Create a healthy and productive work environment by implementing these 5 essential tips for collaborating with a remote team.
Working remotely has become a normalized practice thanks to advances in the digital world.
CNBC reports an increase in permanent positions where workers can report from home, and this has revealed a potential growth for productivity from all parties involved.
Working remotely comes with additional responsibilities, however.
Big creative projects, whether in graphics, software, or website design, require seamless communication among different members of the team.
This calls for heavy collaboration, which will also be needed to ensure quality outputs in a synchronized timeline.
How can collaboration be achieved despite geographical limitations? Keep reading for our 5 tips below.
1. Accommodate A Range of Digital Tools
The pandemic has highlighted the many advantages of communication apps beyond regular email. Strategic incorporation of these tools can even highlight the benefits of remote working.
For one, Associate Professor Raj Choudhury introduces the productivity enhancer Slack. Slack’s optimized layout allows workers to distinguish formal and informal communication channels between clients and co-workers.
When used with other digital platforms like Zoom or Google Docs, there are fewer chances of miscommunication.
2. Maximize Virtual Meetings
Many assume that the creative industry is ideal for lone wolves who want to focus solely on their output. However, the output in these industries tends to be dependent on teamwork.
Maintaining a human connection by holding virtual meetings where people can talk to each other can help build empathy. This is why remote team management tips by LHH recommend prioritizing remote meetings instead of treating them as a secondary function.
Here, individuals on a team can better understand where the other person is coming from while they collaborate on a creative project.
Make sure, however, that an agenda is set before every virtual meeting. This ensures that all the necessary points are tackled and also allows members to come to the meeting prepared.
It is easy for remote workers to remain silent during a meeting unless directly called upon.
An agenda will also help ensure that everyone participates as they can be given an allotted time to speak.
3. Build Transparent Asynchronous Communication
Maximizing virtual meetings means making the most out of every synchronous discussion. Piling your team’s work calendar with unnecessary video calls, however, is unnecessary.
Zoom fatigue is real and as we’ve previously highlighted in our list of Comfortable & Ergonomic Chairs for video editors, so is back pain — especially when workers are forced to endure these meetings for long periods. This can increase stress and decrease productivity.
A balance between synchronous and asynchronous communication is a mark of successful remote organizations.
It’s key in encouraging team members to communicate about their status by establishing clear rules and leading by example.
Asynchronous communication allows individuals to properly carve out time for deep focus work, and also leaves a copy of the communication for everyone to return to.
4. Share Resources
Working remotely means that the high-end editing studio equipment and resources available at the office aren’t accessible to everyone.
However, Parsec Cofounder Benjy Boxer says creatives can take turns operating the primary software’s account at HQ from their own timezone.
This maximizes its utilization and gives every team member a better idea of the overall progress of the joint project.
5. Prioritize leadership
Management is a non-replaceable aspect of your remote creative team. This keeps members on the same page and ensures that everyone still feels connected and supported.
At the same time, a point figure encourages more transparent communication for creative workers who may feel more comfortable confiding or seeking help in private circumstances.
This makes it easier to ask about project particularities, exhaustion, or logistical concerns like maxing out bandwidth.
Remote creative teams should designate a leader or ask for one at the beginning. Otherwise, individual team members can step up to the responsibility as well.
Working in a remote team can be extremely rewarding for your work and personal life if you can overcome the initial challenges of collaboration.
The effect of your efforts will follow by creating a healthy and productive work environment even across distances.
