Today, 1 in 4 Americans work in virtual teams.
The remote work model links the best talent to the best talent, no matter where they live. Which means that whatever you’re doing, it’s gone global.
However, without the benefit of face-to-face contact, being an effective virtual communicator is tricky.
Case in point, psychologists and even negotiators cite the 7–38–55 rule. Only 7% of communication is about the words you use, while 38% is tone of voice and 55% is body language.
Communicating virtually is all about connecting with your team, no matter where everyone’s based. In the absence of facial expressions, body language, and voice signals, you can’t assume that your message is clear.
Where To Start With Virtual Teams And Communication
As a champion of remote work for more than a decade, we at Boldly recommend starting by setting the expectations for communication with your team ahead of time. As a leader, it’s up to you to set the example.
Read more: How To Be Successful In Managing Virtual Teams
5 Expectations For Effective Communication In Teams
- How will you communicate? (Slack, text, Zoom, email, other?)
- How often will you communicate? (Do you want to hear from your team daily, or will a weekly round-up suffice?)
- Who should communicate with whom and to what level of detail? (Can your team reach out directly to the web designer or should communications be routed through one POC?)
- What level of formality is appropriate? (Are emojis appropriate on Slack and internal communications, but not through email?)
- If team members are having a problem, how should that be communicated? How should team members relay feedback?
Once you’ve set expectations, follow these 7 laws to work better, more efficiently, and more enjoyably with your remote team.
Law #1: Be A Star Virtual Communicator
Even if your first inclination is to keep face-to-face communications to a minimum, make sure to schedule face-to-face meetings at regular intervals via Zoom, Google Meet, or your video conferencing tool of choice.
Depending on your team, this might be daily, once a week, or twice a month. Whatever your schedule, make one and stick to it.
Law #2: Embrace Technology & AI Tools
Speaking of video calls, the best thing you can do for a remote team is embrace collaborative technology. There are numerous online tools available to boost your productivity—especially in the age of AI.
Find tools to manage your workload, communicate instantaneously (and as a group), share computer screens, track tasks, and your progress, share files, report bugs or problems, and collaborate as one, fluid team.
Law #3: Respect (& Understand) Time Differences
Time zones are one thing you can’t manage or tech your way out of—you simply have to accept and adapt to these night-and-day differences.
As a general rule of thumb, try to build a team where the greatest time difference between any two members is 12 hours; that way, one can hop online early and the other late in the day for your scheduled face-to-face meetings. After all, it’s not just about talking; it’s about making every chat count for better teamwork.
Law #4: Eliminate Micromanagement In Fully-Distributed Teams
In an office environment, CEOs and managers often follow their team members’ incremental progress, from emails sent to hours logged.
A fully distributed team works differently — if you’ve already spent the time to hire the right qualified, skilled team members and have verified that they fit your culture and your values, your next step is to trust them to do their job.
However, if you’re struggling to hire a fully remote rockstar team that you can trust, read how a clandestine Las Vegas party changed our CEO’s approach to hiring. Or even consider finding high-quality team members through remote staffing.
Here’s the takeaway: don’t manage tasks, manage results. Use benchmarks, deadlines, and OKRs to gauge effectiveness and success.
Law #5: Value Everyone’s Time
We’ve all fallen for the easy fallacy that email is the most efficient method of communication, but with virtual teams, that’s not always true.
Email chains can take days to play out, especially when team members work different hours.
Instant messaging, group chats, and video conferencing – anything instantaneous and that involves all group members at the same time – is often the most efficient way to solve pressing concerns or come to a group decision.
Law #6: Share Leadership Responsibilities
Leadership responsibilities often instill pride in a team member, thus fueling motivation, creating smoother interactions, and ultimately, producing improved deliverables.
Be sure to divvy up responsibilities throughout the team. And encourage leaders to participate in one-to-one coaching and management interactions with other team members.
Law #7: Get A Little Personal
When you work remotely, it’s easy to lose the day-to-day watercooler interactions that naturally happen in an office.
Instead, you can find yourself firing off communications through email, Slack, group chats, and even video conferences that are solely task-oriented and to the point. And while this may be efficient, it can come off as cold and uncaring.
As humans, we are wired for connection, and part of that comes from something as small as asking, “How was your weekend?”
Science says prioritizing time for personal interactions goes a long way in building rapport, fostering teamwork, and even diffusing tension.
Make an effort to get a little personal with your team. Have every team member “check in” before a meeting; they could share some photos of their kids, report on their weekend soccer game, or chat about their favorite TV shows.
Create a virtual watercooler of sorts, and see how positively it impacts your work. Your virtual communication will undoubtedly improve!
Going From Good Communication To Great Collaboration
So, what’s the brass tacks? Virtual team chats are more than just talk. It’s about keeping everyone on the same page and making sure no one’s left out of the loop.
Good communication sets the foundation for collaboration and creativity. Teams who communicate well start to thrive! But businesses without effective communication cost large companies an average of $64.2 million per year, and smaller orgs up to $420,000.
As a leader, it’s important that you set the expectations and standards of communication, but this may not be your strong suit — and that’s okay.
Identify the person on your team who has that innate talent for building community and fostering teamwork. At Boldly, we’ve invested in a “Chief of Cheer,” an entire role dedicated to keeping our team engaged and creating a remote environment that builds trust, collaboration, and success.
It won’t happen overnight, but it’s worth the time and effort to get it right to master virtual team communication. Follow these 7 laws and you’ll be pleased with the results.
