The document emphasizes the importance of effective team communication for project success, particularly in remote settings, highlighting that poor communication can lead to significant productivity losses. It discusses common communication barriers and suggests strategies like utilizing multiple communication tools, incorporating humor, and maintaining timely updates to foster better collaboration. Finally, it encourages organizations to adopt project management software that enhances communication and collaboration among team members.

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Team communication is the foundation of any project’s success. This especially becomes
challenging even for remote teams. Poorly planned projects can create conflicts between team
members. Delayed feedback eventually leads to missed deadlines.
Ineffective communication can hamper the growth of a project.
Irrespective of a small or large team, it becomes extremely essential to strike effective
communication, collaboration, and support among team members by organizations.
Why is Team Communication Important?
Did you know?
Communication barriers cost $62.4 million per year in lost productivity to an average
organization!
This means that ineffective communication is a top concern for major top businesses.
Some signs and results of bad communication include:

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Poor acknowledgment
Lack of trust
Duplication of work
Inefficient delivery
Delayed deadlines
Poor alignment on priorities
The above signs indicate one aspect—the need for fostering interpersonal relationships.
Failed projects determine the need for Effective Team communication strategies.
Communication plays a vital role because it facilitates information-sharing.
We need to keep a check on Communication barriers to correct them.
How do you analyze Team communication barriers?
Answer the following questions—
- Are you a bad listener?

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Communication revolves around speaking and listening. Interpreting the right information to
act upon it is a sign of successful communication.
When there’s a team, communication turns into chaos quite often.
Careful listening matters a lot in providing value and exceeding targets as a team.
- Are you over-emotional over a logical mindset?
Emotional conversations are ineffective as they lead to undesired outcomes. Communicating
logically can help you with practical solutions.
They help you streamline the processes of a project phase and correct any disorganizations.
Emotional decision-making can lead to regrets. It’s better to be mindful of our thoughts while
taking decisions.
- Do you convey your thoughts clearly?
What leads to a dead-end is when you don’t convey your thoughts clearly. When you’re
working remotely, confusion is bound to happen. That is when conveying thoughts clearly lead
to a positive change.
Holding back valuable thoughts and ideas can only cause hurdles in a project!
Best Strategies for Effective Communication
76% of employers consider effective communication to be mandatory. The progress reviews of
19% of employees are done through communication evaluation parameters.
With this in mind, it is obvious that seamless communication strengthens the bond among team
members.
Communication problems can be resolved by implementing team communication strategies
remotely.
1. Multiple Modes of Communication

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Source: leverageedu.com
Remote work is the way to go post covid-19 crisis and SaaS products have come up with viable
solutions to issues of communication and collaboration.
What we really miss out here is that a single communication channel isn’t enough for
collaborating as a team and communicating.
91% of remote employees plan to work remotely across their whole career span. The only way
to ensure success is to enhance their communication skills across all platforms possible.
The Solution?
A lot of companies are making use of multiples tools and mechanisms to avoid missing out on
communication.
Communication and collaboration tools like Zoom, Slack can be integrated with your Project
Management software to access everything in one place.
2. Add Humour to your Conversation

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Source: cgwa.com
The element of humor leads to great rapport-building among team members. A lot of IT sectors
and B2B companies get immersed with formal ways of communication.
Breaking the barriers of admittedly dry conversations leads to boredom and disinterest in
projects. This can lead to a project delay from a long-term perspective.
The Solution?
Break the ice by starting something funny to talk about.
Catch your team member’s off-guard by replying to their posts with hilarious comments.
Build healthy rapport even when it comes to hierarchies and cultural divides.
Ask questions that trigger their creative side with thought-provoking questions, like the most
embarrassing moments, etc.
3. Timekeeping

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Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/clear-glass-with-red-sand-grainer-39396/
When working with remote employees and Freelancers, timekeeping cannot be missed out on.
Timely work delivery becomes a challenge. Team communication becomes effective when
everything is communicated on time.
When things aren’t communicated on time, the billing, invoicing, and payroll system take a toll.
Also, the return of investment is calculated according to the time taken to complete a project.
The Solution?
Using an automated time tracking software can ease all the above challenges.
This software comes with Time Management related features that enable Project Managers
towards a better great accountability system.
Remote working doesn’t always revolve around tracking timesheets. It also means tracking
progress, productivity, performance, and much more. All of these factors are dependent on
time.
4. Multi-Lingual Communication

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Source: https://www.pexels.com/search/Multi%20Lingual%20team%20Communication/
Issues like linguistic and cultural barriers have created misconceptions between team members.
Team leaders and Project Managers often fall prey to linguistic barriers and
misunderstandings. This leads to confusion and delay in project priorities.
The Solution?
Make communication transparent by integrating translation apps for non-native speakers.
Let your gestures speak at times. Companies these days, resort to apps that integrate
automatic translations.
After all, seamless communication is the way to go!
5. Feedback & Communication Sessions

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Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/wood-industry-architecture-luxury-6732757/
Lack of clear communication and feedback can take a toll on projects. During communication
sessions, a unidirectional exchange of information can lead to drastic outcomes.
The Solution?
Feedbacks help in asking relevant questions towards the end of a presentation. Many projects
are left halfway because of unclear communication and no response to feedbacks.
Never forget to ask your doubts, thoughts, suggestions, or any anticipatory foresight that can
negatively impact a project.
6. Important Points of a Discussion

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Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/people-having-business-meeting-together-3183183/
Don’t get lost in confusion or cross discussions. This usually happens when Project Managers or
Team leads take a briefing or stand-up meetings. Effective team communication gets hampered
with disagreements that lead to literal debates.
The Solution?
After a meeting gets over, it’s vital to mail the “Minutes of the meeting” to all the team
members. This helps in clarifying and reiterating what was discussed.
Retaining every bit of information during a meeting is important. This is why a Project Manager
takes note of every single piece of data that has been verbally exchanged.
Stand-up meetings/kick-off meetings are great practices to retain information and draw
conclusions to further actions.
How are you with Team Communication?

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Break those communication barriers!
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