The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated trends toward remote work, and organizations are looking for ways to optimize productivity without disrupting their workforce. The best way to do this is by implementing remote collaboration tools.
This includes everything from video conferences to remote work software to help people stay connected and productive. However, several factors can impede the effectiveness of remote collaboration.
Accessibility
Remote enterprise collaboration works across different locations using digital platforms to achieve a specified goal. This includes team meetings, group work and discussions, centralized file storage, real-time communication, and more.
When teams operate remotely, it can be challenging to stay connected and avoid missing important deadlines. Fortunately, enterprise collaboration software helps your team stay on task even when they’re away from the office. These tools include instant messaging apps, video conferencing software, and more.
In addition, some tools can help improve your productivity by automating workflows and providing collaborative workspaces. For example, an online whiteboard can help your team brainstorm in real-time without sending files back and forth.
However, remote collaboration requires universal participation and a minimum window of mandatory working hours to be successful. This is essential to ensure everyone’s availability to collaborate and communicate as needed, even when not in the office. Creating the right remote work environment involves careful planning, selecting the best digital tools, and ongoing assessment and intervention. Developing a model that works for your organization will take time but ultimately lead to greater collaboration and productivity.
Universal Participation
For many businesses, remote work is a strategic operating capability. Leaders understand that it is possible to keep employees productive while away from the office, open up a broader talent pool, and increase productivity.
Effective remote collaboration requires all team members to be involved in discussions. Ineffective communication channels or lacking internal standards can lead to misunderstandings and missed opportunities.
One of the best ways to ensure that all remote workers are engaged is by making sure they have access to proven enterprise collaboration tools. These platforms enable employees to communicate with each other and customers in real time. This eliminates the back-and-forth that can happen with email and helps teams stay on task.
Another way to increase team collaboration is by providing remote employees with collaborative workspaces. These tools make sharing documents easy, creating automated workflows and providing instant messaging. In addition to helping companies cut costs and improve productivity, these solutions can increase employee retention, morale, and loyalty.
Communication
Working remotely requires a team to communicate regularly. This includes sending emails, texting, and using video conference tools to stay in touch with each other. It also means that everyone needs to be familiar with the tools and know how to use them effectively.
In the office or at home, productivity could be improved when team members spend a lot of time searching for information and documents. According to research, this can cost a company as much as 10% of the workforce’s total productivity.
This is why enterprise collaboration systems are vital for remote teams. They centralize the work process and allow employees to focus on more productive tasks like following up with prospects or brainstorming new ideas. This platform can help companies reduce wasted hours and boost productivity by as much as 10%. Moreover, it can encourage team members to participate more actively in online meetings and contribute their ideas more often. This will increase overall productivity and strengthen the cohesion of the remote team.
Time Zones
Working remotely across time zones has benefits but is also a challenge for teams. It requires empathy and communication. If you work with a team spread out globally, it’s important to set up meetings at times that are convenient for all team members. This will reduce the likelihood of misunderstandings and make everyone feel valued and included.
It’s also helpful to synchronize breaks so everybody is on break simultaneously. This will help avoid people feeling left out or ganged up on, which can lead to morale problems.
When hiring a remote workforce, companies should consider countries with similar or adjacent time zones. For example, a company in the United States should consider hiring workers in Colombia or Peru because they are two hours ahead of EST, allowing real-time communication. This will eliminate the need for lengthy email chains or conversations in chat apps and boost team productivity. This is one of the key reasons why many companies are shifting to a remote workforce.
Mandatory Working Hours
Effective remote collaboration requires communication and collaborative tools that resemble users’ onsite office experience. This can include everything from video conferencing platforms to project management systems that ensure projects are on time and within budget. It can also incorporate various immersive technology, such as virtual reality (VR) that brings teams together in a shared digital workspace.
But, while these tools are important for achieving remote enterprise collaboration, they need to address the key underlying factors that determine its success. In particular, setting clear and concise policies, procedures, and guidelines for team members is essential. This can include ensuring all employees are available for meetings and that there is no ambiguity around when it’s acceptable to work remotely.
It’s also vital to establish a culture of accountability and trust. And finally, it’s important to ensure that all remote team members adhere to mandatory working hours. This helps to reduce the impact of asynchronous communication on productivity and overall efficiency. In addition, it can improve the consistency and reliability of collaborative work.
