More people are interested in becoming part of the “remote world”, meaning they are up to take the challenge of working from anywhere. When it comes to building a successful international team, it’s important to mention the huge role that communication between the employees plays.
It may all sound very straightforward, but working globally has its tricks. There are a few tips that will help you to build meaningful relationships with your worldwide colleagues.
Best ways to communicate with your global team
Here you can find a few useful and effective tips that will help you to obtain a quality relationship with your team.
Clear and frequent conversations
The best way to lead a team to success is through clear communication and constant conversations. The team needs to be up to date with all the projects that are ongoing in the company. Each of the team members should have a clear vision of what their role in the company is. That is only possible when the whole team is engaged and takes part in any interaction that happens in the workspace.
Meetings of any kind are good to keep the team members in the loop of what’s happening at the moment. When the company is beginning to work on a particular project, a meeting should be hosted for the team members to meet the purpose of those projects and what it’s expected of them to achieve.
To follow the progress that’s happening in the company, those meetings can be quite useful. You can discuss what can be improved, the instructions given, and what other challenges the team has to face while working on the project.
Video meetings
When working remotely it’s easy to get lost and emotionally get detached from the real world. Luckily with the modern technology that we are blessed to have, we can now enjoy face-to-face meetings that are similar to live interactions between team members.
Those kinds of meetings will allow everyone to interact with each other and keep the communication going while also meeting your colleagues.
A stable internet connection is all you need for your video conferences. And you can easily share your ideas with your team from across the world, at a preferred time that is in everyone’s favor.
Communication channels
While some of the team members will work in the same time zones, there will likely be people with diverse time zones. For this particular reason, it’s important to have a communication platform where everyone can take part in the conversation between the team. Those channels will allow for better collaboration even when the members are coming from different parts of the world.
Part of improving the communication between your team members is learning their preferred method of engaging in conversation. While some of the members quickly respond to emails, others may respond faster through platforms like Slack, Telegram, etc. In a Gallup study it was discovered that about 37% of workers in the U.S. have telecommunicated. That’s why it’s important to choose the right communication platform that is in everyone’s favor.
Foundation and trust
How well you can connect with your team members will reflect on the trust that you can build around the members.
It’s essential for the team to feel welcomed, understood, and appreciated in the environment where they work. Part of understanding who your team members are is acknowledging their goals and interests.
Each of the members should feel comfortable communicating their concerns and problems without being pressured to. Everyone should be able to share their ideas without being judged.
The best way to achieve an open-minded team is to encourage them to speak more about what’s going on in their mind and what are their thoughts on the given situation.
Showing empathy and understanding of cultural differences
Showing appreciation towards the team members will encourage them to give their best even more. Congratulating them on the efforts and work they’ve done, and thanking them for their time in listening to a presentation, will give them heads up that everything they do won’t go unnoticed.
Gratitude is all you need to give no matter whether the acts are small or big. Remember to look at people as the individuals they are, without labeling them according to their nationality, religion, or political preferences. Everyone deserves a chance without being stereotyped.
Sharing celebrations and tradition
We are all humans, and the only difference between us is our culture. Part of succeeding in the business is to understand and accept the team members as they are rather than what they should be. Giving your team time off according to their religious holidays will make them feel more appreciated.
It’s good to take interest in learning about some of the upcoming holidays that are celebrated by any of the team members. What’s more important is to give the members some space and leave it up to them whether they want to take part in sharing their tradition without feeling pressured to overshare everything that’s going on during their holidays.
While some of the members won’t have any problem immediately adapting to the workspace, there may be members who would need assistance and guidance. You need to show compassion when addressing the concerns of your team members.
Standard language
It’s important to mention that using standard language instead of slang will aid in a better understanding of what exactly you are trying to say instead of leaving everyone to figure it out on their own. Using slang might be difficult for people to understand even when they’re from the same country. Always make sure that you carefully listen to what anyone has to say.
Provide subtitles for video content
When the team members don’t speak the same language, the best thing that can be done is to add subtitles files to video content. This can help the members to have a better understanding of the materials that are presented to them. These subtitles can be a useful tool for any member who is willing to learn a foreign language.
Add them to internal communications, onboarding videos, training, and other useful videos you have to build and grow your team. According to the Ofcom study in 2006, it was disclosed that captions can improve the understanding of the message of the content. Everyone can enjoy the benefit of the captions as part of the learning process.
Avoid humor
Using sarcastic phrases while working globally may lead to misunderstanding among your team members. You may appear as an insensitive individual for making inappropriate jokes in particular situations where all you wanted was to lighten up the situation but you achieved the opposite. For example, saying how wonderful the day is while there’s a storm outside.
The best thing to do in those kinds of situations is to rationally express your positive thoughts and hope that the situation will get better in the near future, in case there are some ongoing issues in the company. Use empathy instead of sarcasm.
Stimulate Feedback
It’s important to create a comfortable atmosphere that can encourage team members to interact and open up about how they’re holding up in the environment or whether they have any issues that bother them.
They should feel accepted and you need to listen to them and give them enough space for them to open up. This will not only lead to better success in the end but also the team will exchange different opinions and knowledge.
Beneficial criticism
Criticism can have a positive impact on the company but can also help the team members to improve themselves. A slight criticism won’t harm anyone, because the reason for it is to bring better results in the end. You can’t expect improved work if the team isn’t aware of the mistakes they create and what they can do to eliminate that by improving themselves.
Management tools
Investing in management methods can be one of your greatest advantages when working with people globally. It will help you to share access to important materials about ongoing projects with your team members. The whole plan of the project can be displayed, and available for anyone to check any findings, even shared deadlines.
There are many beneficial management tools that you can use to boost creativity and organization among the team. With a simple to-do list or agenda, any of the members can be up to date with their responsibilities.
Training programs
Coaching and training your people can lead to a better understanding of what their responsibility is while working in the company. If you decide that what you need is management tools, then you need to train your people how to properly use them. Allow them to make mistakes and learn from them.
Bottom line
Different communication tips when working with team members worldwide will have a different impact on the relationship that is built between the members. Remember to always respect the different time zones, and schedule meetings that are at an appropriate time for everyone.
As your company remotely grows, it’s good to establish solid connections between the team as their contribution will reflect on the overall success.
