For a significant number of employees, the pandemic drastically changed the way they work. Even after two years, scads of office cubicles are still empty across the country. That doesn’t mean — in most cases — that people have stopped working, though. It’s the digital age, after all.
Employees are being just as, if not more, productive. They’re just doing it remotely. The question is, can your office do it better?
Collaborating with colleagues is a huge part of being successful. When you’re all working from separate locations, seamless cooperation is vital. Still, it’s easy for some employees to get tunnel vision as they work solo in their home offices. Here are some steps you can take to encourage continuous collaboration to keep your team on track.
1. Coordinate Resources
Each employee on your team is responsible for specific tasks. That means they all have (and need) different pieces of information at any given time. For a project to come together nicely, however, everyone needs easy access to all the details. Project management tools keep team assignments straight and necessary documents at everyone’s fingertips.
These tools offer several helpful features, including time tracking, discussion boards, and task monitoring. They store all information in one central place and allow for real-time updates. As a result, your team will experience fewer miscommunications, mix-ups, and errors. Team members can also share information and insights on various project tasks, encouraging collaboration.
2. Get on Video
Pre-pandemic, your employees were likely accustomed to face-to-face meetings in the office. If you’re all phoning in for your remote meetings now, make live video the default mode. Some employees might prefer using static headshots, but it makes a big difference when you can see everyone and read their facial expressions. Face-to-face conversations, even when virtual, are frequently more productive.
Eye contact and hand gestures are important parts of good communication and good business. If someone has something to say — but hasn’t yet — you’re more likely to notice when you can see them. Most videoconferencing platforms also let you share screens so you can all work from the same document simultaneously. Chat features make it easy to share files or web links during the call as well.
3. Optimize Your Virtual Meetings
Whether your virtual meetings take the form of daily check-ins, weekly status updates, or something else, you’ll want to make the most of them. Use these gatherings to connect with team members, discuss project progress, work through challenges, and brainstorm solutions.
You’ll make the most productive use of this collaboration time if you have a set agenda. As the team leader, make any announcements you may have first. Next, go around the group so team members can share updates, then open the floor for discussion.
Don’t be afraid to cancel a meeting, though. If you don’t have a clear agenda or know there’s nothing new to share, nix it. You don’t want your team members thinking that your meeting — as the saying goes — “could have been an email.”
4. Focus Your Communication
Speaking of email, let’s talk about communication. With employees out of the office, it can be difficult to know how quickly they’ll get your messages. It’s not possible to simply pop into their office to remind them of things. You’ll need to rely on phone calls, instant messaging, or the aforementioned email. Resist the temptation to follow up using every communication method you have, however.
If you flood your employees with too many messages, you run several risks. First, getting multiple notifications with the same information can annoy them. Second, you’ll distract them from the work they should be doing. Third, they may start paying less attention to your messages in the future because they’re all covering the same ground. To encourage greater collaboration and productivity, choose the one most relevant communication method and send messages only when they’re necessary.
5. Switch Your Teams Around
Maybe you’ve all worked together for a while, and you know which employees are the most productive when paired. Does that mean you should always link them on projects? Not necessarily. For your office to reach its full potential, everyone should be able to smoothly collaborate.
You can reach that level by mixing things up a bit every now and then. Group a few employees who don’t know each other well on an assignment. This tactic gives everyone the opportunity to develop working relationships. It improves communication and collaboration in many ways. Employees can learn new skills and different ideas from less-familiar teammates, making your team stronger overall.
6. Create Friendship-Building Opportunities
About those solid working relationships: They’re a fantastic foundation for effective collaboration. Work friendships can go even further in securing success for your projects. When you’re away from the office, though, it can be tougher to develop those bonds. Don’t worry; it’s still possible.
There are plenty of ways you can help your employees socialize in the virtual world. Set up a book club. Schedule a Friday afternoon video happy hour with games. Plan monthly celebrations with friendly competitions, such as “best photo” or “best recipe.” The friendships forged during these relaxed events can make your workplace collaboration even more productive.
Working remotely offers a lot of advantages, but it can sometimes be a stumbling block to effective collaboration. There’s always a chance your employees will start to feel isolated from one another. When that happens, productivity can start to slump.
Fortunately, there are many tools and strategies you can implement that will keep your employees connected and focused. Give these six tactics a try. With these practices in place, you’ll likely see more effective cooperation. The result will be greater project success for your company.