Recently there has been a lot of talking about virtual teams. Virtual teams continue on as an increasingly essential development in modern business (particularly businesses trying to reach an audience on a global level) to help gather the best ideas for your projects from around the world.
Working
with a team of highly specialized consultants and employees from
offices on the other side of the world can add dynamics and native
perspectives to your project's results that you could not replicate with
on-site staff without the expertise. But virtual team communication
isn't always easy.
Designing and Implementing a High Calibre Virtual Team Communication Plan for Your Business
Bright Hub Project Management notes that
“virtual projects often fail due to the improper communications," so
your focus on improving the way your team interacts is a huge step
toward getting the results that you and your team anticipate.
If
designing a virtual team communication plan is a new concept for you,
we have gathered three essential ideas that might help you get started
in your communications planning, potentially offering a new wave of
high-impact collaboration between your project's team members, no matter
where they are in the world or the office.
1. Assess Your Current Strategy:
If you don't have a strategy yet, an honest appraisal of your current
plan is as good a place to start as any to move forward toward
successful communication planning. Note all of your team's members and
where they are, what is the primary type of communication you use or
plan to use, the communication tools — whether landlines, smartphones,
tablets or laptops — the majority of your team uses and the general
opinion on the effectiveness of the current means of connecting.
2. Design Your Communication Plan With Your Team:
Who can be better to design a high-functioning and streamlined virtual
communication plan than the team you plan to entrust to use it each day?
Use the data from your assessment, as well as regular meetings, to
create a plan perfectly suited to your project and its invaluable team
members. Gather essential information like geographic locations,
telephone numbers, email addresses, local time zones and social media
addresses for each team member, as well as their preferred means of
communication.
3. Choose the Right Tools to Smooth the Communication Process.
With this step, you not only focus on hardware, such as laptops and
smartphones, but you can also explore various software packages and
mobile apps, CBS News shared in a 2010 article. Many of these tools
already offer a variety of features you are trying to figure out how to
implement on your own, such as simplifying multiple party video
conferencing. There are many free video chatting apps like YapApp
available in the market that can help you sort through any
complications you experience with a broad array of useful features that
create and nurture a collaborative, professional and confidential
environment for your team in the office and around the world.
