Nowadays, there are so many programs offered that can be used for your virtual office. A separate app for chats, video calls, and training sessions. But how can you really make sure to improve the communication within your company? After all, communicating between remote workers is not always easy. When your virtual office consists of too many software programs, your employees can get confused. Also, too many notifications distract them from the work. That’s why we gathered information on how to improve communication in your virtual office for remote teams.
Choose effective communication platforms
There are so many software programs out there that it’s easy to get lost. It is hard to figure out which ones are the most effective. That’s why ideally you would like to use only one within your virtual office from which everything can be arranged. Or at least, keep them at a minimum. Yet different software programs are often used. To avoid overwhelming your employees with various platforms, we recommend using no more than three different ones.
Have a clear communication policy, so your employees know which platform is used for which purpose. For example, use email to maintain contact with clients, use a messaging app for employees to communicate with each other and a video call software app for meetings. Only introduce a new platform into the company if it is truly unique and is an addition to your virtual office.
Use little notifications
It’s in people’s nature to be up-to-date on everything. This also concerns notifications at work. Unfortunately, a lot of notifications don’t really add value. The mentioned information is not important, but it still distracts your employee, and it takes time to focus back on work again. So, adjust the notification settings of the apps you use in your virtual office to keep your employees productive.
In addition, you should give your employees control over which notifications they want to receive and when they receive them. Employees who are overloaded with notifications every day have to process too much, most of the time irrelevant, information. This may increase your employees’ risk of a burnout, which you want to prevent from happening! Encourage your remote team to adjust the settings of their notifications to their needs and mute chats if necessary.
Provide training
Not all platforms for a virtual office are as user-friendly as others. Some employees find it difficult to quickly master a software program they haven’t used before. The result of this is that some platforms will not be used. While platforms often have more to offer than you think. It’s just that your employees aren’t familiar with a platform and don’t know how to use all the tools. To improve your remote team’s communication in your virtual office you can provide your employees with training.
During the training, you demonstrate to your employees the best way to use the platform. When they know more about the ins and outs of a tool, it can improve their communication and collaboration with others. Additionally, set up a manual with information on how to use the platform and make it accessible for your employees at any time.
Create a safe space
With a remote team it is important that everyone can express themselves. Giving and receiving feedback is the key to improve communication in your virtual office. Create a safe space in your virtual office where everyone’s voice can be heard without judgements. So that your employees will have the space to share their ideas on how to improve the company or tell you what they are struggling with.
Let your employees reflect on past communication, so they can give others feedback and improve due to the feedback they got. This can take the form of a survey, but it can also be done through one-on-one conversations once in a while or by scheduling meetings regularly with the remote team.
In remote teams, it is very essential that the communication is well arranged since all the communication will be online and through software apps. To improve the quality of the communication in your virtual office you should not overwhelm your remote team with too many communication platforms and apps. Also provide training, so your employees can get the most out of the programs that are used in this virtual office. Finally, create a safe space in your virtual office where your employees can share feedback with each other to improve their communication.
