How do teams stay engaged while working remote?

Professional teams have mobilized throughout the world to develop remote, at-home working environments.

Online meetings and video conferences now populate calendars, and while the digital interfaces may erase the richness of some conversations, communications studies professor John Daly explains that simple modifications can close the gap.

“You can make it more rich by how you communicate,” Daly said. “You communicate by the way you do things, the setting you have. Humanize the conversation. Make sure you understand how you set the meeting up.”

Daly’s tips for teams include:

• Create a seating chart
• Create an agenda to keep everyone engaged
• Create social experiences – tell stories

“There’s a tendency to just do the work on these video meetings. Having your dog appear inadvertently warms people up,” Daly said.

And also don’t forget yourself.

“There’s fascinating research actually that people work longer hours and take less time off when they’re working virtually,” Daly said. “It’s harder to separate work from home in some ways. You’ve got to be careful with that.

“We are very reliable. We’re a species that can survive. We’re going to get better over a period of time.”