The pandemic has brought its dose of changes in how we all work together. Some of us enjoy the time saved from lengthy commutes. Others fear that remote working is destroying an already fragile work-life balance.
One thing is sure: remote and hybrid working are here to stay for most companies.
So, how do you effectively communicate within your team with this new reality in mind? What processes or tools have proved their effectiveness?
I’ve had the opportunity to observe a few product teams at clients over the past months. Here are the top three lessons I learned:
#1 – Effective communicators don’t use emails for teamwork.
With the lack of in-person communication, I’ve seen the use of emails grow to communicate just about anything. That’s a problem!
While emails are probably still the best tool for external communication, they’re not practical for team collaboration. It’s hard and confusing to designate owners, set deadlines, or establish frameworks by email.
The best communicators prefer specialized tools or channels to collaborate, like Asana, Jira, or Monday.com. You can use them to assign responsibilities and manage projects effectively.
Such tools help track the essentials and enhance transparency and accountability.
# 2 – Effective communicators document and tune their thinking into shared narratives.
Remote working and distributed teams have exacerbated the pain of poorly managed meetings and long hours going through presentations.
But, effective communicators don’t wait for meetings to get the ball rolling. They consistently document and share their thinking into narratives with the rest of their team. Everyone who needs to be involved helps refine the thinking and can contribute by reviewing or commenting offline.
Meetings – when they happen – are more focused on a real conversation or deeper dive between informed professionals. And when they’re unsure their colleagues have taken the time to review the thinking, they go the Amazon way. I mean, making sure the first part of the meetings is silent and dedicated to reading the narrative.
This can all be done with modern office software (Google, Microsoft) and on any document types (like product requirements, business plans, marketing campaigns).
# 3 – Effective communicators don’t spend the whole day on Zoom!
For many, remote working has turned into a fantastic opportunity to become more productive. It has eliminated office distractions and allows for more thinking time.
But the fear of missing out is leading us to fill our days with new types of meetings so that we still feel connected.
That’s ok! Belonging is essential, and one-to-one calls will go a long way to help you there. Yet, the most effective communicators keep these calls short, informal. They ditch the camera, and pick up the phone instead!
Applying these three principles isn’t necessarily easy. It requires new tools and a mindset shift about what meetings are. But if you follow them, you will become a much stronger communicator and team player in this era of remote and hybrid work.