9 Tips for Enhancing Communication Skills in a Virtual Work Environment

In this guest post, Dragoş Voicilă from Touchpoint offers tips for improving communication skills in a virtual work environment. He provides strategies for building interpersonal communication skills, building relationships remotely, and overcoming common virtual communication challenges.

Virtual work settings can sometimes pose challenges. In the absence of physical proximity, remote workers can be overcome by feelings of isolation and experience difficulties in maintaining team synergy if everyone doesn’t take a proactive approach. Misinterpretation of messages is another hurdle some remote workers face. It requires clear and consistent communication between the remote worker and the team to maintain productivity and reinforce cohesion. We will show you how to improve your communication skills to create a more collaborative virtual working environment without having to resort to complicated or overpriced strategies.

Understanding the Basics of Virtual Communication

Virtual communication requires clearly defined rules and the right tools to ensure a smooth information exchange.

Setting Communication Standards

65% of remote workers are not looking forward to a potential return to the office. This means that clear communication protocols must be set in place for an effective workspace. What constitutes a communication standard? First, there must be a set of guidelines mutually agreed upon by the organization and the remote worker. Collaboration tools to enhance engagement and productivity must follow.

Utilizing the Right Tools

If you have the liberty of choosing your own tools, consider factors like: 

Team size
The nature of your work
Specific communication needs

Slack, for instance, is great for real-time messaging, team collaboration, and file sharing. To keep things organized, you can create separate channels for different projects or teams to streamline communication and eliminate clutter. Team members can easily go back to specific channels to check information about a particular project, reducing the chances of essential details getting lost in a sea of messages.

Trello is great for visual project management. It’s best suited for design projects but can be implemented for managing content as well. Its interface is user-friendly, and the organization principle relies on different boards split into lists and, ultimately, cards. Team members collaborate via files and comments for each task. Trello also allows for third-party app integration.

Discord focuses on audio communication. Initially, it was mainly used by gaming fans, but in time, it gained popularity in more professional contexts. Discord relies on audio channels and chats. The platform has a server-type structure, with each of the servers hosting a different topic or community. Discord’s interface is highly engaging — the integration of bots and endless customization possibilities make it suitable for both professional and more laid-back communities.

Enhancing Interpersonal Communication Skills

Improving each team member’s interpersonal communication skills will go a long way in amplifying communication skills in a virtual work environment. Here are some ways you can achieve better collaboration in a virtual working environment with minimal effort and zero expense.

1. Develop Active Listening Skills

In virtual meetings where physical interaction is limited, active listening becomes crucial. Whenever possible, try to use phrases such as “I see,” “I understand,” or “That makes sense.” These show your colleagues that you are not just remotely present but actively involved in the conversation. To reinforce your engagement, ask contextual questions for follow-up. Aside from helping your colleagues with clarifying discussion points, it will also show your interest in the discussion topic.

2. Be Mindful of Non-Verbal Cues in Virtual Settings

Non-verbal cues play a crucial role in communication within virtual settings. They help convey emotions and intentions that might be lost without physical presence. The use of gestures, facial expressions, and tone of voice in video calls, for instance, can significantly enhance understanding and engagement.

Eye contact is one of the most underrated parts of virtual communication. Pay attention to how your camera is positioned and don’t switch it off during video calls.
Slouching, however comfortable it may seem, sends the wrong message, as it can disengage your audience.
Your tone will set the pace for the entire discussion. Don’t rush your answers, as this may seem shallow, or that you’re in a rush to get the meeting over with. Emphasize key ideas using a slightly higher tone and pause before and after making an important point.

3. Perfect Your Written Communication

The importance of a catchy email subject line should never be understated. That, combined with a clear introductory paragraph, ensures the success of your message. Start by plainly stating your point and elaborate if necessary. Avoid using jargon or abbreviations and end with a call to action that reiterates your point and reminds the reader what you need them to do next. Important note: When using instant messaging, emojis can add to a positive tone. However, make sure not to overuse them in professional settings.

Building Relationships Remotely

Building relationships from afar can be daunting without the traditional setting provided by face-to-face interactions. Here are some ways to stay connected with team members without becoming intrusive or falling out of touch.

4. Conduct Regular Check-ins

One-on-one meetings are ideal to support your colleagues in their daily tasks. This is how you identify potential areas for improvement. These meetings can also contribute to your career development, as they can teach you how to anticipate potential problems before they arise.

If you manage people remotely, leverage meetings to keep everybody aligned with company values. However, make sure you don’t pester your teammates with too many meetings, as that can impact their productivity.

5. Create an Inclusive Environment

Your colleagues will appreciate it if you are mindful of their diverse working styles and schedules. Respect those who excel in less collaborative settings. Discuss with your company the possibility of compressed workweeks, non-traditional hours, or even part-time options to keep working hours flexible. Strategic training programs on multiple cultures also contribute to team success and inclusivity.

Overcoming Common Virtual Communication Challenges

Here are a few strategies for handling misunderstandings in remote work environments.

6. Improve Your Miscommunication and Conflict-Handling Skills

Take a proactive approach to avoid miscommunication. Connect with your colleagues regularly to see if they need any help. Collaboration tools help in this process — document each change you implement and track team progress using the tool’s real-time editing capabilities.
Study training techniques on how to deal with conflict. Should a conflict arise within your team, escalate it to the department responsible for handling difficult situations. Ensure that you maintain professionalism until a resolution is found.
If you want to go the extra mile, suggest to your company a set of rules and parameters for handling conflicts. State which form of communication people should use and for what purpose. For instance, sensitive situations should be dealt with using video conferencing tools.

7. Master Cross-Cultural Communication

Context is the key to effective communication in a multicultural team. Always make sure to include additional information in your discussions to avoid general assumptions that people from different cultural backgrounds might not understand.

Avoid using common idioms or popular references. Instead, use universal analogies that are easily relatable. Utilize visual aids to make information more accessible and back it up with visual context — sharing your screen during meetings helps colleagues stay focused and on topic.

Adapting Your Communication to the Rigors of Remote Work

Succeeding in virtual work involves a customized take on communication. You need to constantly adapt to the unique dynamics of remote collaboration.

8. Seek Feedback and Self-Improvement

Embrace criticism by encouraging workmates to give you feedback on your performance. Negative feedback is often more valuable than its positive counterpart, so send your colleagues anonymous surveys. To ensure that your communication skills are continuously improving, consider taking online courses and attending webinars. Focus on how to create and deliver meaningful presentations, and on communication that transcends cultural barriers.

9. Stay Updated with Technology

Keep up-to-date with industry trends like the integration of AI and automation, as they have become imperative for workflow optimization. Technology that can help with communication includes language translation tools or screen reading features.

Improved Communication Skills Boost Your Employability

Employers view good communicators as great additions to their workforce, especially in fields like customer service. Tech-savvy individuals who can integrate the latest tools into their daily routine have increased chances of being contacted for an interview. Furthermore, in a world where remote work is becoming increasingly common, the ability to effectively communicate in virtual environments sets you apart in the job market. By mastering both verbal and non-verbal communication skills online, you demonstrate adaptability and proficiency in modern workspaces, qualities highly sought after by forward-thinking employers.

Author Bio

Dragoş Voicilă is the Content Marketing Manager at Touchpoint, a customer service platform. After spending over 7 years in the digital marketing arena, he is particularly adept at leveraging SEO and social media to amplify brand presence and engagement. In his free time, Dragoş enjoys exploring the latest technology trends and is an aspiring drummer.