The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we work forever and proven to even some of the most traditional organizations that working from home can be effective and efficient and even necessary in some cases.
According to research, 20% of knowledge workers prefer a fully remote model of working while 17% say they always want to work from home. And according to a 2021 survey from Topia, 91% of employees agree that they should be able to work from wherever they want as long as they get their work done.
Working from home, however, isn’t always easy, especially if you have to often collaborate with a team. There are ways to make it more effective, however. Here are 3 tips:
Use the right tools. When organizations have a large portion of their employees working from home, they need the right collaboration tools to make the process as seamless as possible. These can include online spreadsheet tools, online communication tools, including chat, and online file systems that allow team members to have access to the information they need safely and securely.
Define the right schedule for your team. To ensure your team members understand when they are required to be available and working, it helps to define parameters around a schedule. Several factors will play into what this schedule looks like, including the various time zones employees live in and when the various time zones overlap, what you feel is a reasonable response time to answering emails or requests, and what your guidelines are around communicating or reaching out during off or odd hours.
Practice effective communication skills. One of the common complaints about collaborating remotely with teams is that brainstorming is often more difficult. That is why, if you are a remote employee, it helps to be clear in every communication. Do not rely on vague statements. Instead, go into detail when necessary. Also, it is important to pick up the phone and speak to your team members often. There is often a lot of nuances that can be lost in email or text communication.
Don’t forget about team building. When you are not around your team members face-to-face it can be easy to forget that you’re still a team that needs to work together effectively. That’s why team building is still important when your team is working remotely. Fun and effective activities may include occasional coffee sessions to kick off the day when you don’t discuss work, instead you leave the space open for discussing what is happening in each other’s lives or other topics that happen naturally when teams are together in person. You may also recommend each team member give virtual tours of their work-from-home space, share photos of their family or discuss some of their hobbies or some of the activities they enjoy outside the office.
Collaborating while working remotely doesn’t always come naturally. It’s something that remote teams have to work at constantly. But, when done well, it can be just as effective as having your entire team together in person.
Photograph by Markus Spiske