In our Building Career Confidence series, today Lindsay Boccardo, generational consultant and millennial career coach is talking about three communication skills to focus on when working from home. Here’s more from her:
Without that in-person touch, it truly is harder to build trust. There are specific communication skills that make a big difference in this season:
1. Listening. Take a extra few breaths (and minutes) to listen to our teammates and try to understand where they are coming from. Those few extra minutes show that you are supportive and you care. At the same time, meetings are not the time to dump our emotions all over our colleagues.
2. Self-Advocating. This is where true authenticity lies. Not in dumping all of our unprocessed stress, and not the other extreme of being closed off and cold towards our team. This is a chance to let people know what you need. We used to walk into the room and get a feel for how people were doing. We read body language and interpreted tone a lot more in person. So, don’t be afraid to ask for what you need. It’s also very easy to be out of touch with how much you have on your plate, and how much your colleagues have on theirs. You may find yourself reminding your team when your plate is full.
3. Keep meetings short. We all know what it’s like to wander aimlessly on a zoom call. If you don’t know what’s on the agenda and what’s being asked of you during a meeting, it probably shouldn’t be happening. We need agendas and clear expectations right now to keep our attention.