.jpg)
Communicating with remote staff and teams
Good communication skills are important for managers in all contexts, however they are critical to successfully managing a remote team or remote individuals. When there isn’t the opportunity for ‘corridor conversations’ and quick chats in the office, establishing a range of clear and easy communication channels can be the difference between sustaining performance, or not. If individuals understand what's going on in their team/department and the wider University, feel included in decision making and able to contribute to wider discussions with their colleagues, they are more likely to have a positive outlook and be more productive when working from home.
Some important points to consider when communicating with your remote team:
Frequent and consistent check-ins
Ensure you check in frequently and consistently with your staff, whether this is through a weekly team huddle or regular scheduled 1:1 meetings. It is important that your staff know when they will be able to have contact with you, should they have any questions or need support. If in doubt, err on the side of over-communication rather than under-communication.
The best communication is face to face
Video conferencing tools such as Zoom or Skype are the best way to communicate with your staff, as they very closely replicate a face-face meeting back in the office. These tools enable you to pick up on facial expressions and body language, which are often very insightful when understanding how a staff member is doing. Never have a wellbeing or personal conversation over email, as written text rarely tells the full story.
Provide clear expectations
Be really clear about what you expect from your staff, taking into account their circumstances and what is realistic. With recent times, there have been a lot of changes to work and projects as well as working from home, so ensure everyone is clear about what their role is, deadlines to meet and feel a sense of mutual purpose for what the team is aiming to achieve. It is also important to agree how you will communicate with each other, for example setting the expectation that emails must be responded to in 24 hours, use text for urgent matters and no calls between certain hours to give people a break from work. Refer to the How to set expectations guidance for more info.
Be available
Replicate an open-door policy while working remotely by being available through different communication channels, for example the Skype chat function or WhatsApp. You want your staff to always be able to count on a quick response from their manager when they need one.
Make sure you are familiar with different communication technologies
Get up to speed with different and new communication channels so you can help others you work with adapt too. Explore the functionality of different channels to help get the most from using them, for example the whiteboard function in Zoom to capture notes during meetings. The Zoom Users Group on Yammer is a good way to find out more about the functionality and ask questions of other staff.
Additional links and resources
Keeping a virtual team connected: LinkedIn Learning. If you do not have access to LinkedIn Learning already, request access via the Training Catalogue.