Everything You Need to Know About Remote Communication Tools for Business
We’re living in a new era, folks. Today, more projects are being completed via remote collaboration than ever before(1). This is why remote communication tools for business will be crucial to your success in the new decade.
This article serves as a comprehensive guide for the why, what, and how of remote communication tools for business. Since we are a design agency, we will explain these concepts from that perspective. However, learning these tools of the trade will help you in almost all industries.
Importance of Telecommunication
Telecommunication is an extremely important tool for businesses. It’s what enables us to communicate effectively about important project details, and it allows us as an agency to provide you with the absolute best customer service. In 2020, telecommunication will become more important than ever as business continues to become more mobile. Here are some key benefits of having communication early and often.
- Realistic Expectations: Communicating with each other allows us to very clearly lay out what is expected from each party so that everyone is happy.
- Clear Deadlines: Setting up specific deadlines together via telecommunication helps get us all on the same page.
- Good Design: By communicating, we’ll be able to clearly explain how long any particular design might take by letting you in on the craft of making good design, and good design takes time.
- Minimal Shifts in Direction: When we have solid communication upfront, it enables us to get into the nitty-gritty of the project so that we don’t end up changing directions too often after starting.
Telecommunication is also a great way to provide constructive feedback for ongoing projects. It’s important to remember that designers are not mind readers, so specific feedback is essential. For example, “it doesn’t have that wow factor” would not be constructive. However, “Let’s make the background brighter and enlarge the product image” is very useful.
Before we get into communication tools for business, let’s talk about some ways you can support your remote workers.
Communication Support Items
Here are a few great items you can use to support your communication:
- Media Kit: Having a media kit is a powerful asset for any company. A media kit contains high-level information about your business. It lets people know who you are, what you do, your locations, social presence, websites, logos, media, and many other crucial bits of information. Not only is this great to share with your remote collaborators, but this is also an excellent way to show off your media coverage in one place.
- Style Guide: Just as a media kit shows off your publicity and various facets of your identity, a style guide focuses on the style, look, and feel of your brand. This can include logos, fonts, color codes, and much more. A style guide is also a crucial asset for any business as it enables them to communicate their overall brand image in a concise way.
Another great way to ensure that you get the results you desire is to include reference images. For example, if you’re working with us on a design project, we can benefit a lot from seeing what you prefer from others. Some great reference images to include:
- Competitor’s Content: If you have a favorite competitor whose style you would like to emulate, gather those examples in a spreadsheet or folder. This lets us know what you like and empowers us to deliver it.
- Visual Examples: Any visual images you provide that are related to the style you’d like to go with will be useful to us. Visual examples are awesome because there’s less need for typing or messaging. It’s also important to remember that human beings are visual creatures, and this becomes especially true when working with visual projects.
Click here to learn how to choose the best website design company for you.
The Importance of Delivering Proper Copy
When you’re working on a design project, it can be easy to get caught up in the design and forget about the words involved. However, copy, which is written material designed to encourage customers to buy goods or services, is crucial to your overall presentation.
Keep in mind that designers are not writers. You can minimize mistakes by providing the copy upfront. Providing your copy upfront takes out the guesswork and ensures that you’ll get exactly what you want. Here are some tips for effectively delivering copy:
- Use Grammarly to self-proofread: We understand that not everyone can hire a writer. However, if you do write your own material, it’s important to proofread it using a free website like Grammarly.com to achieve accuracy.
- Deliver as a Google or Word Doc: Use this method to deliver your copy as opposed to pasting it in an email or private message. Why? Because having it on an editable document makes it much easier for us to make any necessary changes. Using Google Docs is especially powerful for collaborative projects.
- Format: Within your doc, you’ll be able to point out your specific headers, subheaders, and body copy. This also helps us deliver your ideal final product.
Remote Communication Tools for Businesses
When it comes to remote communication tools for business, there are various options online. In today’s busy world, the best thing you could do is to minimize distractions and make decisions. To simplify things, we’ll tell you about some of our favorite remote communication tools for business.
Revision Portal
The Revision Portal is our own custom communication hub. It enables you (our client) to see our latest progress and leave a comment directly on the design. It’s ideal for design as you can place the comments anywhere on the page, which enables you to mark specific areas that you have comments about.
The project manager and designer working on your project will be notified immediately after you leave a comment. You can’t attach images like you would in a messenger or email, but this is a highly effective way to get your feedback across accurately.
Google Chat
We use Google chat frequently, and the upside of using this messenger is that you can get nearly instant feedback from your project manager and/or designer. However, it’s not possible to pinpoint specific parts of a design like you could in the Revision Portal.
Nonetheless, if you are seeking a quick answer, Google Chat is a great way to reach us immediately.
Communicating via email is still one of the most widely used methods to share complex ideas. The great thing about email is that everything is documented. You also get an opportunity to get across your ideas more clearly and in detail. Of course, you can also attach images, and email is one of the better places to send images since everything is recorded.
These emails will also become tangible action items that aren’t forgotten about.
The downside of email is that it only notifies your project manager, and you can’t comment directly onto a design. Each communication tool has a time and place, so consider your goals, and choose your method of communication accordingly. Email is one of the best remote communication tools for business when it comes to sending data and copy.
Phone Call
Making phone calls is great for communicating emotions or sensitive topics. With phone calls, you get instant feedback, more dialogue, and it’s one of the more humanized remote communication tools for business.
Of course, with a phone call, you can’t attach images, comment on design directly, and your message is only getting across to one person. In this situation, your project manager will have to take notes and listen carefully at the same time. Another issue with phone calls is that sometimes a poor connection can result in miscommunication.
However, it remains one of the best ways to discuss any emotional or sensitive topics.
Screen Share
When you screen share, both parties can see everything concurrently. This makes screen sharing one of the absolute best remote communication tools for business.
On the downside, there’s no documentation, it only notifies your project manager, and it can be difficult to set up.
However, screen sharing is by far the most effective communication method when collaborating on a project that has many layers and details.
Conclusion
With the constant advancements in technology, it’s more important than ever to stay on top of communication. In this case, remote communication tools for business will be crucial to your success in the future. Review the concepts in this article to strengthen your communication knowledge and take your business to the next level.
