Remote Work Communication Done Right: A Comprehensive Guide

Communication is the lifeblood of any team.

‍
But in remote and hybrid work environments, with no casual office interactions or ability to read body language cues, communication requires much more intention and forethought to be effective.

This comprehensive guide draws from extensive research and insights from practitioners at mature remote organizations to provide leaders with strategies to master communication.

By implementing these best practices, you can unlock the full potential of hybrid teams through clear, transparent, and inclusive communication.

Start by Evaluating Your Current Communication Practices

Assessing your team’s baseline communication effectiveness is crucial before making improvements.

The Distributed Work Audit from RemoteFirst Institute benchmarks current practices across 10 aspects of remote collaboration, including communication.

This AI-powered tool based on remote work research provides personalized recommendations to address any problem areas identified in the assessment. Establishing a clear understanding of strengths and improvement areas creates focus for enhancing communication.

Adopt Asynchronous Communication

In remote teams, productivity suffers when calendars become packed with back-to-back meetings. Reduce meetings by shifting non-urgent discussions to asynchronous mediums like Slack, email, discussion threads, or shared documents.

• Documentation - Thoroughly document all discussions, decisions, processes, guidelines, etc. This creates institutional knowledge that is easily referenceable.
• Meeting Hygiene - Ensure meetings have a clear purpose. Stick closely to agendas and summarize action items at the end.
• Cadences - Establish weekly 1:1s and regular team check-ins to maintain human connection amid asynchronous work.
• Quiet Time - Institute organization-wide “no meeting” times, like Tuesday and Thursday mornings, for focused individual work.

Structure Team Communication Methods

Maximize productivity by intentionally choosing communication channels:

• Video calls for regular meetings, social events, presentations, and anything highly interactive.
• Team chat apps like Slack or Microsoft Teams for constant communication, collaboration, and virtual watercooler conversations.
• Email for asynchronous discussions or sending updates to broader audiences. Avoid overusing.
• Project management platforms like Asana, Basecamp, or Trello to clarify responsibilities and coordinate projects or tasks.
• Document sharing tools like Google Drive, Sharepoint, or Dropbox as centralized knowledge repositories.
• Discussion threads in tools like Slack or Twist for deep, threaded conversations on specific topics.

Master High Impact Virtual Meetings

Meetings often degrade into endless pedantic discussions in office environments. But in remote settings, poor virtual meeting practices can completely stall productivity and disengage participants. Use these techniques:

• Prep and Purpose - Set clear objectives upfront when scheduling meetings. Share agendas and any pre-reads in advance so participants can join fully prepared.
• Active Facilitation - Continuously engage all participants through techniques like rounds, collaborative note-taking on boards like Jamboard, and reactions.
• Equal Participation - Don't disadvantage virtual attendees. Discourage camera-off policies for parity.
• Summarize Outcomes - Take detailed notes on discussions and decisions. Follow up each meeting with a summary for reference.
• Cadence Carefully - Avoid defaulting to meetings without considering alternatives. Evaluate if discussion threads or async options would suffice.

Set Clear Communication Expectations

With no ability to walk up to a colleague’s desk, remote communication etiquette keeps collaboration flowing smoothly:

• Response times - Establish and agree on expected response times for emails, chats, etc. These should respect focus time and deep work needs.
• Availability - Define core team availability hours, as well as acceptable modes of communicating urgency outside working hours.
• Meeting etiquette - Ground rules like video on, muting when not speaking, and active participation foster engagement.
• Knowledge sharing - Institute documentation discipline through templated notes, centralized file conventions, and wikis.

Develop Critical Remote Communication Skills

With written communication taking center stage, nurture skills like:

• Active listening - Ask probing questions and periodically summarize discussions to confirm understanding. Don’t interrupt or multitask.
• Empathetic communication - Take extra care to convey tone and meaning effectively in textual mediums through your word choices and punctuation.
• Concise writing - Distill messages clearly and succinctly. Remove unnecessary words and get to the point.
• Thoughtful documentation - Capture details exhaustively when documenting for future reference. Include context and considerations.
• Inclusive facilitation - Keep discussions participative, focused, and constructive by involving remote participants.
• Engaging delivery - Practice sharing ideas clearly through your camera without body language or whiteboards as crutches.

Make remote communication skills training a regular activity. Nurturing written and digital fluency pays dividends.

Choose Communication Technology Wisely

Ensure your tech stack removes friction in collaborating digitally across locations with core tools:

Video Conferencing

• Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or WebEx for meetings, virtual events, social activities, and anything highly interactive.

Team Chat Apps

• Slack, Microsoft Teams for constant communication, collaboration, and casual conversations.

Project Management

• Asana, Trello, Basecamp to clarify responsibilities and coordinate projects or tasks.

Document Sharing

• Google Drive, Sharepoint, Dropbox for centralized knowledge repositories.

Whiteboarding

• Miro, Mural, Stormboard for visual collaboration during meetings.

Email

• Outlook, Gmail for asynchronous discussions or sending updates to broader audiences.

Discussion Threads

• Threaded conversations in Slack or Twist allow deep dives into specific topics.

Reduce churn by keeping everyone on the same core platforms. Cloud-based SaaS products remove friction.

Listen to Your Remote Employees

Continuously gather feedback from your remote team members to quickly uncover communication gaps or issues before they escalate, including:

• Pulse surveys on meeting effectiveness, communication needs, and team cohesion
• Solicit suggestions during meetings or touchbases on improving communication
• 1:1 conversations around challenges individuals are facing and potential solutions
• Exit interviews when employees leave can provide candid insights into weaknesses

Proactively listening and responding to needs with care builds trust and keeps remote workers feeling heard.

Lead With Transparency

Remote workers operate with less visibility into projects or decisions. As a manager, err on overcommunicating to avoid leaving team members feeling disconnected or in the dark:

• Give abundant context during meetings and discussions so everyone understands how comments fit into the bigger picture.
• Proactively provide status updates on projects and milestones before people need to ask.
• Explain the reasoning behind decisions thoroughly so logic is clear.
• Regularly share company news, financials, roadmaps, and goals to foster trust.

Lack of transparency is toxic in remote teams. But frequent, clear communication curbs ambiguities and misalignments.

Foster an Environment of Inclusion

The remote context places extra importance on cultivating inclusivity:

• Make space - Encourage introverted team members to speak up by directly inviting their perspectives during brainstorms or meetings.
• Bridge language barriers - Provide materials in multiple languages and clearly enunciate during calls. Display captions for video discussions.
• Vary interaction models - Facilitate both text-based channels like Slack and interactive video discussions to allow different communication styles to thrive.
• Personalize onboarding - Help new remote hires build connections through intro calls, virtual buddy systems, and casual chat channels.

Including remote workers takes concerted effort but pays dividends in more diverse perspectives.

Conclusion

In remote environments, high-quality communication doesn’t just happen by accident – it requires strategy, discipline and care.

By applying best practices around asynchronous workflows, structured project coordination, inclusive meetings, skill development, and appropriate tools, leaders can unlock their team’s full potential. With a little more thoughtfulness, you can transform communication from a challenge into a competitive advantage.

Your team will thrive through clear, transparent, engaging communication - no matter where they sit.

Next Step: Assess Your Remote Communication

Ready to optimize your team’s virtual communication? Start by assessing your current remote collaboration effectiveness using the Distributed Work Audit from RemoteFirst Institute.

This AI-powered assessment tool based on remote work research benchmarks your practices across crucial areas like communication, meetings, leadership and more.

You'll receive science-backed tips to immediately improve remote productivity and connection.