Communication is the single most important factor in a successful telecommuting or virtual work arrangement. All members should understand and develop respect towards other’s work patterns. Since you do not get the “water cooler” moments with your employees in a virtual environment, here is how you can use effective communication to unite your virtual workforce:
Timing: Schedule a fixed time to interact with your virtual teams. The interaction could be one-to-one or many-to-many based on your business need. During this fixed time, you can discuss progress, issues, milestones, ideas, and plans. This collaborative time of brainstorming is useful for both the sides. Do keep time zones in mind.
Communication protocol: Set a communication protocol to define what is acceptable and what is not. The protocol depends a lot on individual company policies. Here are some of the protocols that your company can follow:
- The kind of interaction you expect (formal or casual), the agenda (what should be discussed and in what order), who all should attend virtual meetings, who should send the meeting request, maintaining a shared calendar, and so on.
- Define when should employees log on to IM (beginning of workday) and log out, and how to communicate status using presence indicators such as “available,” “in a meeting,” or “working on a deadline.”
- How frequently employees should check in and respond to emails? Who should be put under CC/BCC?
- What should be the common software protocol and file naming system?
- What, when, and how often should things be documented?
- When and how to escalate issues and who are the people responsible for issue handling?
Communication tools: Use the tools for instant messaging, email, video conferencing, file sharing, online document management, virtual project collaboration, online meeting, and other web office tools to ensure seamless and clear communication among your virtual employees.
Additional read: 5 must-have tools to enhance productivity of virtual workforce
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