10 Writing Tips for Better Communication in Remote Teams

We’ve put together some writing tips for remote teams because more people are working at-at home which provides some challenges when it comes to communication.

And as many companies move towards remote teams instead of keeping everyone in a single office working together, writing becomes more important than ever.

From a simple text message to a document outlining the goals of a project, clear communication is essential.

But writing clearly isn’t always easy for everyone, especially those who may have built their careers and experiences on face-to-face communication.

The Importance of Writing Skills

As remote teams move to more digital environments, it becomes increasingly important to focus on clear writing skills.

It may not seem like carrying on a conversation in a chat box over WhatsApp is going to create any type of writing challenge, but that’s not the case.

Those emails you send throughout the day need to be clear and well understood.

As a remote worker, it’s harder to get across inflection in your voice as well as factors such as step-by-step communication.

If you relied only on written communication, could you properly communicate every step in your workday in this method?

Could it become frustrating and even overwhelming to stay on top of these tasks?

In a remote work environment, writing needs to be:

• Clear
• Concise but thorough
• Easy to read
• Comprehensive enough so that the reader knows exactly what you mean
• Easy enough to send and understand in a digital format

When workers cannot communicate in this manner, they are not on the same page, and that is costly to doing business.

When a problem occurs, they need to be able to communicate that problem properly to improve the situation.

It’s also important to include feelings, thoughts, and feedback into written communication in the proper manner to get the point across properly and minimize the risk of confusion or hurt feelings.

Poor communication leads to mistakes.

That can hurt productivity and even lead to complicated outcomes for customers and clients.

Even simple things, such as communicating what task needs to be completed first, can become more complicated in remote teams.

Tools Remote Teams Can Use to Improve Written Communication

The good news is there are many ways that you can improve written communication skills for yourself as well as for other members of your team.

Digital tools enable workers to remain productive and on task while still communicating effectively.

Here are some of those tools and how they fit into the remote work environment.

Use these 6 tools to help you as your first steps for improvement.

1. Grammarly: This is one of the easiest tools to use to boost writing quality. Used on a consistent basis, it helps to get rid of the errors – from misspellings to grammar problems with syntax. It can help to make communication easier to understand while also helping to maintain the professionalism that is so critical in the business world, even when teams are working at a distance.
2. Slack: Designed to be an easy-to-use communication tool, Slack lets groups communicate in various ways. That includes sending messages, submitting tasks, and managing workloads right from an easy-to-use tool. It also helps with instant communication, allowing workers to keep all of their messages in a single place for easy access later.
3. Trello: A productivity-boosting tool, Trello is an excellent tool for project management. It lets company managers assign projects and tasks to those who will handle them, updating requirements, instructions, due dates, and much more. This helps with streamlining project management and helping to avoid those mistakes related to miscommunications.
4. Clickup: This is another type of tool for project management. It is designed to help improve overall communication while also providing a way for individuals and teams to manage projects together. It can be customized to fit the way that your business operates, allowing remote team managers to make better decisions, organize people in more efficient ways, and keep all important information in a single place.
5. Google Drive: From contracts to letters, Google Drive is one of the best document storage tools available. It offers all of the same tools that Word does – including spreadsheets, documents, and templates, for various tasks. What’s more, all of that information created is stored in the cloud, providing access to those who have a direct link to the information no matter where they are. It’s easy to create and then share information of any type whenever a team member is. More so, it has ample security built in to manage this process.
6. Microsoft Teams: Communication is not always spread out in short messages. Sometimes there is a need to bring a team together for a meeting in real time. Other times, you may need to leave messages to groups or manage a group of people in an efficient manner.

These are just a handful of the many tools that can help businesses achieve their goals with remote teams.

What is most important for individuals and groups to understand is that, while written communication can be hard, it can be improved upon with tools like these without much additional effort.

What About Documentation in Remote Teams?

There are many factors to think about when it comes to remote work and managing teams.

One component of this is to improve documentation. Every situation is different.

In some business environments, there are no compliance rules to follow.

Yet, when people “say” they are going to do something and don’t do it, that creates problems within the workings of the business.

Writing communication lends itself to creating a document trail. Beyond a doubt, it is easy for businesses to go back and look at the written content provided and document it step by step to verify the information and create a cohesive understanding of what’s occurred.

Yet, it is important to put in place tools to help protect data and information so it cannot be changed during the connectivity process.

For example, in Google Drive, documents can be tracked for changes, allowing for only those with permission to make changes but, at the same time, enabling business owners to be able to see who made changes and when.

When it comes to things like legal documents and projects where you need to document items with a timestamp, there are tools to allow that to happen too. The key to remember here is that it’s critical to create a simple and easy-to-use method for documentation.

There is no concern about what’s happening, who is accessing information, or what is being recorded as complete with tools.

Know the Benefits of Good Writing Skills in a Business Environment

What tangible benefits are there to implementing tools like these or taking steps to improve communication skills in the written form? There are many benefits that can come from it. Some of the things to keep in mind include the following:

• Good writing skills help you communicate clearly, allowing you to achieve better outcomes no matter how important or complex the problem is.
• Get your ideas across properly. Whether you need to communicate a new project or sell a product, you need to be able to get your ideas across in an effective manner, or they are lost.
• Clear communication can also help you with avoiding miscommunications. That means you and your team are better able to communicate and get work done without any delays that slow you down.
• Good communication makes your job easier. When everyone can communicate well, there is less risk of complications, and job stress falls.
• Good written communication also boosts productivity. People can communicate quickly, but they also can get through their work efficiently.

These are all clear benefits in virtually any environment. Yet, when it comes to communication, the question is – how do you get better?

4 Tips to Improve Writing Skills for Your Remote Team

Now that you have some idea of how important remote communication is in written form, it’s time to find some ways to ensure you and your team are operating at the best possible level.

To improve communication and enable better outcomes in writing content, it’s important to take steps such as the following.

#1: Use Templates

One of the ways you can streamline communications is by using templates.

This is an excellent way to communicate things like project guidelines and expected work.

You can use templates as a way to outline what’s occurring when it is occurring and what is expected.

Templates allow you to organize information, so everyone knows where to find it.

More so, if you are going to need to send messages to numerous people but that message is likely to be the same or similar from one person to another, create a template for it. That way, you can speed up communication. It also helps ensure that each message is clear and precise.

#2: Create Standard Operating Procedures

SOPs are an important tool for you to use across all of your teams.

In short, they are the rules to follow for whatever task or goal is being completed.

For example, you may want all employees to use Grammarly when they are creating any type of written content for a client or a business leader.

That helps ensure that content is easy to read and understand without errors.

Create SOPs for all aspects of your business operations as you see fit.

#3: Manage Note Taking Skills

When there are times for live conversation, such as video messages, it is important to have a good level of skill at notetaking.

That’s not always easy for most people, though. There are tools available that can help, but one of the best is a simple recording.

Provide the tools to help people record messages and Zoom calls so that there is no reason they don’t have the information they need.

You can have these transcribed or just provide the link to them later.

#4: Always Utilize Feedback

When it comes to communicating with remote teams, it’s important to know what their needs are.

It is essential to understand their challenges so that you can create solutions for them or make adjustments that help to boost that person’s needs.

For example, some people may need help learning how to use various project management systems or tools.

If you want your team to embrace these types of tools, create opportunities for them to learn how to do that, such as through a training class.

If your team struggles to keep up with all of the written communication requirements and complete all of the online checklists, talk to them about solutions.

It may be possible to streamline these things so that they can get more done with their time.

Teach People About Formal Conversation

As you transition to a remote workforce and communication becomes more text-like than formal business etiquette, it may be time to discuss some ground rules for your team.

For example, you may need to discuss things like how clients, partners, or other stakeholders should be addressed in messages.

How should formal emails look when they come from the company and go to a customer?

What type of slang or other types of components that are typically a part of text communication, like emojis, should not be a part of professional business communications?

By working to create some of these best practice rules and being sure your employees know how to use them, you can help to minimize problems down the road.

Written Communication Needs to Represent Your Team, Company, and Brand

What is most important to understand is that written communication reflects your business itself.

When done well, it can help you to achieve better outcomes and keep people on the page.

It impacts not just your customer reactions and responses but also productivity levels, employee relations, and business leader support.

Take some time to pinpoint what your team could do to see improvements in written communication.

Strive to use the services and tools available to create a better outcome for your business.

And if you’re still struggling check out this website for writers.