4 tactics to boost your team's collaboration in a remote world

A few years ago, bumping into colleagues on their way to the break room was a common occurrence in the workplace. Today, many employees - and their supervisors - long for these kinds of informal meetings. Working from home is much more isolating than working in the office. And when people don't interact regularly, collaboration goes down.

Truly, collaboration has become one of the biggest challenges of remote work. Codegiant research suggests that 86% of people attribute job failures to poor collaboration. Even when everyone tries to get together virtually, the results can be poor. Anyone who's been on a digital conference call knows that. How often do attendees check their email or wander off? It's hard to focus or feel the same level of engagement when interacting online.

So how can you overcome the collaboration challenges inherent in remote work and increase your team's sense of unity? Try following these four strategies:

1. Set aside time and space to build relationships.

Too often, people are trapped into thinking that every moment they spend with remote teammates should be spent on work. They end up eliminating the "small conversations" to gain efficiency. However, this is the exact opposite of what you should encourage your team to do. In order to help employees overcome the loneliness and isolation that so many remote workers feel, you need to create space for them to connect as individuals.

Timm Urschinger, co-founder and CEO of LIVEsciences, strongly believes in the power of relationship building. "Talking about topics that we consider 'non-business' is actually important for decentralized workforces," he says. “Team development and the time we spend chatting is just as important now that we are away as before. Leaders need to understand this and set aside time for these activities. »

If you find it awkward to have regular online coffee breaks, try incorporating five to 10 minutes of banter into all meetings. You can also host AMA (i.e., ask me anything) sessions or get everyone to share their thoughts on prompts. Honoring, valuing and enhancing people's lives outside of work allows employees to make meaningful connections. These links are key to boosting engagement, loyalty, trust and retention.

2. Make sure all materials are easy to find.

It's annoying for remote workers not to find what they need to do their job. “In fact, about 48% of remote employees report wasting time searching for information,” writes Leah Westfall, senior content marketing manager at RingCentral. "Adopt a dedicated knowledge and file sharing hub that employees can turn to whenever they need help."

The important word here is "hub". In other words, try to streamline your technology as much as possible. For example, maybe you don't need five different systems that don't integrate. Perhaps one or two systems would be more feasible and allow everyone to work more efficiently and intelligently.

Without the right tech stack, your internal employees might not feel a pinch, but your virtual employees will. The more friction they feel, the more likely they will become less invested in your business. To avoid ...