Communication is difficult. Many factors impact the way we communicate with and understand (or don’t) each other. Even when we are in the same room where we do have all our senses available to help us decipher what the other person is saying or hearing. Once we are not in the same location, country or timezone anymore and we have to rely on our written or spoken communication and video chat, it is even more difficult to communicate successfully. 

In the office, I was able to support my verbal communication with facial expression and body language. Moving my toes, opening my arms, turning towards the person I was talking to or high heels to intimidate executives and mostly male colleagues. Since I’ve worked remotely I had to rely a lot on written and asynchronous communication and can’t use my height or hugs anymore. It’s difficult, to say the least. There are so many that make it hard to communicate when you are not in the same physical location.

Language Barriers

Let’s start with different languages. Remote teams are often spread across different countries, with different native languages and proficiency levels of the company language used. It can take a lot of patience on both sides to get an important point across or understand what one person is expecting from the other. Don’t forget that it takes a lot of courage to speak in a language that you are not yet proficient in. Remember to appreciate that this courage makes it possible for you to understand each other. What do a few grammatical mistakes and a little more time matter? In addition to that, let technology help you. Translation tools have come a long way and can be very helpful as well as team members who can translate or visuals, such as sketches and designs.

Cultural Differences

Cultural differences can cause us to come across as aggressive or cold, while we just want to communicate efficiently. Small talk is a must for some and a waste of time for others. Some expect to be called upon and told what to do, others have no problem speaking their minds even to senior members of the team. Personally, despite the criticism, I’ve found personality tests to be immensely helpful when interacting with colleagues remotely, when used carefully, only to adjust my communication style for each member of the team. Of course, when you have the time, you want to spend time with each member and ask how they do prefer to communicate, have them repeat what you said in their own words and create a glossary of work related terms to avoid misunderstandings.

Different time zones and personal situations

Different time zones and personal situations add challenges as well. While I throw out an enthusiastic “good morning”, my colleague might be reaching the end of a long and stressful day and does not react exactly as I expected them to. And no matter the time of day, we never know what kind of day our colleagues had. Their pet might just have died and we’re sharing cute puppy pictures. We never know the full story behind our colleague’s behavior and why they said what they said and how they said it. It’s helpful to agree on hours of availability, so that we know when to reach a colleague. Clearly define levels of urgency, so that everyone knows when a response is required.

While many remote companies claim that they have flat hierarchies, we must not underestimate how a title impacts our words. If a CEO or VP says “I wish we had this feature”, they need to be aware that someone in the engineering team might get started on that feature right away, regarding it as the highest priority. I’ve also seen someone recently promoted to director,  verbally attacking a more junior product manager, making them fear for their job. With great titles comes great responsibility, we need to be aware of that when we write or speak to others.

Communication Styles & Preferences

Lastly, we all have different communication styles and preferences. Not everyone can look you in the eyes when you’re talking to them. That does not mean, they’re not listening attentively. Some prefer written communication over a call, some like audio or video recordings. Ideally, we find a way to communicate our preferences to others or ask them how they prefer to communicate. Something helpful I have seen are documented communication etiquettes for video conferences and chatting tools. Basic things such as saying “Hi”, “Please” and “Thank you” go a long way and don’t take much time. Last but not least, emojis, images and gifs allow us to bring across something we cannot put into words. 🤗 🤣 😥 ♥️

Here is an example for a gif my team and I used to help sales & executive teams understand the importance of prioritization and focus for development team.