5 Tips To Improve Your Online Collaborations
Lockdown! The memory of its struggles and sufferings is slowly but steadily fading from our consciousness. But, before the images of those challenging circumstances fade away, business owners must take advantage of every opportunity to reflect on what worked well for them, what has to be improved in case a third round is necessary, and what new digital techniques they wish to implement permanently.
Lockdown! The memory of its struggles and sufferings is slowly but steadily fading from our consciousness. But, before the images of those challenging circumstances fade away, business owners must take advantage of every opportunity to reflect on what worked well for them, what has to be improved in case a third round is necessary, and what new digital techniques they wish to implement permanently.
Below are the key aspects of successful online collaboration in the workplace that everyone must follow.
1. Keep It Simple
There are a plethora of digital tools available, but in this situation, more is not better. Instead, choose a few products that provide the capabilities you require at an affordable price point and stay with them.
Whether you’re using Google Docs for collaboration, Miro for online brainstorming, Trello for a project or campaign tracking, or Slack for communications, each of those tools should have a specific purpose.
2. Never Forget A Face
Face-to-face communication (even over the internet) can help alleviate the loneliness that many of us experience when working from home.
Keeping in touch with your team using video conferencing systems like Google Hangouts is a sure-fire approach to keep everyone motivated and spirits high. Furthermore, video conferencing facilitates successful communication — never underestimate the power of body language!
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With researchers estimating that nonverbal communication accounts for more than half of all conversations, switching from Text messaging to video chats is a no-brainer for keeping communication between coworkers strong. And we all know how beneficial a daily morning check-in is for staying on track throughout the day. So why not start having Zoom meetings at 9 a.m.?
3. Set Expectations
Working remotely makes it more difficult to visit a colleague’s office to confirm who is working on what aspect of a project. This makes it critical to communicate each person’s position and objectives, particularly if these obligations are prone to change. This may be reviewing duties and intents for the day in the first 5 minutes of your daily Zoom meeting or reaffirming who is responsible for communicating changes to your work process to clients.
4. Let’s Get Visual
Remember how, during the last lockdown, your vision became blurry and one word on your computer screen began to mix into another? It’s not a good time.
It’s worth remembering that computers are capable of more than just word processing. There are a variety of digital tools available these days that can make working from home more enjoyable.
You can use online whiteboards, mapping, and brainstorming tools like Miro, Padlet, Coggle, and Mindomo to keep your team on track.
5. Share challenges, and seek group feedback and ideas.
When you reach a block, don’t be afraid to report your problem in your online tool so that others can help. It’s important to remember that a team’s IQ is higher than the average of the individual’s IQs.