Types of Team Communication: Providing the Best Tools for Your Remote Team

Consider a common scenario: a team member thought they had mentioned a certain task would take longer to complete than was initially projected. In a simple human error, he forgot to alert all of the connected members on the team and the project was thrown into disarray, causing hours of wasted time, not to mention an unexpected budget increase. Could this situation have been prevented by utilizing more collaborative types of team communication?

Poor communication costs small businesses of 100 or fewer team members $420,000 a year. And it costs companies with over 100,000 employees more than $62 million annually. That’s why it’s crucial that deficiencies in communication be mitigated and properly tackled with the right communication tools.

While there are several types of team communication methods available, it’s often difficult to manage multiple communication preferences, especially when you have remote workers. Phone calls and emails only go so far when trying to collaborate on an extensive project. That’s why a project management system with a single, integrated chat hub provides a meaningful space for real-time and off-peak team support.

Complete productivity solutions ensure streamlined projects, less stress, and fewer frustrations in communicating with your teams. Avoiding common pitfalls comes easily when you’re able to enjoy various team-development tools all within one solution.

Types of Team Communication

A platform that integrates all of the best tools for different types of team communications reduces information silos, especially for remote project members. Team members are able to collaborate in real-time and even during flex times or from different time zones.

From task updates to chat messaging and calendar integration, the best tools offer all of the following communication options from one single dashboard:

• Real-time task updates: Centralized task creation system enabling to-do lists, reminders, and status notifications.
• Off-peak project communication: Virtual team communication any time of day no matter what time zone team members are in.
• In-task discussions: Easy task management with built-in conversations, project notes, and attachments (with integrations like Dropbox, Google Drive, and Box).
• Direct chat: Individual, one-on-one direct messaging for private or urgent conversations.
• Team and project chat channels: Internal group and project-based chat messaging to ensure tasks are thoroughly covered.
• Individual status updates for “active, focused, or away” : Setting your activity status to “active, focused or away” with the addition of a detailed written update is especially helpful for keeping remote teams connected.
• Calendar updates: Calendar integration is key for viewing project team members’ calendars and determining workload balance.
• Sharing resources: Team members access a cloud-based platform with the ability to share resources.

Benefits of Integrated Communication Tools

When you evaluate the various types of team communication tools, it’s helpful to realize the many benefits of a feature-rich platform that integrates all of the primary real-time collaboration needs into one platform.

Trying to juggle multiple tools that do not sync can cause a great deal of stress for remote project managers and team members. Putting into use an effective centralized hub that supports your team’s lifestyle and communication habits will streamline workflows and improve engagement.

• Having tools and resources in one place saves time. Project managers and team members will spend less time looking for various communication tools when all resources are neatly organized. A single project management system keeps all resources organized securely in the cloud.
• A dedicated home for managing workloads for remote and semi-remote teams ensures all tasks, calendars, notes, and documents are easily located. 
• Assignments are clear for teams so that miscommunication and disruptions are less likely to occur. 
• Due dates, reminders, and updates are effectively communicated via a single, streamlined approach to keep projects on time, help with prioritization, and ensure team members are equipped to manage their responsibilities. 

A major benefit of integrated collaboration is ease of remote project member use. Team communication tools are only truly collaborative if they can be accessed from any location at any time.

Effective Remote Team Communication

Using a project management software offers significant benefits for cohesive team communication and increased productivity. With engaging tools built for keeping remote teams connected, you’ll be hitting project milestones and celebrating your achievements more often. 

Effective types of team communication, along with the right tools, save time and increase both individual and team performance. The enhanced feature-rich functionality of a virtual task management system enables the ability to prioritize and accomplish project wins on time, every time. 

Flow offers a team communication solution to help remote team members stay connected. Sign up for a free trial today!