David Morey 
Many challenges can come with having remote workers. For many who operate their business with remote teams, the biggest issue is communication, and how to ensure that all members of the team are communicating as clearly as possible on tasks and issues that may pop up.
Micromanaging is one option, but no one wants to do that! Another is to ensure that your remote teams have everything set up to ensure that they can communicate clearly and here, you will be given some tips on how to ensure that they can reach you or other team members when they need to.
1. Invest In The Right Tools
To communicate effectively, you need to make sure that your team has access to the right tools. For many businesses that offer remote working, this can be an intranet option, such as the one available at claromentis.com. This will provide a two-way platform for your remote teams to talk to you and allow them to read through the company guidelines on how to communicate issues in set situations.
2. Set Clear Guidelines
Speaking of company guidelines, your remote team must be aware of what will need to be communicated immediately, and what can wait.
So, it is worth having clear communication guidelines in an accessible place, such as on a company intranet platform. This will prevent messages from bouncing back and forth and will ensure that the correct people answer emails.
3. Encourage Check-Ins
The majority of remote teams need to stay aligned and informed via meetings and check-ins. This will provide a structured opportunity for team members to share updates and voice ideas or issues they may have with current projects. Weekly team meetings are often ideal and are a great platform for you to have more in-depth discussions and discuss the planning of projects. If you are working on an urgent project with your team, aim to have daily meetings, as this will help delegate tasks and keep everyone focused.
4. Foster Open Communication
To have a successful remote team, you need to have open communication, as this will create an environment with team members will feel safe to express their thoughts and ideas without fear of judgment. This can be more challenging in a remote work setting but aim to practice active listening and concentrate on what is being said in messages or meetings. This will help to improve collaboration and will boost overall team morale.
5. Be Approachable!
When you are a manager, you need to ensure that you are approachable to your team, or they may stop communicating with you.
This may seem like less of an issue in a remote setting, but the tone and affectations you use in your emails and messages have been found to have as much of an impact on employee communication as if it were said directly to their face. Remember that mistakes will happen in the workplace and being intimidating or non-approachable to your team will not prevent that. It will likely cause small issues to spiral, so be as approachable as possible so that your team feels able to talk to you if and when needed.
