Keeping teams engaged is difficult enough if they all share the same physical space, but when the rise of remote working is thrown into the equation, managers may find it even harder to promote effective collaboration and productivity.
With the help of these communication strategies you can encourage engagement in all members, whatever remote working scenario you are faced with at the moment.
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Embrace the latest conferencing solutions
Email is adequate for certain business interactions, but if you are worried about remote teams becoming disengaged from their duties and goals because they primarily communicate through sporadically sent messages, using a contemporary conferencing platform can be a great way to overcome this.
You can compare and contrast the packages offered by the best conference call providers to see which will meet your needs. Consider things like the size of your team, the type of collaboration tools that will be most useful and the budget you have available. Making voice and video calls to create virtual meetings can remove the limitations of remote working and bolster engagement significantly.
This is just one aspect of managing a remote team effectively that cannot be overemphasized, and with many platforms providing free or affordable conferencing solutions for businesses, there has never been a better time to get onboard.
Provide regular updates
Working remotely can be an isolating experience, so frequency of communication is important for managers who want to ensure everyone is on the same page and not feeling neglected or disillusioned with their lot.
Even if there is not a whole lot of new information to share, having a regular email update sent out to every member which gets them up to speed and outlines the plan for the day ahead can go a long way towards avoiding disgruntlement.
Ask for feedback
If team members know that they are free to air any grievances, request additional support or just generally remain in touch with colleagues and managers while working remotely, this will be a real benefit in terms of how engaged they feel.
Most importantly do not assume that everyone knows that they can come to you if they have feedback to offer; instead, explicitly ask for it to make sure that employees feel confident enough to speak up when necessary.
Encourage virtual expression of emotion
A lot of the digital methods of communication can take that all-important emotional connection out of the equation, especially those that rely solely on text. And since video conferencing can only last for so long, it pays to promote the idea of using other ways to show how you are feeling.
There is a reason that instant messaging platforms support emojis, as well as other forms of multimedia. The simple addition of a smiley face, a thumbs-up or a funny GIF can make all the difference between a message which is bland or even terse, and one which is warm and positive.
Since happy workers make for a more productive team, this small but significant chance to your communications strategy can pay dividends.
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