Managing Communications with a Virtual Workforce
- 1. Managing Communicationswith aVirtual Workforce The move to remote workand virtual employeesiscontinuingtogrow.Businessesinall industriesare allowingstaff memberstohave more flexibilityaboutwhenandwhere theywork.However,thisnew trendisnot withoutitsshare of challenges,especially forthose whoare managingthischanging workforce. ClearCommunication One of the biggestchallengesismaintainingclearcommunicationbetweenstaff members,departments and managers.Nolongercan youcall everyone intoaconference roomfora quickmeetingandexplain everythingone time. Managers mayset upwebconferenceswhere everyone getstogetherovertheircomputersortheymay sendoutemailsorother messagestoprovide importantinformation.If people workfromvariousparts of the country or eveninternationally,the challengeisevengreaterwithdifferenttime zones. To handle thischallenge,managersmustdevelopconsistentproceduresaboutcommunication.He or she shouldknowwhenemployeesare available andhow toschedule meetingsthatworkforthe majority. Whenhiringfromoutside the immediate physical locationof the company,youmustalsoconsider clarityof communication.Someonefromthe Northeastmayhave trouble understandingthe strong Southernaccentfromsomeone inGeorgia.A managerinCaliforniamaymisunderstandwhatan employeeinNorthDakotaistryingto say. Concise Speech If you thinkitis difficulttounderstanddifferentdialectsinperson,imagine how muchharderitisover the phone or the internet.Thatisone reasonyoushouldhave an agendawithwrittendocumentsto supportthe mainpointsof your meeting.Once the meetingisconcluded,youcansendouta follow-up email sothat everyone knowswhatwasdiscussedevenif theyhadtrouble followingalong. While the variousdialectswithinacountrycan cause difficultieswithcommunication,itbecomesan evenbiggerissue forinternationalemployees.If youplantohost a lotof meetingswithyourglobal staff, youmay want to considerhiringaspeechcoachin Los Angelestohelpyoureduce youraccent.You can learnto speakclearlyandwithverylittle trace of an accentso that yourstaff memberswill have an easiertime understandingwhatyousay.Thisreducesthe riskof errorsand miscommunicationand increaseseffectivenesswithinyourcompany. An accentreductioncoachin Los Angelescanteachyouproperenunciationof wordsandhow to avoid slangand regional talk.Evenif youdon’tthinkyouuse informal termsinyourspeech,youmightbe surprisedatthe correctionsan expertwill helpyoumake. Managing a virtual staff requiresthatyoumaintaingoodcommunicationwithall membersregardlessof where theylive. If youhave policiesandproceduresinplace thathelpeveryonestayupto date about theirprojectsandtasks,you will findthatavirtual workforce workswell foryourcompany.Remember that communicationisthe keytosuccesswhenpeople are workingtogether,butitisevenmore essential whentheyare workingseparately.
- 2. Claudette Roche is a <a href="http://www.theaccentcoach.com/">dialect coach in the Los Angeles</a> area. She teaches foreign and American accents to actors and business persons/executives. In 2010 she was named as one of The Top 5 Voice Coaches by Hollywood Weekly Magazine.