These tips will help ensure that your remote collaboration efforts with your co-workers are successful.

1. Remote Collaboration Tips
These tips will help ensure that your remote collaboration
efforts with your co-workers are successful
Make yourself available.
You can’t collaborate if no one can get in touch with you. Don’t
isolate yourself by shutting off your chat app or only checking
email twice a day.
Take advantage of technology.
Modern communication technology is what makes remote
collaboration possible. Use it to the best of its abilities.
Document-sharing tools and tools such as GoToMeeting or
Skype can be scaled to suit your team’s exact needs and best
serve your goals.
Make sure everyone’s on the same platform.
Collaboration can instantly grind to a halt if there are
technical problems. A primary source of problems is co-
workers attempting to work together across disparate
platforms. Confirming that everyone is working with the same
apps and compatible hardware will make it much easier for
information to flow between workstations.
Respect time zone differences.
Remote collaboration makes it possible for teammates to
work together from different parts of the world. But just
because it’s regular business hours where you are doesn’t
mean the rest of your team is available. Respect your
teammates’ home lives by limiting your interactions to
appropriate, agreed-upon timeframes.
Don’t do everything through email.
Email is a convenient tool for remote collaboration, but
it shouldn’t be the only one your team uses. Emails are
notoriously lacking in the subtle human interactions that help
build successful teams. What’s more, email leaves too much
open to interpretation that can lead to miscommunication.
Include as much live collaboration as possible — including
videoconferencing or even simple chat apps.
Be free,but not too free.
Working remotely gives you a lot of luxury regarding when
and where you work. Be careful though that your work setup
doesn’t interfere with your ability to collaborate. Working
from a noisy coffee shop or at home with your kids constantly
intruding could make your collaborators believe they don’t
have your full attention.
Make time for face-to-face.
Even if you and your teammates function perfectly across the
Internet, it’s always a good idea to make time for face-to-face
confabs every so often. Spending time with your teammates in
the real world — whether for a meeting or just to hang out —
helps strengthen bonds and enhance relationships.
Always be communicating.
The most imperative element of any working relationship is
communication. Don’t assume that no news is good news when
it comes to your teammates. Be available for periodic questions,
and make sure the team schedules regular communication to go
over progress and to get work done collaboratively.
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