Communication Challenges: How to Stay in Touch With Your Team While Working Remotely
| Publication year | 2021 |
| Author | By Somita Basu |
By Somita Basu
Somita Basu is the co-founder of the law firm Norton Basu LLP, an estate planning and probate firm with offices in Santa Clara and Beverly Hills. Somita serves as the Chair-Elect for the Solo and Small Firm Section of the California Lawyers Association and the Co-Chair of the Diversity Outreach Committee of the CLA. Somita gives back to the community through her role as a board member of the non-profit, Justice At Last.
We are all living in a COVID-19 world these days. Our daily lives have been altered in ways both large and small. Through it all, Solo and Small Firm attorneys keep going— acquiring new clients, servicing existing clients, and navigating "Shelter-In-Place" and other local health orders. One of the biggest challenges during this period of remote working is maintaining communication with staff, team members, and office mates. There are a few options available to attorneys looking to engage with their team members and colleagues and we provide you a guideline below to help you choose the platform most suited for your needs.
The one option that everyone with a mobile phone has access to is text messaging. Text messages don't require the downloading of any additional apps onto your phone. Also, many practitioners use their personal mobile phones for work so there is no need to buy additional or new hardware. Most data plans now include unlimited texting. It's a seamless transition to use text as a communication platform while working remotely.
The problem with text messaging lies in its security as well as the ability to search past messages. Text messages (including both text-only messages (SMS) as well as media-based messages such as pictures, audio, and video (MMS)) are not encrypted. After users delete texts, mobile carriers can still retain this information. Text messages can be hacked. Searching text message history is often a frustrating endeavor. As anyone with an iPhone can attest, it was not until very recent upgrades to iOS that any meaningful search of text message history was possible or even remotely productive. Android phone uses often encounter similar problems with text searches. However, searching for text history can still be a frustrating task leading to too many results or results that are not relevant.
When using your mobile phone for texting colleagues, staff, or even clients, you are in danger of mixing your...
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