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    How to Connect with Remote Teams

    The digital era has ushered in a revolution in communication that's equivalent to the one surrounding the invention of the printing press. It's changing how we speak — often in bullet points. And it's affecting what we hear, as the jumble of information coming at us can lead to frequent misunderstandings and confusion. When it's possible to be set off by a phone's mute button, it's safe to say that we're living in challenging times.

     

    According to recent estimates from Gallup and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 22% of Americans work from home. In comparison, nearly 50% are involved with remote or virtual teamwork. This continuing shift calls for a new range of behaviors and skills.

     

    Why do remote teams demand new collaboration skills? What's missing from our texts, emails, conference calls, and other digital communications?

     

    Body language

    Even when we co-locate, the tone and formality of a text or an email are open to interpretation, to the point that even our closest friends get confused. These misinterpretations create anxiety that can become costly, affecting morale, engagement, productivity, and innovation.

    Remote communication can distort the average pace of our conversations. The delay between our messages can often postpone or hide emotional reactions to our comments. How many times have you written an email and, immediately after hitting send, felt concerned about how it would land? Would your boss see your late-night email and consider it an intrusion on her private time? Would she tell you if it was?

     

    While we may have become used to these types of asynchronous interactions, they can still conflict with our standard rules for social interaction. Lacking an immediate response, we can become distracted, second-guess ourselves, or even grow frustrated with our teams.

    First, consider three kinds of distance in remote collaboration: physical, operational, and affinity. The best way for managers to drive team performance is by reducing affinity distance. Try switching most remote communication from emails or voice calls to regular video calls. Video calls are much better for establishing rapport and creating empathy. Create virtual team-building rituals allowing people to interact regularly and experience their collaboration skills.

     

    When remote teams communicate well and leverage their strengths, they can gain an advantage over co-located teams. Here are some best practices to master:

     

    Don't conflate brief and precise communications

    In our efforts to be efficient, we sometimes use fewer words. But such brevity can mean the rest of the team wastes time interpreting your messages. (And then misinterprets them.) Instead of assuming that others understand your cues and shorthand, spend time communicating to be ultra clear, no matter the medium.

     

    Don't bombard your team with messages

    Do you follow up on a task by email, text, and phone? Do you tend to ask people if they got your previous message? Abusing those access points can be a form of digital dominance, a relentless and uncomfortable form of harassment. The medium you choose creates different demands on the time of the receiver. Using all of them for the same message is ineffective (as well as annoying). Choose your digital volume wisely.

     

    Establish communication norms

    Remote teams need to create new standards that establish clarity in communication. Companies such as Merck have created acronyms for their digital communications like "Four Hour Response (4HR)" and "No Need to Respond (NNTR)." Such methods bring predictability and certainty to virtual conversations. My favorite acronym is TLDR (too long, didn't read – something I hope no one says about my writing).

     

    Individual teams can also establish their norms — e.g., to use or not use Slack, Google Docs, or Whatsapp groups. Norms, such as people's preferred response time, writing style, and tone, can also exist individually. For example, some individuals prefer short and quick messages, while others favor lengthy and detailed responses; people also differ in their preference and tolerance for humor and informality.

     

    While we often tend to regard human predictability as a defect, few qualities are more sought-after at work, especially in virtual collaborations. We are all unique, but our consistent behaviors help others predict what we do and help them to understand us. We all benefit from being understood. You can make that easier for others by establishing clear personal etiquette and sticking to it consistently.

     

    See the hidden opportunities in written communication

    Being behind a screen can create new opportunities for specific team members. It makes space for those who might be less inclined to speak out in groups. Text-based communication places less importance on interpersonal skills and physical appearance, offering an effective way to share power and decision-making. Research shows that introverted individuals are more comfortable in online versus offline interactions. However, it would help if you watched for virtual unconscious bias, where punctuation, grammar, and word choice might reveal prejudiced attitudes toward certain groups.

     

    And the absence of body language doesn't necessarily mean that we're not giving away more than we intend to when we communicate remotely. There's still much meta-communication and virtual leakage in digital environments, and it only takes paying attention to read between the lines. For example, using exclamation marks or a negative emoji after referring to someone's gender, nationality, or religion is as powerful a marker of disapproval as a disgusted face.

    Create intentional space for celebration.

     

    Creating virtual spaces and rituals for celebrations and socializing can strengthen relationships and lay the foundation for future collaboration. Find ways to shorten the affinity distance. One company celebrated new talent by creating a personal emoji for each employee who had been there for six months. You can find your unique way to build team spaces for social connection. How you do it is less important than whether you do it.

     

    As more and more of our interactions happen digitally, we will continue to experience new forms of miscommunication and misunderstanding. The key is understanding the new rules of engagement; in building a communication skill set that reflects the demands of our digitally-driven age.

     

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    About the Author

    Kamal Rastogi is a serial IT entrepreneur with 25 yrs plus experience. Currently his focus area is Data Science business, ERP Consulting, IT Staffing and Experttal.com (Fastest growing US based platform to hire verified / Risk Compliant Expert IT resources from talent rich countries like India, Romania, Philippines etc...directly). His firms service clients like KPMG, Deloitte, EnY, Samsung, Wipro, NCR Corporation etc in India and USA.


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