Home Office and Remote Work How Communication, Collaboration
and Cohesion work
even better

Working from Home - or from any other Location

In a company with a remote-first approach, employees have the opportunity to work from a location of their choice - this can be the home office, but also a café, an airplane or a train. This way of working gives them a lot of flexibility and allows employees to carry out their work in an environment that is most productive for them. The approach can also help to reduce commuting, improve work-life balance and increase the adaptability of companies.

So the whole thing offers some advantages, but what about team collaboration? What can and should you do to strengthen team spirit despite physical distance?

Together and not alone - 10 Tips for Remote Working

1. Communicate!

Communication is essential in a remote-first environment - not only during the course of the working day, but also in the form of regular meetings in which team members update each other. For example, you can schedule a “jour fixe” for your team every week. It is important that these meetings take place regularly in order to create a certain routine and continuity.

You can also include specific agenda items that bring the team members into contact on a personal level, e.g. small talk at the beginning or end of the meeting - or you can use an even more modern solution and use the IceBreakers in Microsoft Teams.

2. Use Clear Software Tools

And how should communication best take place? If all team members work from the home office, all coordination and communication happens virtually. Microsoft Teams can serve as a central location for teamwork - with functions such as chat, chat groups and channels, (video) calls and meetings.

Outlook is also a helpful tool in the remote work context. All meetings are planned and managed in the calendar - and can be easily started via the respective calendar entry. The Integration of Outlook and Teams is once again a great advantage and makes many processes simple and straightforward.

Survival Guide for Working from Home With these
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survive alone in the Wild

3. Set up Creative Teams Channels

Microsoft Teams is not only a great tool for exchanging information on technical topics and processes in everyday work - the Teams channels also provide a basis for interpersonal exchange. You can create separate channels for individual topics so that structure is provided and each topic can be discussed in the appropriate channel.

For example, you can create a “thank you” channel ❤️ in which you can praise individual employees who have achieved something special in front of the whole team. For example, when someone has successfully completed further training.

There is also space in this channel for birthday wishes 🎂 and, as the name suggests, to thank other team members for their support. 🤝

And of course you can also create channels for planning communal lunch breaks or after-work meetings. Or to organize sporting activities ⚽ that are done as a team.

4. Providing a Digital Knowledge Base

When team members work separately from one another, it is all the more important to make all essential information available digitally and in a bundled form. A knowledge base can help here: it serves as a kind of manual for orientation in all possible everyday work situations and can be viewed by all employees on the intranet at any time. Employees also have the opportunity to expand the digital knowledge base and add or edit missing information.

5. Take Virtual Coffee Breaks

Why not integrate a digital coffee break into your daily work routine? It’s very simple - with the help of an app, employees are assigned to each other at regular intervals (e.g. every week) and can spend a virtual coffee break together. The employees then plan the joint break in Outlook, which in turn takes place via Teams.

6. Establish Feedback Rounds

Since spontaneous personal interaction “in between” (e.g. in the kitchenette) is no longer possible in the home office, clear communication and feedback are particularly important to ensure that all employees are on the right track. In addition, continuous feedback increases motivation and promotes lifelong learning. It therefore makes sense to establish regular feedback rounds with employees and managers. Distinguish between individual feedback and team feedback.

7. Write Departmental Newsletters

Department newsletters are an excellent way of regularly updating the entire team - this gives the individual departments the opportunity to inform the team about news, current projects and challenges. The other employees can decide for themselves when to read the newsletter. This also supports asynchronous working.

8. Plan Lunch Breaks together (on site and virtually)

If you don’t work at the same workplace, you can still spend your lunch breaks together both at a local location (if employees work in the same city) - e.g. in a restaurant or snack bar - and virtually. With a virtual lunch break, everyone simply organizes their lunch independently of each other and arranges a team meeting. 😊

9. Organize After-work Sessions

In addition to joint lunch breaks, meetings after work can of course also be organized. Possible options are

• Restaurant visits or cocktail evenings
• Sports activities - e.g. bouldering
• Virtual meetings - e.g. to play games together or arrange to cook or bake together

10. Creating Space for Encounters in the Workplace

Nevertheless, it can make sense to provide a workspace, for example in the form of a company co-working space. Employees can go there if they are unable to work undisturbed at home or they need a change of scenery.

If the workstations are limited, it is also a good idea to manage them using a digital tool.

Productive Collaboration at a Distance - two Basic Requirements

There are two basic prerequisites for implementing all these ideas. Firstly, virtual collaboration and team building can only work if your company is able to handle all processes digitally. This not only requires the appropriate technologies - you often also need to change your internal ways of thinking, your processes and your habits.

Again, this is only possible if you are open to change, new tools and innovative ideas. For companies implementing remote work, this sometimes means a whole series of changes. This is where change management can be helpful.

Prosci® is a proven method that you can use to successfully implement your change process. In particular, it helps you to support your employees on this path (e.g. with the so-called ADKAR® model). We would be happy to advise you if you are interested in Prosci®.

Managing the Balancing Act between Social Needs and Productivity

In a remote company, employees need to think about when, how and why they meet with their colleagues. You can promote this interaction very well with the options mentioned above. It is essential to manage the balance between social needs and productivity in everyday working life. If you ensure the right balance, employee satisfaction will also increase - whether virtually from home or in person.