Distributed Team Collaboration: 3 Ways to be Intentional and Productive

With the rise of hybrid work and ever increasing remote work, teams are becoming more and more distributed, especially in remote teams. This could result in less interaction between team members.

Details can get lost in the shuffle of video calls and differing time zones. Being intentional and assuming positive intent in the workplace can help avoid disconnects, build a healthy team culture, and encourages distributed teams to work more cohesively and productively.

Sync Your Schedules

Having teams across the globe or even just across town and make for a scheduling nightmare. With many team members balancing family and work schedules within the same space, it can be difficult to get solid focus time. Be intentional about working together and consider your team members’ schedules. 

This consideration doesn't require many personal details either, though you can share them if you feel comfortable. Something as simple as “I’m most available between 11am and 2pm” or “If you want me at my sharpest, let’s meet in the late afternoon” can be great options. 

Whether your coworker is running kids to the bus stop or simply isn’t so keen on 4pm meetings, setting availability expectations can improve distributed team collaboration.

Syncing your schedule is especially helpful when managing multiple projects, having focused rounds of editing and proofreading, or a creative copywriting session. 

Although you don’t have to physically sync your schedules, make note of the overlapping availability that you and your team members have. As much as is possible, work within these windows of time to ensure everyone involved is fully present and participating. 

Photo caption: Employee looking at work schedule in order to sync time with a coworker to work on editing a technical document.

Determine Preferred Communication Methods

When every team member is in the same office, you don’t have to consider communication methods as much. Though it’s certainly helpful and considerate, you can probably just pop over to your coworkers desk without creating an offense. 

In order to have optimal distributed team collaboration, getting clear communication methods is crucial to productivity and performance. Without determining the preferred method of communication for your team members, you could be unintentionally breaking each other’s focus and missing key information. 

Have a brief and open conversation with your team about how they prefer to communicate. One team member may prefer pings over emails. Another may prefer an in person meeting or video call over a traditional phone call. Whatever the case may be, make note of it and develop cohesive expectations that you all can manage. 

There is a degree of flexibility or compromise needed for certain types of work that require more standardized communication like company updates or internal audit trails. Even so, for these cases you can support distributed team collaboration and optimal productivity by creating communication best practices.

Check For Missing Details

An all too relatable situation is going to get started on your work and realizing you're missing something critical. Although it’s true that you don’t know what you don’t know, aim to be proactive.

A common pitfall is when a team member plans to send an email after a meeting or later in the week, but inevitably gets distracted by competing priorities. Should you realize you don’t have what you need, assume positive intent. Talk to your team member, ideally within their preferred communication method, and mention what you’re missing. Be kind with your request and chances are you’ll receive a response much more quickly. 

It’s even better if you can check before you plan to get started. Instead of blocking out 2 hours in the afternoon and then looking to see if you have everything, try checking earlier in the day.

By being proactive, you can give coworkers time to share any missing details. When you have everything before you get started, you can dive right in without losing focus to ask for more information.

Refine Your Distributed Team Collaboration

Being intentional at work can help your distributed team to work together more productively and cohesively. Intentionality at work can increase mutual trust among team members, which positively impacts morale and productivity.

Ready to try these tips, but not sure how to cultivate optimal distributed team collaboration? The team at Plume, Pen, & Pencil can help!  We use these tips internally with our own teams and that helps us to be even better partners to our clients.

Contact us to see how strategic and intentional communication amongst distributed teams can boost productivity, keep the ideas flowing, and help you achieve your goals.