NAVIGATING THE WATERS OF COMMUNICATION

Remote work is a battle of the never-ending distractions of meetings, e-mail & chat pings? Not, if done correctly. An interesting idea is introducing asynchronous communication into your organization.

How to start?

1 Set high communication standards

Ask yourself these questions: Am I providing all the context that is needed? Am I communicating clearly, so there is no confusion or lack of information? Are all the resources in place to move forward with the project? Context is key.

2 Rely on written down procedures & team guidelines.

Create a knowledge hub and ensure it is clear how to hand over a task, what communication channels to use, what is the time frame for a reply, where to look for information. Everything should be documented and available in a central location accessible to everyone.

3 Introduce the right tools.

Avoid a situation where communication or a project is scattered across e- mails, chats, docs and project management tools. It's best to choose a single system to support your async collaboration.

4 Create a space for urgent requests.

As the team won’t be checking and responding to messages instantly, it is crucial to have an emergency plan, e.g. a dedicated #urgent channel in your communication tool.

MAKING EVERY REMOTE MEETING COUNT

Thinking about the never-ending distractions ... how many meetings do you have on your calendar today? If you ever find yourself with a jam-packed calendar, we will dive into ways that can help you reduce the unnecessary meetings.

1 Introduce a “no agenda, no meeting” policy.

If the team is confused about the purpose of the meeting, it can be easy to get sidetracked instead of working towards a success. It is important for everyone to be aligned on the goal and to have the chance to prepare beforehand, saving time during the actual meeting.

2 Encourage blocking time for “deep work”

Don’t be afraid to use the blocking feature in your calendar to create time with minimum interruptions. Shopify has a “no-meeting Wednesday” policy and Slack practices “Focus Fridays” - teams cancel all internal meetings and are encouraged to turn off their notifications.

3 Get a closer look into asynchronous work format.

How many of the meetings can be replaced by a shared document, e-mail or a collaboration tool? E.g. quick questions, status updates that involve multiple people or gathering feedback on a design. Use a collaboration tool like Miro board to share thoughts and build on each other’s ideas.

4 Audit your team calendars on a regular basis.

Look at your calendars and map them regularly to review how much time is spent across various meeting types and topics. GitLab has an annual “meeting cleanup” and Asana has experimented with “meeting doomsday” teams reset their calendars to add back meetings that are really valuable.

A TEST FLIGHT INTO THE 4-DAY WORK WEEK

Once you have the communication standards in place, it’s time to answer a question: is the typical 40 hours work week with a 9-5 day set-up the only way to go? While testing a 4-day work week ourselves, we decided to round up a list of tips to consider.

1 Determine what you want to achive.

If you think about giving the 4-day work week a try, start with the following questions: "How will the new work model impact your organization's effectiveness?" and "Will a 4-day work week increase employee productivity and engagement?". Determine if you can be profitable and ensure coverage within the new model.

2 Reorganizing the work week is a process.

Each team member needs to adjust their projects, deadlines and expectations. Everyone needs to review their calendars. Removing one day a week pushes you to prioritize the work. The key is not to work faster, trying to squeeze everything in. It’s about learning to work smarter.

3 It is crucial to find the unique solution that works for your company.

It’s Monday and you plan to be out of the office on Friday. How would you plan your week? Take the same approach when introducing a shorter work week. Certain teams, e.g. customer service, may need to reorganize shifts to ensure the Friday coverage. Run a trial. Take a more seasonal approach and introduce a 4-days work week during summer.

4 Be flexible.

While most of the team may choose to work four days a week, some may prefer to work five shorter days. It may be a great option for parents to juggle their families’ schedules. For some, Fridays may be the time to catch up on tasks with no disruptions from meetings or internal communicators. Give them the option.

MASTERING REMOTE BRAINSTORMING

When HR Contact team needs to tackle a problem or generate some ideas, our answer is brainstorm. How to leave a classic whiteboard behind and embrace a virtual space to share ideas?

1 Set a clear goal and share it with the team ahead of time.

Before you log in together, ensure everyone has a brief for the session. Why? It will allow the team to prepare, research around the topic or gather initial ideas, making the meeting more productive.

2 Use an online whiteboard.

If your team is used to making the brainstorm visual, don’t give that up. We didn’t! Figma, Miro, Google Sheets or designated Microsoft Teams app – there are many tools that enable writing, drawing, commenting or voting on ideas all in real time.

3 Chose a moderator and a designated note-taker.

When you're on video call, a spontaneous communication can be tricky to navigate. You may not know who should answer a question or when is a good time to share your thoughts. The moderator will keep the discussion on track. Additionally, picking a designated note-taker will help you capture all ideas and share it digitally afterwards to make sure everyone is on the same page.

4 Test out different brainstorming techniques.

Some inspiration to get you started: mind maps (set up a central question in the middle and invite your team to share their thoughts), brainwriting (independently write down your ideas and later share them to discuss in a group), rapid ideation (give everyone a limited time to come up with as many ideas as possible), gap filling (identify your current state and your end goal.