7 Remote Team Communication Challenges - And How to Overcome Them

There’s no doubt the increased adoption of remote work has introduced countless benefits for businesses and their employees — more flexible work schedules, a healthier work-life balance, and lower operating costs, to name just a few.

But as with any significant shift in the professional landscape, the ‘work-from-anywhere’ mantra that many companies have embraced isn’t without its challenges — with communication often presenting one of the biggest obstacles.

In this post, we’ll look at 7 of the most significant communication challenges faced by remote teams, and offer our advice on navigating these issues successfully.

1.  Unreliable technology

Technology has advanced at breakneck speed in just the past few years — AI content generators are now ubiquitous, for example, and high altitude platform systems (HAPS) promise to revolutionize worldwide connectivity — but even so, no tech is completely fallible, as anyone that’s spent many hours in video calls will surely attest to.

Video conferencing technology is a crucial tool for any remote team, of course, but most of us have likely experienced a less-than-stable connection or an unexpected visual or audio glitch in the middle of an important discussion — which can often make you long for the days where meetings involved you and your colleagues sharing the same physical space.  

The solution? Tech issues are inevitable, but it’s important to ensure you’re investing in reliable platforms — checking user reviews before paying for any software is strongly advised! But it’s also important to ensure all employees are trained on how to use your tech effectively, as issues can often arise from user error due to a lack of platform knowledge.

2. Time zone discrepancies

One of the biggest advantages of the so-called remote work revolution? The ability for companies to forgo the need to hire locally, significantly expanding the talent pool (making global hiring possible) while introducing potential cost savings — there are no relocation costs to consider, for example, and it’s possible to recruit in lower-cost locations.

But of course, this introduces another challenge: navigating differing time zones. Let’s say your company is US-based but you also hire remotely in India; some regions of the United States are at least 13 hours behind their Indian equivalents, meaning it can be difficult to sync up in meetings, collaborate on projects, and maintain seamless communication.

The solution? Embrace asynchronous (or async) communication, which means you don’t communicate back-and-forth in real-time and allow for latency in responses to questions or queries. Project management tools like Trello are essential for distributed remote teams, as they facilitate async communication while ensuring progress on important tasks doesn’t stall. 

3. A lack of nonverbal cues

As mentioned, video conferences have defined the shift to remote work. We’ve all become accustomed to phrases “you’re on mute!” or, “I’m sorry, I don’t know how to turn off this novelty background,” but having important discussions through a monitor adds another possible barrier — the inability to pick up nonverbal cues.

Nonverbal cues are all the things we say without saying them out loud; the feelings we express through our body language alone. In a physical environment, it’s often easier to recognize and interpret these cues, but when these are misinterpreted or misread, unnecessary tensions can arise due to a lack of understanding between colleagues.

The solution? Posture and eye contact are important in virtual meetings, as they can indicate engagement and active listening. Encourage attendees to keep their cameras on if they feel comfortable doing so, and pay attention to your own body language when speaking — actions like fidgeting or crossing your arms can suggest disinterest or combativeness.

4. Potential for miscommunication

Just as virtual meetings introduce challenges when it comes to nonverbal communication, the potential for miscommunication can be greater in remote work environments, too. In fact, almost 9 in 10 remote workers say they struggle with this very issue.

When you’re sharing an office with your coworkers, you can swing by someone’s desk to ask a question or request clarification; but this isn’t quite as simple when working remotely. Slack channels can become clogged and confusing and email chains can grow and grow, for example, meaning messages can easily be misconstrued or lost in translation. 

The solution? Document everything. If you agree to something in a meeting, add it to a set of minutes or a notes document so there’s written confirmation of what was discussed. An AI-powered meeting assistant like Otter can be a great help here, as these apps automatically generate transcripts, recordings, and automated summaries of meetings.

5. A greater number of distractions

Offices and co-working spaces have their own set of potential distractions — chatty colleagues, background noises, cluttered workspaces, and so on — but there are often places you can go when you need more focus and concentration. When your work environment is also your home, however, it’s often harder to escape from disturbances.

When you work remotely, distractions can come in the form of knocks at the door, interruptions from children or family members, or overdue household tasks like washing or emptying the dishwasher — which can take you out of “the zone”, making it harder to focus in meetings and distracting you from important tasks or communications.

The solution? Where possible, create a dedicated workspace in your home where you’re able to shut the door on potential distractions — and encourage other employees to do the same. You can also introduce focus-building techniques such as a Pomodoro timer, where you work in 25-minute bursts and take short breaks between each segment.

6. Difficulty building relationships

Even the most close-knit remote teams would likely admit that it’s harder to build meaningful relationships over a computer screen, especially if your team is scattered across the globe and there’s little possibility of ever meeting in person. 

In offices, there’s more scope for impromptu conversation, water-cooler chat, and after-work socials, which inevitably makes it easier to foster closeness between colleagues. In remote work environments, discussions tend to be more structured and formal, and there’s often a feeling of more distance — physical and emotional — between coworkers, making communication feel stunted and less fluid.

The solution? Even if your team is too scattered to make in-person meetups viable, create avenues for more open, informal communication where you can. For example, perhaps dedicate a Slack channel to off-topic discussions, or organize virtual “coffee mornings” where you park the work chat and encourage people to share more personal updates.

7. A lack of immediacy

We’ve touched on the importance of asynchronous communication in a remote workplace, but while this approach can help keep projects and tasks moving in the face of disconnected work schedules, there are times when something simply needs to be addressed urgently — and remote communication can sometimes get in the way of this.

For example, there may be a cybersecurity issue that only one employee has the expertise to resolve, but it’s the middle of the night where they are and you’re unable to get hold of them. How do you communicate these urgent requests without expecting your employees to be switched-on and “available” 24/7?

The solution? It’s essential to establish clear protocols and escalation policies for critical issues and tasks. Knowledge-sharing should also be encouraged, as this reduces reliance on sole employees who possess specific knowledge of processes and procedures, and means others can step in and provide support when these experts are unavailable.

It’s unlikely remote work is going anywhere anytime soon, so it’s important to anticipate remote communication challenges and ensure you have ways of mitigating these potential issues. By introducing techniques such as asynchronous communication, meeting transcription, and knowledge-sharing, you can help your remote team overcome these challenges.