Best Ways To Improve Communication Skills As A Remote Worker

Remote working is one of the major things surrounding the job circle now. With the striking of the pandemic, working remotely has been a very mundane phenomenon now. But it has not been this way from the beginning. Research has shown that as less as about 33% of people have only had the experience of working remotely in the US. In other countries, this percentage is bound to get even lesser. So now this raises fear of being in untested waters.

Now that a lot of remote workers rely on talking to each other and establishing a common route, it is important to improve communication skills as a remote worker. Now that communication skills have become so necessary to coordinate and complete your tasks, you need to find ways to improve your communication skills as a remote worker. 

Best Ways To Improve Communication Skills

Here are some tips to get you through:

Don’t Take Things for Granted

Sure you might already have a great relationship with other members of your team in person. But does that mean that it gives you an advantage while remote working? Not exactly. While it is better that you have a good relationship established already, it should not put you at ease. Remote working is new for everybody and trying to hold on to the equation you had with your team becomes crucial.

So you can’t live off the fact that you are a good team leader or a team worker. There is always a need to improve communication skills as a remote worker. Without it, you might end up straining your relationships and worse, end up being uncoordinated and messing things up. 

Try to Maintain a Face to Face Contact

Now that you might not be able to meet in person, you need to figure out a way to regenerate that effect. Luckily, video calls have your back and can effectively help you to enact the feeling of an in-person meeting. However, it is an important point to note that some people might not be very comfortable with a video call. So you should also consider talking to the people and discussing what they feel about the medium of communication and working out a plan accordingly.

Some things might still be done through a video call, but then the frequency can be maintained based on the preference of the respective person. However, a video call is one of the best methods that we have to interact with people while being able to effectively communicate our thoughts through expressions and elaborate explanations.

Set Up a Time for a Discussion

To ensure the making of a proper routine and so that everyone is convenient while talking to you, it is recommended that you set up a specific time for talking. It can be anytime between working hours when you think it would be feasible and better to get reports and talk about the work for the day. This is one of the best ways to improve communication skills as a remote worker.

This is because this instills a feeling of punctuality among the team members and they will therefore be able to align their work in a manner that they can discuss work with you accordingly. Without a proper time, the calls might catch your team members off guard and they might not be able to be comfortable with it. So, talk it out and set a time beforehand.

Don’t be too Interested

Just because you’re remote working doesn’t give you the right to micromanage every task and ensure that you are updated about every little thing that’s happening. Sure, it is important to know about the whereabouts of the happenings but there should be a limit after which calling too much can interfere. One of the ways to improve communication skills as a remote worker is to give your team members space to breathe.

So you should take your daily reports and conduct other such proceedings. But you should not be interfering with their work by constantly pinging them or asking them about all the events. Remember that it is new for them too. So let them adjust without being too pushy about it. 

Be Very Careful with Your Tone

One of the major things to keep in mind is your tone. You should remember that being in person is different from being over text or over a voice call. This is because, over restricted mediums like text and calls, it gets very difficult to convey your message to the other person at times. Also, it can lead to cases of miscommunication and sometimes arguments. This is because the other person doesn’t have to perceive the message in the same way that you sent it.

To ensure that this doesn’t happen, you can also prefer video calls, which is an option available to you already. But one of the best ways to improve communication skills as a remote worker, in this case, would be to mind your tone. Try to be as polite and formal as you can be. Also, try to ensure that your texts are not ambiguous and have a clear meaning. For more safety, you can also call the person later and reiterate your messages so that they are understood correctly. 

Conclusion

Remote working is new for all of us and can often get the best of us. But then you shouldn’t worry and wait to be accustomed to it. Even if things are becoming more difficult for us, it is also opening doors for new opportunities and pushing yourself. Try to improve your communication skills as a remote worker as they will seriously pay off in the future. Don’t make the mistake of letting remote working succumb your communication skills. On the contrary, you should use these ways to improve your communication skills as a remote worker. Use the opportunity to be the best and make the most out of your new enhanced self.