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Six Proactive Ways Employees Can Foster Communication With Remote Managers

Forbes Human Resources Council

CEO/Co-Founder at Virtual Vocations, one of the leading online job boards focused exclusively on remote jobs

Effective communication is one of the keys to success in a remote work environment, both for management and for their direct reports. But depending on the background of the organization and how long a remote work model has been in place, managers may find themselves struggling to keep up without the daily, face-to-face interaction they’re used to. Adopting a remote work environment that utilizes mainly asynchronous communication for managing team members can be daunting and take time to fully implement.

Employees whose managers may be struggling to adjust to the changes in methods of interaction and feedback that come with a transition to the digital workplace can use these six proactive communication strategies to ensure they receive the information they need so they can continue to perform at their best and complete projects on time.

1. Ask your manager what they want.

Managers who are new to the world of remote work may not know how often they would like their team members to communicate with them. Especially if they are coming from years of working in an office environment and are used to seeing their reports face-to-face on a regular basis, some managers may not have considered what the equivalent levels of interaction would be in a remote environment and could be led to doubt their team members and how much they’re working simply because they are no longer in sight. Asking management directly how often they want to be updated and in what form of communication, whether Slack, email or otherwise, is the first and often easiest thing an employee can do if they feel they are not receiving the feedback they need.

2. Provide daily check-ins.

Utilizing email or your company’s virtual communication platform of choice, take some time each morning to provide your manager with a bulleted list of three to five of your key priorities for the day ahead and any questions you need answers to within the next two business days. At the end of the day, provide another quick update in the same format, including a high-level overview of the day’s work and a reminder of any information or feedback needed to continue moving forward with your latest project.

3. Don’t be afraid to request a video meeting.

If you find your supervisors have a difficult time responding to your daily check-ins, request a video meeting with them and promise to keep it limited to a certain amount of time. Though meetings over video have gotten a bad reputation for causing fatigue among distributed team members, if management is used to providing face-to-face feedback, it may be easier for them to hop on a video call rather than respond to questions in writing. If the practice works well, see if you can set up a time to chat over video on an ongoing basis in the form of short micro-meetings.

4. Share projects as digital document files.

It may seem counterintuitive to regress back to using documents for project management, but if your manager was used to receiving updates on paper at in-person meetings, you may want to consider sharing a digital document with them where you keep a running list of questions they can respond to, as well as an overview of where you are in the process of completing a project. Having all project information listed in one easily accessible document may help streamline the communication process while management is still learning the ins and outs of remote work platforms, including new software and methods of feedback.

5. Offer to be an online communication lead. 

Part of the pain for management when transitioning to asynchronous communication methods is the number of team members they may feel they have to communicate the same information to for various projects and tasks. Until management feels comfortable and establishes a consistent method of group communication online, you may be able to help increase collaboration among team members and eliminate some of the back-and-forth that can occur by offering to be a temporary point of contact for a specific project. Stepping into this role while management is learning how to use a new remote platform can be a great way to not only show your leadership capabilities, but also promote an environment of support in the digital workplace.

6. Be honest about communication-related frustrations.

Most managers will take team members’ concerns seriously when approached about insufficient feedback or if employees feel they are not receiving enough communication on day-to-day tasks or projects. Reach out to your manager with genuine concern and be ready to discuss a proposed solution that will meet your needs. They’ll be grateful you took the initiative and came prepared with a way to solve the problem, even if the end result is different from what you originally had in mind.

Final Thoughts

Old habits are hard to break, as are communication and management styles. With remote work becoming a necessary and often long-term part of our lives and careers, managers will grow and adapt, but it may take some time for them to get used to the many web-based platforms available for communication and project management. Proactive communication on the part of employees can help make the transition more successful and can help to avoid unforeseen issues that may result from a lack of communication with management.


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