{"id":4588,"date":"2019-08-22T08:39:34","date_gmt":"2019-08-22T15:39:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/knowyourteam.com\/blog\/?p=4588"},"modified":"2025-01-10T12:51:41","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T20:51:41","slug":"how-to-collaborate-effectively-in-a-remote-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/2019\/08\/22\/how-to-collaborate-effectively-in-a-remote-team\/","title":{"rendered":"How to collaborate effectively in a remote team"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Based on research from almost 400 people and insights from 1,000+ managers, here are the processes and tools to collaborate effectively in a remote team<\/a>.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Collaborate<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow do you collaborate effectively if your team is remote?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dame Stephanie \u201cSteve\u201d Shirley<\/a>, a famed British technology pioneer answered this question at the Business of Software Conference in Cambridge, United Kingdom (where I had the honor to speak alongside her!). She said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cRemote work has less to do with the tools and more to do with effective management practice.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I was floored by Dame Shirley\u2019s statement\u200a\u2014\u200aI knew she was right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dame Shirley ran a remote tech company in the 1960s. Forget Slack. This was six or seven years before email was invented. So, what she\u2019d do to collaborate effectively with her remote team<\/a>? Her staff used the telephone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a CEO of a remote company myself over the past 5 years and working with hundreds of remote CEOs during that time, I\u2019d noticed how it wasn\u2019t necessarily the tools<\/em> themselves that made remote teams effective: It was how<\/em> a team chose to use those tools. The processes<\/em> and systems<\/em> instilled to collaborate in a remote team\u200a\u2014\u200athat\u2019s what contributes to success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on the research we\u2019ve done working with thousands of remote managers, our survey we conducted with almost 356 people about remote work earlier this year, and the experience of hundreds of remote <\/a>managers<\/a> who are a part of our online community here are the best practices to consider to collaborate effectively when your team is remote\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get the timing right.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Time and attention are sacred. As a result, a big part of collaborating effectively in a remote team is figuring out when<\/em> you\u2019ll be communicating with one another. Working hours are more ambiguous when you work remotely. Folks are in different time zones, with different preferences for when they like to be responding to messages and requests. Not to mention, we all need time to actually get work done, and not just participate in answering emails or replying to Slack messages all day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a remote manager, it\u2019s your responsibility to make the timing of communication clear. You\u2019ll want to set expectations to answer the following questions for everyone:<\/p>\n\n\n\n