Files, documents, training materials, and more can all be found in a single place. They needed a tool that would provide them with a shared workspace for cross-functional collaboration, where they could do highly visual work no matter where they were located. Remote collaboration is the process of working together with a team from different locations, using technology to communicate and coordinate team efforts.
Why these leadership styles work well for remote teams
If you can ensure that these two teams communicate freely and openly, you’ll make sure that there aren’t any hidden biases or that these teams function in siloed environments. To understand how far transparency goes in cross-team communication, imagine the various areas where the work of a design and software development team can overlap. This echoes the point about setting clear expectations — but from both sides.
When Jacobs, an engineering services company, wanted to find a better solution to organize resources that were spread out across multiple platforms, they turned to Mural. Jacobs credits Mural with streamlining their workflows and creating a faster onboarding process. With a thorough knowledge base available, employees can get the answers they need without having to search extensively to remote team collaboration find them or ask someone else. This saves time for employees, reduces confusion, and helps everyone stay aligned.
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This removes a lot of pressure, as no one is expecting to get an instant response. Drive clarity and impact at scale by connecting work and workflows to company-wide goals.
How to Collaborate Effectively When Your Team Is Remote
You can make sure your process is easy to access by pinning it to the relevant channel, or even by setting up custom responses so your team can quickly find the correct way of doing things. And without the ease of stopping by to clarify with your colleagues, it’s easy for bad habits and sloppy workarounds to become ingrained. “When people are able to reference a document that shows the workflow channels, to have the work-back schedule, it gives them a very clear directive,” said Brochhausen. According to our recent report on Australian knowledge workers, 1 in 2 professionals would prefer to work entirely from home or split their time between the workplace and home via a hybrid model. Some leaders are so focused on delivering results that they forget about those who actually deliver them.
Successful remote collaboration can also improve team creativity, as it gives individuals the space to think outside the box, while preserving the support system of the team. The newfound creativity helps teams tackle projects in fresh ways; it can also manifest in brainstorming, problem solving, and building novel workarounds for old issues. Teams need to be able to work together to brainstorm, complete projects, and achieve their goals, no matter where they’re located. Both face-to-face and remote employees need team-building — it helps build trust and respect and instill your company’s work culture.
- Without the right tools in place, remote communication and collaboration can be much more difficult than they need to be for virtual workers and teams.
- It’s worth noting that this works both ways; your employees need to trust you, but you also need to be able to strike a balance between control and delegation.
- Consistently encourage meeting participants to contribute in meetings, so it becomes a habit.
- Employees (including yourself) should have clear boundaries, or run the risk of burnout.
- And like Asana, Trello integrates with other popular platforms like Outlook and Google Drive.
- Sergey Konoplich is the COO of Smart IT, a full-scale software development services provider.
IDC MarketScape Names Slack a Leader in Worldwide Team Collaboration
Bryant Galindo is the Founder of CollabsHQ and a mediator, consultant, and trainer who works with large-scale organizations and startups in conflict resolution, online training, and leadership development. He reiterates the importance of developing processes that serve your team and only introducing tools to further streamline those practices. The term remote collaboration refers to how an organization works together among disparate locations. Approaches can include any processes, tools, and general work culture that a company implements to maintain a feeling of connectedness and to drive results. Everyone on your team is trying to be effective, together—even if we’re all practicing social distancing to varying degrees. Follow the four tips above to learn how to collaborate effectively if your team is remote so you can connect more frequently (even if it’s different than you would in an office).
Everyone can send instant messages, create group chats and channels, and attach images and documents. Slack is also searchable, so you can quickly locate messages on a particular topic or previously shared files. Overall, this tool is a great way for remote teams to collaborate without the potential waiting period of email. Strong remote collaboration depends on reliable communication, repeatable processes, and tools that stimulate creative collaborative work.