Due to COVID-19, working remotely was a norm in the year 2020, and it is likely to continue that way in 2021. Many people are required to work remotely because of the pandemic, and some businesses are choosing to move to a remote model as this helps them to cut costs, work with the best global talents, and boost employee flexibility. 

This could bring a great change to the way we work. However, with its many perks, remote work has its challenges; one of the main challenges for remote working is communication. When working remotely, communication is naturally harder. And still, email is being used as the main communication form by many businesses. But, is it the best solution for communicating with remote teams?

No, it’s not. Here is why it is not the best option and how you can move to a better communication model to have a greater connection with remote teams. 

Emails lack interactivity 

It is not impossible to get into a dreadful situation where someone may misread the email you have sent and takes it the wrong way. This can also happen the other way around; you can also misread someone’s email and understand the wrong meaning of it. 

This can result in confusion as well as frustration and, overall, bad communication between a team. Every email you sent could be read by the recipient in a different way. Plus, email isn’t the best format to have a constructive conversation. Emails aren’t interactive, and the message can be misread. 

Email can be useful, but other methods are better 

One of the advantages of email is it asynchronous, which means that people who work at different hours or in different time zones can still work together by leaving each other email for when they pick back up.

Email can be useful to create an asynchronous workflow, but other platforms can be better. For instance, using things such as Dropbox, Google Docs, Asana, Monday, Slack, and many more can help to create a workflow that flows continuously without stopping and starting. 

Confusion in the flow of work

While you are having an open conversation via email with remote teams, and two people in the chain are conversing in email separately. This can cause so much annoyance and confusion. In this regard, email can take people away from platforms that are helpful for teams. 

For example, you are using Google Docs to show work and communicate, and someone there emailing someone privately. This will completely break the workflow. And instead of clear and open communication, it will add coverage to the project. 

Tracking progress with email is hard

Often, email is misused to burden people with task lists without having any idea of their actual progress. In this regard, email can offer the illusion of work being done without giving you any visual mark off that work is being completed.  

For instance, a manager may send 5 emails to the employee asking him to complete the tasks by the end of the day. The employee may not understand the tasks, may not read the email, or may simply not have enough time to complete them over the day. Therefore, the manager is thinking the work is being done without knowing the real idea of the progress of the team. 

A more real-time platform is preferred by employees 

Employees are not very fond of email, which is another compelling reason to reconsider using email. Many of the employees even tend to ignore emails at work, and many feel more job satisfaction if they receive fewer emails. 

Offering another communication and project management method other than email can help to improve remote work and boost the morale of remote teams.