Workplace communication is evolving rapidly, especially with the rise of remote and hybrid work. While there is a lot to gain from these new ways of working, like tapping into a talent pool not restricted by location, they also bring new communication challenges.

You won’t make the most out of your remote team without overcoming these hurdles. In this article, we will cover some tools that can help you grease the wheels of communication in your remote workplace.

1. Google Meet to Overcome Miscommunication

A woman on a video call

When team members in the workplace are not able to understand one another due to miscommunications, their collaboration and productivity suffer, as it becomes impossible to move in the same direction. Miscommunication is especially pronounced in remote workplaces because the interaction is mainly based on written messages, devoid of essential communication signals like tone of voice, volume, facial expressions, gestures, and more.

So, how can you overcome this challenge?

For obvious reasons, having in-person interactions might not be an option. However, you can leverage video conferencing tools like Google Meet to improve the quality of communication or whenever there is a chance for misunderstandings, for example, addressing sensitive matters.

Virtual meetings are a great solution to overcome the challenges remote teams face with physical limitations. Google Meet is a free, user-friendly video conferencing tool that allows you to bring participants together from around the world. Simply go to the Google Meet website, log into your Google account, click on New meeting to start, and it will generate a meeting link that you can share with others to join the discussion.

You can step it up by paying for a Google Workspace business plan that includes other apps like Gmail, Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Calendar, and more.

2. Twist to Avoid Interruptions Due to Real-Time Communication

Screenshot of Twist

In the remote work era, being online does not necessarily mean that you are available. That's because the proliferation of notifications from communication tools and expectations of immediate responses can break workflow.

It has become increasingly difficult for remote workers to focus on their work because they are constantly interrupted by emails or texts throughout the day, leading to context switching and lower productivity. But, it’s not only about slipping work performances; real-time communication can also lead to work-from-home burnout.

To find a solution, you can try applying the “don’t break the flow” philosophy of Twist, an asynchronous communication platform, to help your remote team collaborate without the pressure to be available at the same time.

Twist allows you to organize your inbox into searchable threads, fully customize your notifications, create channels (groups) based on specific topics, departments, projects, and more. Twist also allows you to integrate other third-party digital solutions you might be using, including Asana, Calendly, Zapier, and more, to bring all your workflows in one place.

All in all, Twist aims to eliminate all-the-time communication, so you can leverage your productive hours for deep work.

3. Officevibe to Deal With the Lack of Feedback

Screenshot showing Officevibe's dashboard

Making employees feel valued is a crucial factor in your organization’s success. Engaged employees are more productive, and their overall satisfaction contributes to a positive working environment.

However, a healthy work culture that encourages feedback and creates an environment where everyone feels safe to voice concerns or challenges can be hard to cultivate in remote workplaces. You can change this by using Officevibe.

Officevibe is an easy-to-use engagement software solution that allows you to do pulse check surveys for real-time feedback. This tool does the heavy lifting for you by automating the process of sending weekly surveys and allowing employees to respond anonymously. It then provides detailed reports that give you valuable insights into the well-being of your team, allowing you to act quickly on issues that need attention.

Officevibe empowers you to create a positive remote work culture where employees feel more engaged and empowered to share their issues, helping you achieve better results.

4. Donut to Overcome the Lack of Meaningful Conversations

Screenshot showing Donut app in Slack

Employees who work in the office have a lot of opportunities to have meaningful interactions with their co-workers, but remote workers are deprived of these casual interactions and discussions, which can make them feel excluded and isolated.

The lack of those seemingly-unimportant water cooler chats can hurt your remote company culture and productivity. To mitigate this problem and improve your remote work environment, you can try using Donut.

Donut is a tool that allows your remote workplace to create meaningful connections from your Slack workspace. Add Donut to a Slack channel (group) to automatically pair colleagues for virtual coffees, post icebreakers questions, and introduce new hires to onboarding buddies to foster camaraderie and collaboration.

Donut improves remote team communication by encouraging casual interactions that build trust, so you can have a more inclusive workspace.

5. Tettra to Curtail Over-Communication

Screenshot of Tettra showing integration settings

Another side effect of remote work is over-communication. There are many reasons for this. One of them is that using too many communication and collaboration tools simultaneously can make it harder to keep track of everything. When this happens, your people might resort to sending more messages searching for answers.

This spiral of communication can create organizational chaos when not tackled effectively. You can avoid this by using Tettra to build your company’s internal wiki.

Tettra allows you to create a knowledge base that your team can refer to when they need answers. It includes easy-to-use editing tools so even non-technical employees can create, edit, and monitor company documentation. Tettra also has robust search functionalities that allow you to find the information you need when you need it.

By helping your employees find answers quickly without sending more messages, Tettra eliminates the constant hassle of searching for emails or Slack messages that can otherwise reduce your productivity.

Build a More Productive Remote Workforce by Overcoming These Challenges

Effective communication in remote workplaces is too important to ignore. If you are looking for ways to improve your remote company culture, take advantage of the tools outlined above to overcome common communication roadblocks.

Start using these solutions to build a remote workplace where everyone feels heard and valued. With better communication, you can build stronger and more productive teams.