Navigating Tough Conversations: 3 Ways to Help you Effectively Communicate During a Pandemic
After signing that sweet offer letter weeks or months ago, the day has finally come to start your next new job. You’re excited to walk into the new office, find your desk, and meet your team, but wait — we’re currently in a pandemic and that’s not happening. It’s happening over Zoom.
When I started working this past year, I was not sure what to expect from beginning my job remotely. I really wondered if I would be able to have the type of relations with coworkers that I had when working in previous positions. I knew that I wanted to build lasting relations with my new cohort and team, but was that really possible through just a webcam?
And if you want the quick answer — it’s yes, you most certainly can.
In this blog post I hope to provide you with three different tips that I often suggest to new onboarding employees as they look to begin their next step of their career journey.
Be the Driver
You need to be taking the driver seat when it comes to effectively communicating. Oftentimes, teams will do their best to introduce themselves to you, but not always. I quickly try to figure out who does what on my team as well as who I can go to for help or guidance. Especially when you are new, you should really strive to introduce yourself to as many people as you can and start creating meaningful relations.
Demonstrate initiative by sending out invites for calls or by simply starting a dialogue over Slack. Remember, however, to be mindful of their time and check their calendars before sending out call invites. If you find that it is a relationship you would want to maintain or further develop, don’t hesitate to suggest reoccurring chats. It does not have to be a weekly or monthly chat, per se, but it’s important to touch base with someone every now and then so that the relationship can continue to develop rather than coming to a sudden close after an introduction.
The Slack group I’m in uses the Donut App to help connect teammates within Slack. The app sometimes pairs me with random coworkers from various global office locations, and I’ve found that it never hurts to meet with someone to simply learn more about them and their time at the company. Just because someone isn’t on your team doesn’t mean you can’t learn something new about them or even yourself.
Not only is being the driver helpful for getting to know people, but it makes it easier for you to feel confident asking for help or setting up future meetings. By knowing your team as well as growing those relationships, those around you will begin to feel less like strangers and more like teammates.
Use the Right Tools
As desirable as speaking face-to-face may be, the pandemic has limited us to digital means of communication.
Slack, Zoom, Skype, Teams, email . . . the list goes on and on. There are countless mediums for communicating with your team. When is it a good time to send a message? When should you email instead of messaging? When it comes to selecting the right tools, I think the answer is straightforward.
Emails should be used for something that may need a bit more formality whereas instant messages are more informal. Use emails to set up meetings/calls or for anything you believe may require a paper trail for future tracking. Use instant messaging more like how you would converse in-person, such as questions, reminders, or water-cooler chat. The most important consideration for instant messaging, however, is to get quick responses. Emails may only be checked a few times throughout the workday.
When it comes to calls, whether they be through the phone or online, be mindful of others’ schedules. When setting calls up, leave adequate time for questions as well as making sure that the time slot is at an appropriate time. Use a video option if appropriate — this may vary from team to team, but I encourage it as much as you can (especially in a smaller call) to familiarize yourself with your colleagues. If you know a call covers an important subject matter that you may need to revisit or share with other team members, consider asking for permission to record the call in order to share within your team as a resource.
Although there are countless other tools of communication, the core of it during the pandemic revolves around instant messages, emails, and calls. Knowing the differences as well as the various use cases will help you effectively communicate with your team.
Communicate with Intention
When talking to anyone — know the intended message you are trying to get across. Especially during the pandemic, we find ourselves wanting to know what is needed in a quick and easy format.
Because communicating can be tedious when it is virtual, our goal should be to limit any unnecessary back and forth communication. Nobody wants to be spammed messages or calls.
In order to be prepared and communicate with intention, you have to be mindful of the conversation’s purpose. Always come prepared with an agenda of topics to be addressed as well as potential questions. During the conversation, make sure to jot down crucial notes so that you don’t have to ask someone to repeat themselves a day or two later. If you come in knowing the goal of the meeting and achieve that goal, you’ve come out of the meeting successfully.
As opposed to walking to someone’s desk or tapping someone on their shoulder for help, hopping on a call is a slightly different experience. Everyone’s time is valuable and must be respected. If you come prepared with the right sense of purpose, you’ll notice an increase in the productivity of your call. Not only will the flow of your communication be better, but it shows a level of preparedness and responsibility.
Final Thoughts
By going through these three tips, I hope you’ve gained something new that you can implement into your daily work routine. Communication isn’t something that comes naturally to everyone and being in a pandemic doesn’t make that any easier. It is easy to find yourself following and completing tasks without ever pausing to simply communicate with members on your team. Be mindful, and remember to establish these relationships within your team and company.
