Getting remote communication right—How to meet the challenge of distance and keep your team connected. If I asked you to imagine a leader of a remote team, you might think of one with a team in another part of the state, another part of Australia or even another part of the world. What might not immediately come to mind, is a leader whose team is literally in outer space. But for those working at NASA, this is what leading a remote team can mean.
When astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore blasted off toward the International Space Station on June 5 of this year, they expected to be in space for 8 days. Four months later, they’re still in space after their Boeing Starliner suffered some technical difficulties. They aren’t expected to return to earth until around February next year, when they hope to catch a ride back with two other astronauts who plan to bring them back on another ship. So, what started out as a short work trip, looks like it will be 34 times longer than they originally expected. Ouch!
In our training program ‘Crucial Conversations’, we often ask leaders to think about an important conversation they’ve had with someone recently. That conversation might be, for example, a check-in conversation, it could be about feedback, or it could be about clarifying expectations. I’d say for the leader at mission control who conveyed the news to Suni and Butch that their 8-day work trip was going to be extended to 8 months, that would definitely be a crucial conversation.
In Charles Duhigg’s new book ‘Supercommunicators’, he explains that one of the biggest worries that NASA had in setting up the International Space Station was a breakdown in communication. And when we say a breakdown in communication, we’re not talking about technical breakdowns. The agency was scarred by bad memories of an event that had happened decades before, when a crew of astronauts on a flight began arguing with mission control. It started with the crew complaining that they felt rushed to complete tasks, but descended into broader discontent, with the astronauts criticising things like the quality of the food, NASA’s orders to appear on a TV broadcast, and even mission control’s tone of voice.
Since that time, NASA and others have learned a lot about the key factors that underpin effective communication with remote teams.
In today’s blog, we draw from some of those insights and share our top tips for getting remote communication right:
Invest time and effort to build a solid foundation of trust. Trust is the foundation and backbone of any traditional or virtual team. As NASA found in early space missions, a breakdown in trust can have significant negative impacts on a team. Teams with low trust can suffer from conflicts, miscommunication, task delays and poor project completion rates. It can result in individuals focusing on their own interests and agenda, rather than on the group project outcomes (Badrinarayanan, 2024). Research has found that trust is harder to build in a virtual environment. So it’s important as a leader, to invest extra time and effort to build a solid foundation of trust in your team – and keep focused on it – to ensure that trust is maintained over time. Trust building strategies include involving team members in decision making processes, following through on team commitments, providing constructive feedback, paying attention to employee wellbeing, and ensuring fair treatment of team members (Badrinarayanan, 2024)
Build strong connections across the team and encourage regular ‘up’, ‘down’, and ‘sideways’ communication. If you build strong connections right across the team, you’ll help create a solid support structure that goes beyond you. Encouraging connection and communication between your team members can help build collective ownership of team objectives and outcomes. It can also minimise the risk of intra-team conflict and competition. By encouraging team members to communicate with each other actively, you can help build trust, increase cohesion and motivation, and strengthen team performance (Lilian, 2014).Â
Lean into conversations. When you’re leading a remote team, conversations may not happen as naturally or as frequently – so be mindful and intentional about creating quality opportunities to connect with the team.Listen well and pay attention to what your team needs from you in a conversation.Take time to discuss expectations and priorities to make sure you’re on the same page. Consider individual circumstances. Have regular check-in conversations. Provide regular feedback and support their development. According to Forbes, there is a greater risk of messages getting lost in translation with remote employees. To counter that, it can be helpful to dial up paraphrasing (or reflecting back) what you’ve heard and then checking if you got it right. Active listening is a great skill to lean into when you’re communicating remotely.
Think transparency and inclusion. When teams are working remotely, it can be easy for people to feel left out of conversations. This may happen unintentionally. Therefore, as a leader, be mindful of conversations you have where team members or key stakeholders might be missing. Ask yourself ‘Who else needs to be part of this conversation?’ or ‘Who else needs to know this information?’
Choose the ‘best mode’. When you’re leading a remote team, face-to-face communication might not be possible. Or, it might be possible, but only infrequently. If you need to have a crucial conversation with a team member, you’ll need to trade off the benefit of the face-to-face interaction, with other things like cost and timeliness. Whichever mode you choose, be aware of both parties’ work environment and surroundings. If possible, find a private space to have the conversation. If the conversation will be over a video call, think about whether your team member may have others within earshot. It is always worth investing time before a conversation to consider these things.
Remote communication can bring its challenges. But if we take the time to set the foundations right, and stay focused on trust, connection, active listening and transparency, we can help set ourselves up for success. See it as an opportunity to build relationships and leadership development.
As a final aside, if you’d like to take a deeper dive into what great remote communication looks like, look no further than the extraordinary story of the Apollo 13 space flight. The documentary ‘Apollo 13: Survival’ draws on 7000 hours of archival footage to tell the story of this mission, showcasing some incredible lessons around communication, teamwork, and performing under pressure. As a side benefit, it’s also a wonderful opportunity to look back at the fashion, language and behaviours (smoking in the workplace anyone!?) from more than fifty years ago!