5 essential tips for effective communication with digital team

It's no wonder that you have some concerns while outsourcing your project and you are afraid that you will have no idea what your team is doing. It's also not surprising that you get frustrated about their efficiency falling off, or not being able to communicate with the team effectively.

As a remote software house, we know firsthand how important is a communication with every client. As IT people, we have also learned how significant technology is to work with remote teams. The strategies we use reflect our years of experience and testing different ways.

Here you have some tips for effective communication with your digital team.

Tip #1: Instant messenger and chat room

At Merixstudio, we use Slack for communication with clients (and also with each other). The app allows us to create “rooms” for each project, where only a design team is logged. Slack is not just an another simple application – it's a virtual office and a communications hub that simplifies the day-to-day work. In addition, it can be integrated with a lot of apps such as Github or Google Drive.

Tip #2: Video communication tools

Have you ever been in a situation when being in the different rooms you can't explain something visually on your computer screen? So do we! Then the best solutions are presentations, gesticulation, illustrations, etc. Skype is a great way to do this. One quick call clarifies the concerns and dispels the doubts.

Tip #3: Show what you have on your screen

Apart from video tools, there are many apps that enable you to share your screen so that another person can see exactly what you are doing. It can be a perfect option for developers who want to show what they are doing with the code. Skype also has screen sharing capability.

Tip #4: Choose the right way of communication

Choose the best communication style for you depending on you needs.

• Chat programs – they are perfect for quick, instant interactions.
• Phone calls and video chat – some issues and problems are easier (and quicker!) to resolve by using a phone. Video chat will be a step further. Especially if you want to show something during a call.
• Short video – you want to report a bug or some problem in app functioning and you don't know how to do it so everyone understand what you mean. The best solution is to create a short video, which shows what's the problem. There's a camera in every smartphone, so this should not be a problem.
• Traditional e-mail – to be honest, IT world just beginning to get away from e-mail communication and use chat programs. However, some people prefer e-mail and winning every which way.

Tip #5: Collaboration on documents

We've already often had a document that is being edited by many people. Google Drive is a perfect tool for this. If you have a document that just needs to be shared (and not edited), then you can upload your file to a Google Drive or Dropbox.

The web development process will be a piece of cake if you take care about the communication. When done right, working with a remote team is deeply rewarding. Just remember that it have to work on both your and client side (at last it is a bi-directional communication). So don't jump ship! With a common method of persistent communication with your remote team and a little help from technology, we are able to bring a project together successfully. No white flags or S.O.S flares necessary.

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