Communicating with Remote Workers: The Importance of Using Various Platforms

Missed deadlines, poor productivity, and dissatisfied customers… Ladies, this is what you’re looking at if you don’t really understand the importance of communicating with your remote workers.

I have a friend who started a freelance writing business over three years ago. She was doing so well that she decided to hire a team of five writers to help her in getting rid of her backlog of assignments and potentially bring in new clients. It was a great idea, but unfortunately, it didn’t last very long….

Failure to Communicate Could Ruin Your Business

Why? Lack of communication. Of course she sent emails with general updates and told her team to contact her whenever they needed to, but everyone was not on the same page. As a result, each writer started winging it, doing whatever they thought was best, the quality of work went down the drain, and so did some of her most loyal customers. The solution….. Communicate. Not just in written form, but verbally as well.

There are so many tools out there that can be used to improve your business and productivity in the workplace. Failure to research and use the tools could essentially create more problems for you down the road.

Importance of Effective Communication in Virtual Businesses

Just because your business is virtual doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be utilizing various forms of communication to accomplish your goals. Communication is essential, for many reasons, but the main two include:

·  Provides a Common Understanding of Objectives

·  Promotes Employee involvement and interaction

Providing an Understanding of Objectives

As a business owner it is imperative to keep productivity in the workplace at an all time high. In order to achieve maximum productivity business owners have a responsibility to communicate to their staff exactly what it is they’re looking for and what they require of their team. While sending out an email blast might be appropriate for minor changes, emails and other forms of writing are left up to interpretation. To ensure that everyone is on the same page, business owners must utilize various platforms for communicating to their team on the daily basis.

Communication tip: Try utilizing audio conferencing services such as those found at StartMeeting. Such platforms are great for hosting meetings with virtual teams.

Promotes Employee Involvement and Interaction

Productivity in the workplace also means ensuring that your team feels appreciated and involved in the process of helping the business to expand. Emails, internet chat, and forums are all great ways to reach out to the team, but are not very personal. Given the fact that you guys will likely never have a face to face conversation, you need to find other ways to connect as a group.

Utilizing platforms such as audio conferencing encourages employees to get involved. They get to know that their boss is a real person and not just some bot chugging out emails from time to time. Audio conferencing allows for everyone to connect at the same time and thus allowing everyone to get on the same page.

Something as simple as having a monthly staff meeting via audio conference could make a difference in workplace productivity. Your staff gets a full understanding of what your goals are, and they get the added benefits of being able to connect with one another for improved support. So if you’re still sending out emails and hoping for the best, you may want to consider other forms of communication and their importance to the success of your business as a whole.