8 Rules for Respect in Remote Work Communications

Respect is vital both in office based organized work and in virtual environments. No matter how work is organized it should be stressed that respect is always practiced between each team member, and at any level of management throughout the whole organization.

As a manager you must work towards establishing and implementing good rules for respect.

For example, for meetings, you should create rules that give everyone a chance to voice their opinion and limit the speaking time of only one person, unless they are specifically presenting to the group.

For emails and other communications, you should make it clear that personal opinions and gossip stay out of work communications. Whether someone is a peer, an employee or a manager, they should all be addressed with the same level of respect.

For chats, create a sticky or a topic that is named ‘Rules of our chat’. Clearly outline basic rules about respecting each other’s differences and not making any personal attacks.

Some easy examples include: insisting, promoting or approving certain political, religious or other personal views is forbidden.

basic rules that can help ensure that communications stay polite, productive and respectful

1. Encourage everyone to express opinions and ideas, and show curiosity for everyone’s opinion
2. Listen to what others have to say before expressing your viewpoint and thus influencing others opinion
3. Do not judge, demean, or patronize an employee 
4. Be aware of your tone of voice, your demeanor and expression
5. Do not marginalize or exclude any one person in important discussions
6. Do not criticize an employee or a client after your contract has ended with them. Current employees or clients will think the same will be spoken about them if they leave as well.
7. Explain why, when you disagree with someone
8. Provide praise for their abilities and qualities, not only for their achievements

Respect is vital in any work environment in order to ensure the development of stable, strong and productive teams. If everyone on the team respects each other it will ultimately lead to strong teamwork and greater team success. You can read more here about how to improve teamwork between employees working remotely.