{"id":7451,"date":"2020-11-19T19:51:11","date_gmt":"2020-11-19T15:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/krisp.ai\/blog\/?p=7451"},"modified":"2024-07-04T13:28:47","modified_gmt":"2024-07-04T09:28:47","slug":"avoid-virtual-team-miscommunication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/krisp.ai\/blog\/avoid-virtual-team-miscommunication\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Improve Virtual Team Communication"},"content":{"rendered":"

What if I told you the perfect virtual team communication plan exists?<\/span><\/p>\n

For small and medium teams that is. Lower numbers of employees and clear groups allow you to ask for individual feedback and even meet independent requirements.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One team member can\u2019t attend your daily meetings? Record the call. Got a colleague who always loses their files? Set up a clear file storage solution.<\/span><\/p>\n

At an enterprise level though, it\u2019s impossible to meet the needs of thousands of workers. Lack of engagement, irregular messaging<\/a>, information silos, and email overload are just four of the factors that prevent employees from enjoying their remote work experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

Matter of fact, at the start of the year, as many as <\/span>20% of remote employees<\/span><\/a> said that poor communication was their #1 challenge. A shocking <\/span>60% of companies<\/span><\/a> didn\u2019t even have a long-term strategy for their internal communication. Meanwhile, <\/span>74% of employees<\/span><\/a> felt like they were missing out on company news.<\/span><\/p>\n

This leaves your remote team members with no outlook of where the company is heading and inhibits their long-term work performance and <\/span>productivity<\/span><\/a>. Information and files get lost among all messaging channels, details are misinterpreted, and individuals get entirely left out of conversations and company updates.<\/span><\/p>\n

To prevent all this chaos, we\u2019ve prepared a step-by-step guide to improve your virtual team communication plan and ensure it\u2019s a good fit for everyone in your team.<\/b><\/p>\n

Stop focusing on technology by creating a communication strategy around your people instead<\/span><\/h2>\n

The first mistake companies made when switching to an all-remote communication strategy was worrying about their tools first.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What apps should we use? Is Zoom a good enough option?\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

These are all incorrect questions as they don\u2019t focus on their actual users. You can have the best tools in the industry if your team\u2019s real needs are not met.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"conference<\/p>\n

Image source: zoom.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Instead, find out your employees\u2019 true demands and struggles by maintaining an open remote team relation based on trust and frankness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How would they like to communicate from now on? What are their biggest fears? Will using a single tool help them talk to each other, hold video calls, and keep their documents in order?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

To get these insights, you can run a simple poll, send a mandatory survey, or just keep things public via a Slack channel where anyone can drop by with feedback.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nevertheless, people are likely to struggle with new additions to your virtual team communication<\/a> strategy or tech stack for months because they’re still getting used to a new thing. Opt for surveys or a rating system to collect gradual feedback even as you\u2019re testing a tactic or tool.<\/span><\/p>\n

Questions to ask related to internal and external virtual team communication include:<\/b><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. How would you like to get information on the company?<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Is there anything you\u2019d change regarding how you currently communicate with our clients?<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Does your manager offer appropriate assistance to help you handle your work?<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. How would you like to share your feedback in the future?<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Would you prefer to keep your feedback anonymous?<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. What is the best thing about communications within our company\/your team?<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. For which topics do you think it is necessary that you receive regular communications about?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    SurveyMonkey question example<\/span><\/p>\n

    Work towards a strong culture even in a remote setting<\/span><\/h2>\n

    If you think your in-office team culture is praiseworthy, don\u2019t expect it to stay the same when remote. Several\u00a0team communication issues such as a lack of engagement or frequent misunderstandings stem from low trust levels and no bonds among employees.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Cultural awareness alone can increase employee happiness, maintain team engagement, and improve overall <\/span>team productivity<\/span><\/a>. The transparency a strong <\/span>remote team culture<\/span><\/a> provides makes for easier-to-maintain work relations and more courage to speak up and reach out to a colleague. Not to mention the increased confidence in bringing up feedback or topics they wouldn\u2019t otherwise feel like talking about with people who are \u201cmere strangers\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

    To put it simply, a healthy work environment relies on how its people get along, how likely they are to recommend their company to other candidates, and what their opinion of the general team culture is.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Remotely, this translates into maintaining at least as many <\/span>team-building opportunities<\/span><\/a> as you used to have, more encouragement for the team to participate in brainstorming and sharing their ideas, and maintaining face-to-face interaction during team meetings and one-on-ones.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Plan ahead to prevent distractions<\/span><\/h2>\n

    Distractions are ok from time to time. The mess is done by them getting out of hand.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Scrolling Instagram for an hour or taking the kids for a walk during the work schedule is no big deal until you start doing this on a regular basis. Managers will soon start seeing employees take half of the day off to run errands or just watch their favorite TV show. All because they were once allowed to do this and now think it\u2019s ok.<\/span><\/p>\n

    To prevent this, clarify how much downtime you allow. Is it acceptable for your employees to miss a meeting without a solid reason? Do you want your team members to be available on Slack during the entire work schedule? How quickly should they answer an inquiry from a teammate?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Having a firm stance on the \u201cdistractions\u201d you accept will ensure people aren\u2019t feeling restricted but can still get their work done. For all other interferences, there\u2019s always a handy app you can turn to.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Need to find out where you\u2019re spending too much time? A simple Chrome extension like <\/span>Webtime Tracker<\/span><\/a> unveils your true browsing habits. <\/span><\/p>\n

    Your teammates can\u2019t hear you because of all the construction noise in the background? <\/span>Krisp<\/span><\/a> removes all the buzzes and chatting going on in the background for both listeners and speakers to provide a clear team communication pathway.<\/span><\/p>\n

    [demo]<\/p>\n

    Tailor your guidelines to suit multiple timezones and schedules<\/span><\/h2>\n

    So you\u2019ve got all of your team members in the same time zone, but what if someone misses a meeting?<\/span><\/p>\n

    Not getting all the details of an important quarterly meeting or even just a \u201cchat\u201d where dozens of decisions were made on the spot can derail an employee. They won\u2019t know what\u2019s expected of them, how the team\u2019s activity will evolve in the future, and can be left out of entire brainstorming processes.<\/span><\/p>\n

    The solutions are simpler. You can record every meeting and send it to those who didn\u2019t attend or summarize the key points of discussions and post them on a public dashboard.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Be prepared before an issue pops up by clarifying the following as part of your virtual team communication plan:<\/span><\/p>\n