At this point, most of us have participated in some form of remote collaboration. Weekly planning meetings, parent-teacher conferences, and even doctors appointments have gone virtual. But for the most part, the type of remote engagement that has stuck around the longest is remote work.
In 2022, about 16% of companies in the world are fully remote. And in between the regular video check-ins and announcements, what we really need to keep remote businesses running is remote collaboration. Here are some tips and tools to achieve this in your own virtual workplace.
What is remote collaboration?
Remote collaboration is the glue of remote workforces. When remote employees meet in digital destinations to share ideas, troubleshoot, and work together, that’s remote collaboration. This type of collaboration ensures that entire teams and companies can work together efficiently even while physically apart.
Zoom meetings, Miro brainstorming sessions, Google docs, project management tools, async videos, and instant messengers all enable remote collaboration.
The benefits of remote collaboration
No business can function without a connected, communicative team. Remote collaboration keeps the wheels turning and helps teams do their best work.
- Freedom and flexibility for your team: Remote collaboration can literally happen anywhere – in your home office, a coffee shop, the library, or wherever your team is most productive. It gives team members the freedom and comfort to work wherever they want and bring their best selves to each meeting.
- Increased productivity: Many workers find that they are more productive when working from home! While this varies from person to person and company to company, many people find that remote collaboration helps them achieve more within their working hours.
- Lower costs for the company: Without the burden of office rent, companies have more money to reinvest in their workforce.
- Lower costs for your employees: Many WFH-ers do not miss their daily commutes, childcare costs, or parking passes. All of these cost and time savings can help increase job satisfaction and retention.
- Access to a wider and more diverse workforce: Remote companies are no longer restricted to a certain geographic area. Now, they’re free to hire the best talent from anywhere in the world.
7 Best practices for effective remote collaboration
For some, remote communication and collaboration is a breeze. For others, it can require some cooperation and patience as the company establishes effective and efficient remote work norms. Whether you’ve been working remotely for years or are new to the “new normal” of work, here are some tips for collaborating while remote.
1. Establish a schedule for team meetings
Consistency and predictability are two factors remote employees rely on for stability. Establish a norm of when you will be checking in for one-on-one meetings, group events, reviews, and more. It’s easy to sync online calendars to make sure your entire team is aligned and available to meet consistently.
2. Use video to communicate
Video is one of the greatest communication tools a remote employee can have. In today’s digitally saturated world, people have to tune out certain notifications and alerts if they want to stay focused. That means if you rely on email or instant messaging alone, your most important messages won’t make it through.
With screen and webcam recordings, you can share vital information with the rest of the organization just like you would in person. And since videos can be replayed again and again, they also make for great training videos, announcements, and more. Cut down on meetings, get your team on the same page, and communicate easily, from anywhere.
3. Identify meeting agendas in advance
Virtual meetings can easily go off the rails without a clear agenda. Create and share meeting agendas beforehand to make sure everyone is prepared and ready to contribute.
4. Record important meetings
One clear benefit of virtual meetings is how easy they are to record and share! Not only does this ensure that those who are “out of office” can get caught up to speed, it makes it easier to rewatch and reference meeting topics in the future. These recordings can then be shared via email or instant messenger, or added to videos and shared company-wide.
5. Use collaboration tools for remote teams
It’s essential that remote employees all have access to the tools, information, and technology they need. Not only do they need to see the information, they need to be able to leave their feedback and check in on the status of projects. Here’s a list of the top online collaboration tools that do just that and are essential for any business.
6. Use video to communicate when possible
Video is one of the greatest tools a remote employee can have. In today’s digitally saturated world, people have to tune out certain notifications and alerts if they want to stay focused. That means if you rely on email or instant messaging alone, your most important messages won’t make it through. Simple video makers can empower employees to share vital information with the rest of the organization in an engaging, scroll-stopping way. And since videos can be replayed again and again, they also make for great training videos, announcements, and more.
7. Create space for team bonding opportunities
Don’t wait for an annual in-person meeting to get to know your team. Carve out time on a regular basis to bond with your team and build morale. Here are Animoto, we never shy away from team trivia night, virtual happy hours, monthly collective learnings, and plenty of video shoutouts to go around.
8. Ask for employee feedback
Lastly, make sure your team is empowered and satisfied with their day-to-day work. Invite feedback on how you do business and allow members to freely voice what’s working and what isn’t. You should also leverage online collaboration tools to gather valuable feedback on your projects in real-time.
Main indicators of successful remote collaboration
So, how do you know if all your efforts are paying off? Successful communication and collaboration can mean different things for different organizations. While many organizations think success is determined solely by productivity, there are plenty of other things to look out for along the way.
- Clear and effective communication: Are individual team members connected to each other? Do they know who to reach out to whenever they get stuck? Smooth communication is the foundation of effective collaboration.
- Access to information, tools, and technology: Empower employees to access the information they need whenever they need it. Cloud storage tools allow you to share files with ease and make them accessible to exactly the right people.
- Accountability across the company: Accountability is an important feature for remote and traditional work environments. Keep management and other employees accountable to show up to meetings, participate, and remain reachable within working hours. All of this should be stated plainly in your remote work norms and demonstrated everyday.
- Proper time-management: If you once had an in-person workforce, you can get a sense for how effectively your teams are managing their time while remote. If not, continue to check in with employees and ask them how long it takes to complete certain tasks and where they might need help. Also keep note of when employees are online to make sure that their workloads are sustainable and achievable within given timeframes.
- Engaged employees: Lastly, make employee engagement a goal for your organization. Engagement might include meeting attendance, responsiveness to email/chats, and participation in events. If you have an important training or message that needs to be remembered, use video or another engaging communication tool to break through and keep your team motivated and engaged.
Level up your remote team collaboration
Do you want your teams to be more connected, collaborative, and efficient? Empower them with the tools they need! With Animoto, anyone can level-up their communications and make sure their voices are heard. All you need is a story to share.
Do you have any recommendations or tips to share? We’d love to hear them! Consider sharing them with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram and tune in for even more remote work tips.
