remote communication | 6 tips for staying connected while working from home

At the start of the pandemic, the idea of ​​working from home seemed exciting and new. You’d probably still rather eat rocks than go back to your desk. But maybe not. Perhaps you struggle with productivity and miss casual banter with co-workers at the meeting table.

Depending on what the previous normal was, this work from home scenario can create a number of challenges for you such as telecommuting.

Perhaps you are used to receiving calls and meetings with clients from within a conference room, surrounded by the collective support of your team, and wondering how to invoke the same confidence from inside your office at home, on your own?

Maybe you’re in sales and get used to the face-to-face approach and struggle to establish a relationship with a new lead when you have to trade face time for FaceTime?

Talking about staying connected while working from home is easier said than done, but here are some tips to help you connect with your employees and customers during this difficult time.

Focus on remote team communication now more than ever

Tip #1: Reiterate that your virtual office door is always open

This may seem obvious but it is important for your employees and colleagues to know that they are not ‘harassing’ you. Make sure they feel comfortable calling you and asking for your help.

If your schedule makes getting free time more difficult, consider scheduling open hours each week where your team can meet with you without other scheduling conflicts.

Tip #2: Make regular check-ins

At TKG, our leadership teams have done an excellent job of keeping both employees and clients informed on a weekly basis. Every Friday the management issues a memo telling employees about our performance, what changes have occurred, new clients we have acquired, etc. This is a great employee status update and gives everyone a chance to communicate about shared news.

On the client side, this only means open communication. We work every day to make sure our customers are heard and know that we are doing everything we can to make sure they come out of this stronger than before. Concretely, this means increased teamwork emails and notifications that ensure the customer is aware of barriers, milestones, deadlines and achievements.

Tip #3: Prioritize cooperation

Working from home has its own set of challenges and collaboration is one of them. We must be open to sharing ideas and finding technology that allows building effective team communication skills. At TKG, this translates to Slack and Teamwork.

Teamwork allows us to give clients open access to deadlines, milestones, to-do lists, and more. Clients have a unique platform for all communications with our team. They can quickly and easily communicate with the people they need to provide status updates or bounce new ideas for any given project. If teamwork doesn’t make sense for what you’re doing, take a minute to think about what your customers need to work effectively and how you can partner with them to help provide these resources.

On the employee side, Slack is a great internal communication tool. We have channels set up for individual clients and general news and employees can have one-on-one conversations with other employees when needed. Messaging, phone, and video features make it easy to connect with team members and collaborate on new and ongoing projects.

While working with remote teams, lead with empathy and humanity

While your professional instincts tell you to stay focused on the bottom line, don’t forget to take the time to acknowledge the uncertainty. Your customers are humans and your employees are humans (suppose?) and this pandemic has caused them to have the same kind of garbage fires you get every day.

The truth is that your customers and employees’ lives have also been upended by the coronavirus and they are now navigating the same turbulent state with blurry personal/professional boundaries and feelings of uncertainty surrounding their jobs, future, etc. Anything you can do to reduce this helps.

Tip #4: Host virtual happy hours

Take the pressure off and ask customers to have a virtual drink. Although this is not a permanent solution, it will help you stay in touch with existing clients and give you a moment to discuss what they are experiencing and how you can help.

You can even encourage your employees to have a happy hour. Have everyone join the Zoom call and play the trivia game over a shared drink recipe.

Tip #5: Start the Water Cooler Channel

Let’s be honest for a moment. Slack is a great internal communication tool but we don’t know of a single Slack user who is also not a member of some fun company channels like ‘floof’, ‘giggle garage’ or ‘inspiration roundup’. It’s part of what makes Slack so great. It’s a professional, personal getaway from the workday when you need it.

Consider starting a non-work related channel that employees can return to when they need a quick break. Just because we’re far from the proverbial “water cooler” doesn’t mean the chat is dead. Give her a place to go. Give your employees a place to ask how other people’s days are going, get some inspiration, catch up on relevant news or fun facts, or just ask general questions. Keep your chit chat live. Outside of collaborating on great work together, this is what helps your team bond.

Tip #6: Take advantage of the small added values

Who doesn’t love free stuff? A great way to keep customers interested and engaged with your company is to give them small gifts of appreciation. Consider sending in some extra value add-ons like discount codes, free samples, or company swag.

The same goes for the staff. They love free stuff too when the budget allows for it.?

Are you looking for new creative ways to reach your audience? Consider a virtual event or a live broadcast. We will be happy to help.