Teamwork is an essential skill which makes a huge contribution to work efficiency in almost all occupations. However, during a time we have never experienced before, resulting in long term social distancing we are unable to work together at the office where we can communicate physically and opinions are expressed through face-to-face interactions. As a consequence, we all face enormous challenges in communication and interaction with our colleagues while remote working.  

It is not what happens to us, but how we respond to it that matters. Everything always has a solution, so here are five tips to enhance teamwork effectiveness: 

1. Sense of responsibility 

It is generally known that working from home stops us from entering into a one-to-one or round-table discussion among team members about a certain issue. What’s more, we have a common tendency to become passive members when controversial questions arise and need to be tackled together. In this case, it’s always worth actively making a call to ask for help from co-workers. As face-to-face conversations cannot take place, we need to be not only more responsible for tasks but more active in discussion-related assignments as well. We are a piece of the whole and therefore we have to constantly strive for excellence together in order to deal with difficulties. The small success of each member will lead to the tremendous success of the team, as the idiom says “many a little makes a mickle”. 

2. Technical application 

It will be extremely beneficial to become a modern technical user, especially during a pandemic that prevents us from social interactions. Technology helps us to keep in touch with colleagues via email, text, phone or video as well as makes our discussions easier and more accessible than ever. 

3. Mutual help, respect and sympathy 

The company workspace is obviously different from home, where we can be distracted with a wide variety of home-based care such as housework, cooking and babysitting. Unfortunately, this heavily influences our workmates’ wellbeing and health of their body and mind. It is vital to keep in contact with them so that we can understand their situations and offer immediate help if need be. Similarly, if our work is fraught with any problems, they will be quick to offer us assistance. Success will smile on those who are aware of the importance of tight union, so let’s always be kind and reliable colleagues. Remember the saying, “if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”. 

4. Punctuality 

To keep track of the progress of our tasks, we can utilise some free task management tools that enormously help to manage our projects and tasks effectively, such as Trello, Taskworld, ProofHub, TeamWork, etc. These tools have many useful features including setting due dates, tracking time spent on tasks and time logs for each project. Let’s become more proactive in exploiting state-of-the-art technology to help us work better and more efficiently. 

5. Praise and encouragement 

Remote working is always a tough challenge for any team, so it is absolutely indispensable to give colleagues positive encouragement when they face difficulties and to praise them for their outstanding performance. This will be a strong motivation for team members to succeed in work and life.  

It is evident that we have all faced difficulties when working from home during the pandemic. Nevertheless, we can still achieve effective teamwork by combining the above tips. We hope that these tips will help you and your team achieve the most effective teamworking possible.