In past years business leaders utilized remote workers to reap the benefits of less overhead, broader talent pool availability, and more work-life balance for employees. Now, 2020 has created a world where remote work is not just a choice but a necessity for the continuation of your business.
One of the issues identified by many business leaders and owners during this time of remote work is the need to increase communication and feedback to a workforce that may be scattered all over the region. Here are a few tips and suggestions on how to increase communication and keep all of your team members on the same page.
Hold Monthly Staff Meetings
Before the pandemic, a monthly or bimonthly staff meeting was pretty much the norm for most businesses. It was a good way to discuss long term goals and where the company stands on large projects or clients. This is a good time to also discuss any human resource issues regarding the pandemic.
Use a Collaborative Workspace
Spaces like Teams or Slack can help keep your team members connected throughout the course of the workday. Some of these collaborative workspaces do allow for different channels to keep track of different projects or departments that may need to easily connect for brief discussions or sharing of documents.
Virtual Team Meetings
In addition to holding a monthly “all staff meeting,” many business owners are encouraging each department or colleagues working on projects collaboratively to conduct regular virtual meetings using Zoom, Google Meet, Skype or another form of video conferencing. By holding these weekly and using the collaborative workspaces, most employees will still feel very connected and able to reach out if they have issues with a client, customer, project, or if they are in need of information.
Communicate with Clients Efficiently
Along with communicating with your employees, it is important to keep up good communication with your clients. Try managing where client projects and communications stand using a customer relationship management software (CRM) software tool. For example, Salesforce, Hubspot, NImble, or Zoho CRM are some great ways to keep track and manage customer interactions in a single system of record.
While CRM software is most commonly implemented in sales departments to act as the central hub for sales force automation, it can also be extremely helpful for all departments and employees connecting to a client.
Do you need help maintaining contact with your employees and clients? Contact the North Shore Career Center and MassHire North Shore or take a look at the resources they list online.
