How to solve fragmented remote work communication

Remote work has a lot going for it. It affords employees greater flexibility and (potentially) greater job satisfaction while enabling them to spend more time doing their best work. Already on the rise over the last several years, the pandemic forced many organizations to adopt a remote-first approach—and it’s likely that things will stay this way for many to come.

While remote work isn’t a new concept, it is new to many people. And while it has plenty of benefits, there are some potential pitfalls to be aware of—particularly around communication. Companies that were rushed into remote operations may be feeling the effects of these difficulties.

If that’s you—first, know that you’re not alone. And second, know that there is a way out, and it can result in an even stronger team in the end.

The Fragments Of Work

If not set up thoughtfully, remote work environments can have a tendency of pulling people apart. Some may be in the office, some may be working from home, and some may be working from a completely different time zone. This can also mean that devices, apps, and data are also pulled apart—staff may have a work phone, a personal phone, a desk phone, a work laptop, a personal laptop, an iPad… you get the picture. 

Information often ends up spread across multiple devices and accounts, and coworkers can never be quite sure which phone number or email address to use at any given time to reach someone. When files get fragmented, it can cause a whole slew of other problems. 

This is further accentuated by hybrid work schedules because it introduces uncertainty about the best way to reach someone on any given day. Are they in the office or at home on Tuesdays? 

What this all means is more difficulty in getting things done and, as a result, more stress. Deadlines get missed, customers become unhappy, and teams burn out. That’s not good.

It’s important to realize that a transition to remote work is likely not the reason your team is having a communication crisis. These are likely issues that have been bubbling under the surface for quite some time, and remote work is just the straw that broke the camel’s back. 

5 Solutions For Fragmented Communication

Now, on that note, it’s also important to realize that these are totally fixable issues. If you can get through them, your team will come out that much stronger for it. So let’s get down to business.

1. Foster A Culture Of Open Communication

The first thing on your to-do list should be to make open, clear communication the standard on your team. A lot of problems can be immediately solved by simply speaking up and asking for clarification. But, for various reasons, employees tend not to do that by default. 

Similarly, team members should be encouraged to provide detail about projects and initiatives, rather than assuming others know everything already. This all becomes much more important when the majority of work is happening asynchronously, because coworkers can’t always ask for clarification in real time.

To counter these tendencies, instill a culture of communication in workers right from the outset. You can make this a key tenet of your onboarding process, ensuring that it’s part of their training. And model the behavior yourself. You know the old saying: be the change you want to see in the organization.

2. Centralize Your Team’s Communication 

Confusion about where and how to reach team members can be a major challenge for remote workers. You can alleviate much of the confusion—and streamline your team’s communications in the process—by centralizing communication. 

This largely comes down to tools. Decide on a platform you’ll use to communicate as a team and stick to it. This platform could be chat (think Google Chat, Microsoft Teams, or Slack). It could be email (although we think there are much better alternatives). 

Alternatively, if you’re relying on a project management tool to keep everyone on track, that makes a fantastic place to house the majority of your communication. Naturally, we’re partial to Trello here, and users have come up with some excellent ways to bring communication into the platform. Regardless of what tool you land on, the idea is the same: get everyone in one place, and make sure that place is not email. 

Finally, be patient. If everyone has different habits and preferences, it can take a while for a major change like this to happen. However, once your team is fully integrated, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.

Head to the Trello blog to uncover the other 3 solutions to help you solve fragmented communication in the workplace.