Your remote team is divided on communication preferences. How can you ensure effective collaboration?

When I joined Diageo during COVID-19, I was immediately immersed in a remote work environment. My manager played a crucial role in ensuring our team's effective collaboration, despite differing communication preferences. He ensured a balanced approach, combining regular video calls for team alignment with asynchronous tools like shared documents and project management platforms to respect individual working styles. To maintain boundaries and team morale, he also instituted a no-work call policy on Fridays. This thoughtful blend of communication practices kept us connected, collaborative, and respectful of each other's time, even from afar.

When your remote team is divided on communication preferences, use tools to ensure effective collaboration by adopting a flexible, multi-channel approach. Implement platforms that accommodate different styles, such as instant messaging for quick updates, video conferencing for face-to-face discussions, and collaborative documents for detailed work. Encourage the team to use the appropriate tool for each task, ensuring that everyone can engage in their preferred way. Regularly gather feedback to refine your communication strategy and ensure it meets the team's needs. By leveraging diverse tools, you can bridge communication gaps and foster a more cohesive, productive team.

Look at the data and ensure the data is coming from multiple teams, not just one. For example, if you are in the financial space - ensure you have loan officers who bring data and share the stories of their customers that surround that data. Invite frontline employees to share their data about account openings and the people they have spoken to. The quantitative and qualitative data will build a strong foundation that aligns your brand voice. It then needs to be tracked and analyzed to keep the team on track. Evidence-based stories are based on fact, not opinion and will help tie together teams when the evidence is there for all to see.

By ensuring that one platform stays consistent for ease of communication, and that it can be arrived at through their votes instead, ensures that the team feels that they are being heard.

It’s also important for management to avoid defaulting to their preferred communication style without considering the needs of the rest of the team- this is particularly true of neurodivergent employees who may burn out faster if they’re expected to attend back to back video meetings on a regular basis or be available at any moment to take unscheduled calls. The onus should be on managers to foster a team culture where people can express their communication styles freely without fearing it will impact their career negatively.