To better build rapport and counter isolation do the following:<ul><li>smile, tilt your chin lower so you're not looking down on them, and slow down your speech during your video calls, so you come across as being more credible.</li><li>set a finish time before starting a conversation with someone new to reduce the initial wariness.</li><li>Be more likable and validate others by listening to them and suspending your ego. Put aside your wish to contribute to the conversation and ask short, open questions like how, when, and why.</li></ul>

Building Rapport Remotely

Voice and video calls can help you feel more in touch with your team and avoid the issues of asynchronous communication like time lags or misunderstandings.However, you'll likely spend a lot of your day communicating via text as it’s a good way to interact without interrupting their work. So you need to be able to get your point across clearly and simply, show empathy and understanding, and be efficient to avoid wasted time.

Relying On Text The Right Way

Remote workers can feel overwhelmed by the amount of text they have to process. So finding ways to keep on top of what's going on is imperative for communicating efficiently with others.Create archive lists and CC irrelevant emails to them, so you can save and share them without flooding non-involved people.

Staying Up To Date

Hanlon's razor refers to the idea that we should always assume ignorance before malice. This is especially important in situations where you're missing context. If you're communicating via text with co-workers who are multiple time zones away, try to always assume ignorance before malice if you have a misunderstanding.

Remember Hanlon's Razor

One way to compensate for the lack of context in remote communication is to be more forward and open than you normally would. But doing so you're more likely to misread and bug people because you lack otherwise obvious physical signs that would let you adjust your behavior tactfully.To reduce that issue it’s necessary to share that context explicitly with each other. An alternative is to set up rules for common issues ahead of time so everyone is more likely to be open about what they need and friction is reduced.

Asserting Yourself When Needed

If you work in a remote team, one of the aspects you quickly notice is the importance of communication. Finding the best ways to communicate with your team is imperative when you're not working face-to-face, because you're missing most-if not all-of the context of each person's situation.

How to Build Strong Relationships in a Remote Team

.... while nearly 50% are involved with remote or virtual team work. This continuing shift calls for a new range of behaviors and skills.

22% of Americans work from home

<ul><li>Body language. Even when we share the same space, the tone of a text or of an email is left wide open to interpretation and can generate anxiety. </li><li>The delay between our messages can often postpone or hide emotional reactions to our comments. Lacking an immediate response, we can become distracted, second-guess ourselves, or even grow frustrated with our teams.</li></ul>

Communication challenges for remote teams

<ul><li>Physical (place and time)</li><li>Operational (team size, bandwidth and skill levels) </li><li>Affinity (values, trust, and interdependency). </li></ul>The best way for managers to drive team performance is by focusing on reducing affinity distance.

3 types of distance in remote teams

<ul><li>Communicate with the intention of being extremely clear, no matter the medium you are using;</li><li>Don’t bombard your team with messages;</li><li>Establish communication norms that bring clarity in communication;</li><li>See the hidden opportunities in written communications, especially for those who might be less inclined to speak out in groups;</li><li>Create intentional space for celebration.</li></ul>

Best practices in virtual teams communication

Executive Summary People who work on remote teams face communications challenges consistently. As more and more of our interactions happen digitally, we will continue to experience new forms of miscommunication and misunderstanding. The solution lies in building a skill set that reflects the demands of our digitally-driven age.

How to Collaborate Effectively If Your Team Is Remote

Assume that people don’t know what you’re thinking. And you’ll find the more you communicate with others, the more they will reciprocate. Ask questions, tell the team what you’re doing, be responsive, and get over that you think you’re bugging them too much. The more you communicate, the shorter the physical distance between you appears.

Over-communicate

Constantly send screenshots and ideas. Give your team a glimpse into your head throughout the day so they can see your creative process. Share your unfinished work in progress. A single reply from a teammate can steer your entire project in a better direction. Get feedback on your work early on so you can evolve sooner.

Share Frequently and Get Feedback

Build trust in your team by constantly reminding them how dependable you are. You can do this by being the first one to respond in threads, providing your feedback, leading initiatives, and not just delivering your work on time, but delivering it early.

Build Trust

People have short term memories, so keep making clear the fact that you’re here and you have an opinion. Provide feedback on other people’s work and be convicted, without ego.

Share Your Opinion

It’s up to you to make sure your team knows how to work best with you.If they aren’t regularly sharing progress with you, bug them. Ask them questions every day. Make it known that your awareness matters a lot, and affects the outcome of the project.

Set Expectations

Over-communicate It's always safe to assume people don't know what you're thinking. You'll find the more you communicate with others, the more they will reciprocate. If you don't tell them, they will simply just never have known. Ask them questions, tell them what you're doing, be responsive, and get over that you think you're bugging them too much.

How to be Effective at Working Remotely

Reaching out privately to a colleague can feel weird because making the active decision to initiate a conversation usually creates the expectation that you want something. So explain why you're reaching out. Always give a reason why you want to talk to someone. Also, send one message, then wait for a response. And if someone continually doesn't respond when you reach out, take the hint.

The weirdness of it

Reaching out and offering your help to a new colleague, for example, is a great way to start a conversation. It can feel weird, but in a remote setup, this is the only way these chats will happen.

Reach out

A great way to start a conversation with a teammate is to respond privately to comments made in public channels. For example:
<ul>
<li>Your comment was very funny!</li>
<li>Great job on solving that tricky issue!</li>
<li>Thank you for answering my question, I appreciate your perspective.</li>
</ul>

Respond privately

Explain that you just want to say hello. This is usually enough to remove the weirdness of just saying "hi," especially if you frame it using a little humor.

Be vulnerable

Sometimes people will respond immediately. But sometimes they won't, and that's okay. Everyone has things to do, and that means they will not be responding to every message right away.

Don't mind the delays 

A status is a good way to let people know that you're doing focused work or that you're otherwise unable to respond. Don't reach out to chat when someone is busy.

Respect people's status

Saying good morning, in person, to a coworker you don't know is perfectly normal. Sending a private message to a coworker you don't know to say good morning is...weird. If not downright creepy.Look, that's just how it is. I don't make the rules. Seriously, though: the difference between these...

How to small talk while working remotely (without being weird)

Loving your job often means that you may be working more. It's harder to stop when you care.
It's deceptive to think that remote work means that you can start and stop whenever you want. Bloomberg reported that people who started working from home since the beginning of the pandemic are working three hours longer per day.

Remote workers work more

When you're working from home, don't work more. Use that flexibility to bring more balance in your life, not less.
There's no commute when we work remotely, which can easily add extra hours to our day. It can be tempting to pour these hours into work. Working longer often means burnout, which means doing less. It is best to make a routine to prevent work from consuming our day.

Don't replace your commute with more work

When we work remotely, we don't have to replicate the nine-to-five workday. Remote work means you have flexibility, so you can order your work that will suit you.
Some people will split their days into two four-four blocks, with a four-hour break in the middle. Others may swap a weekday morning for a weekend one. Ensure that your coworkers are aware of when you are and aren't working.

Remote work means flexibility

Remote work is about trust. Research shows that remote workers put in more hours, so any time-tracking may be a waste of time. 
Moreover, micromanaging gives a message that employees won't do their jobs unless someone is watching over their shoulder. That message can be demoralising.

Don't use time to measure productivity

If you work longer than reasonable, consider creating a system that ends your work session.
You could wrap up your day by reviewing what you spent time on and what got done. Look at your completed tasks from your to-do list and check your time-tracking app. You may find that you accomplished a lot, which could bring closure to your day and help you to stop working.

Wrap up your day when it's done

Don't work more when you work from home | Zapier

Difficult conversations at work are inevitable, whether you're a leader addressing a team member's performance or an employee unhappy about a situation with your boss. Remote working adds another layer of difficulty. Many people would rather leave than talk to their boss. However, if people had taken the time to address the issues, they may have had a different outcome.

Taking the time to address difficult issues

You need to understand why you need to have the conversation. Decide if you should have the conversation in person or not. For example, if you have a conversation with an underperforming employee, you may either want them to improve their performance or go through the steps to exit them from your organisation.

Be clear on your objective

Create an outline and key talking points, including the desired outcome of the conversation, key messages or examples to share. Take advantage of an online conversation by keeping your notes in front of you or on a second screen.

Organise your thoughts

It's best not to have an impromptu conversation. Instead, schedule the call in advance. For example, you could ask to have a conversation and set a date and time on your calendar. Ensure that you both have privacy despite fake Zoom backgrounds.

Book time on the calendar

With remote working arrangements, a video conference may not always be the best choice. If you need to let someone go, a phone conversation can ease the psychological load. When you want to work with someone to get to a resolution, a video conversation may be better as there is less room for interpretation and increased levels of empathy.

Weigh the pros and cons of video

The sandwich approach to delivering bad news may be unproductive. Instead, lead with your perspective. For example, an employee who is micromanaged might say to their boss, " I have given it a lot of thought, and feel like I need to say that the way I'm being managed isn't working for me," followed by the reasons why.

Starting the conversation

When the conversation comes to an end, ensure both parties know how things will change going forward. It's always good to ask the other party to tell you their understanding of what just happened. It may be that they didn't get what you were trying to say. At that point, you can be specific and say exactly what they need to do.

Ending a difficult conversation

These six steps will help ensure you still have a productive conversation.


How to have difficult conversations when working remotely

We've compiled some hacks to help you embrace flexible work arrangements (and ace them)

Bite-sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career

🏝
Making Remote Work, Work

How to Build Strong Relationships in a Remote Team

How to Collaborate Effectively If Your Team Is Remote

How to be Effective at Working Remotely

How to small talk while working remotely (without being weird)

Don't work more when you work from home | Zapier

How to have difficult conversations when working remotely

Bite-sized knowledgeto upgradeyour career

🏝Making Remote Work, Work

How to Build Strong Relationships in a Remote Team

How to Collaborate Effectively If Your Team Is Remote

How to be Effective at Working Remotely

How to small talk while working remotely (without being weird)

Don't work more when you work from home | Zapier

How to have difficult conversations when working remotely

Bite-sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career

🏝
Making Remote Work, Work