If the COVID-19 pandemic proved anything in the business world, it’s that remote teams are just as productive as in-person teams. That being said, it’s a little harder to stay connected with your employees when they’re spread across a city—or the world. Enter business text messaging.
Business SMS is a convenient way to connect with your team for timely tasks and information. All of your employees have access to a native SMS app, and there’s a good chance they carry their phones with them all the time. That means they’re likely to open your messages. In fact, texting has an open rate of 98%.
Read on to learn three top ways to keep your remote team connected with business text messaging.
Use Business Texting to Send Administrative Reminders
In the office, it’s easy to walk over to a team member’s desk and ask them to sign a release form. You can remind them about signing up for their healthcare plan or choosing a dental provider. It’s a little harder to get your team’s attention when they’re remote.
Your team members may tend to ignore emails while they’re focusing on complex projects during the business day. If they’re often on their feet for a field job or because they like to take their calls outside, they might not be checking your internal messaging tool, like Slack. But they’ll nearly always have their phones on them.
Use business text messaging to send timely administrative reminders to your team. These can include:
- Operations updates (e.g., “Please review your email for our new COVID-19 procedures!”)
- Holiday reminders (e.g., “Don’t forget we have Monday off for Presidents Day!”)
- Paperwork requests (e.g., “Hi Shelly! Don’t forget we need your contract signed by Monday.”)
- Payroll requests (e.g., “Hello, Joe. Please fill out your hourly wage log by 2/15.”)
With business SMS, you can remind your team about important administrative tasks as quickly and efficiently as if you were popping down the hall for a quick chat.
Support Training Modules with Business Text Messaging
Training is vital to team success. It’s relatively easy to transform in-person training into video calls or recordings. However, there’s a lot more to training than the initial modules. Teams benefit from additional training support, too. Managers may stop by a team member’s desk to offer quick training tips or answer quick training-related questions.
But it doesn’t make sense to call employees for one-minute conversations. And emails, as we’ve mentioned before, are often left unread or not read quickly enough. You team members will read texts right away. They can apply critical information to their work as soon as you send it.
Use business text messaging to provide training support. You can:
- Offer follow-up training tips
- Provide training videos
- Send training reminders (e.g., drip reminders for yearly certification training)
- Answer quick questions
Business SMS empowers your team to offer comprehensive training support. It will help your team get the most they can out of remote training.
Provide Motivation via Text
In the office, you probably had small motivational events. These may have included donut breakfasts, team outings, or just extended coffee breaks. Your team may have gathered to commiserate, tell jokes, and bond. You probably stopped by desks to check in on your team members, too.
Now that your team is working from home, there are fewer opportunities for regular bonding. Calling team members can be disruptive, and, as we’ve mentioned, emails just aren’t read quickly enough.
With business text messaging, you can provide the motivation your team needs. You can:
- Send motivational messages from team leaders
- Share good feedback
- Offer fun GIFs or emojis
- Check in on team mental health
Business SMS lets you send motivational content that team members will actually read. Regular, small words of encouragement are a great way to keep your team motivated while they’re far apart.
Want to learn more about business text messaging while remote? Chat with our team.
