guidelines and policies. It can be more difficult to switch off when you work from home, as the lines between work and leisure time are blurred. Establish clear guidance, for example, no meetings or sending work-related emails after a certain time. It can also be helpful to introduce core hours, which give employees the freedom to manage their schedules outside of the core office hours to better suit their strengths or improve time management.

Conclusion

Effective collaboration is critical to the success of remote teams. Business owners and leaders play a pivotal role in championing remote collaboration and enabling individuals and groups to thrive.

There are several ways to collaborate effectively and improve performance levels, morale, productivity and communication within remote teams. Key elements include establishing clear communication channels, promoting open communication and fostering a culture of collaboration. Utilising tools and software is important for allowing teams to work together and enhancing efficiency, and it can also support professional development. Embracing guidelines and implementing policies, tools, and techniques empowers remote workers, encourages individuals to work towards shared goals and creates a sense of unity and camaraderie.

Combining the factors outlined in this article and taking advantage of innovative, collaborative working tools can help businesses which have remote workforces to thrive. If you run a business with remote teams, it’s hugely beneficial to consider these crucial steps in building relationships, creating a culture that celebrates collaboration and communication and ensuring that individuals feel like they’re part of a cohesive, motivated team.

How To Collaborate Effectively When Your Team Is Working Remotely