Posts tagged “communication skills”

Communicating with teams in a virtual environment is an important skill for any leader. Virtual communication in emails or through online meetings is different than communicating in person, but there are also many similarities.

With just a few simple strategies, leaders can improve their virtual communication. One of the first steps is to carefully consider the option in presenting the information. Virtual meetings are ideal for delivering information to individuals or the team in a more interactive format through a video platform. Emails are effective at providing specific information or setting tasks that are well-understood by those receiving the email.

Effective Emails

The skills needed for improving email communication should focus on creating precise language and a clear message. Often, emails contain different information that can be confusing or difficult to understand. Emails can also become more “chatty” and less focused on the message, creating confusion about the importance of the information.

To become more effective at emails, consider the following:

• Brief and clear – keep emails short and to the point. Do not add information that is unnecessary. A good rule is to write one email per subject, not combining multiple subjects in the same email.
• Is it necessary? – it is frustrating for a team to receive emails that are redundant or unnecessary. Too many emails result in people not opening emails in a timely manner, which can adversely impact the team or project.
• Use a relevant subject line – the subject line should be the focus on the email to alert the recipient as to the context and content in the email.
• Individual or group email – not everyone on the team needs to see all emails. Keep emails to the relevant individuals to reduce confusion and frustration for recipients who do not need the information.
• Proofread – always take the time to proofread an email before hitting the send button. Also, be sure to avoid hitting reply all unless the goal is to send the response to everyone.

Better Virtual Communication

To improve communication during virtual meetings, the following tips can help you to model the best practices:

• Set up your system – have the camera, lighting, and sound tested before getting on the meeting. The camera should be positioned so you are looking straight into the lens, which means the participants see you looking straight out at them, not up, down, or to the side.
• Have a clear focus and message – it is easy to get into the habit of calling virtual team meetings even if all members are not required for the meeting. Consider options to meet with key individuals or perhaps to communicate by email, direct phone call, or through messages in project management software or other similar collaborative software systems.
• Send an agenda and time schedule – people are more engaged and willing to participate if they have a clear understanding of the time commitment and the meeting agenda. Honor the time indicated and consider a follow-up call with key individuals if there are areas where further discussion is relevant.
• Plan to engage the participants – asking for feedback, insights, and ideas or having each individual report to the group helps to increase communication and collaboration between the team. It also clarifies the purpose of the meeting for each individual.
• Become comfortable with silence – online platforms create a sense of distance, which makes it difficult for everyone on the call to know who is going to speak next. Be comfortable with silence between asking questions and getting answers or between speakers. Avoid jumping in to add more information and give people time to respond.

Checking for understanding is also critical when providing information in virtual meetings. Keeping these communications short and concise and providing necessary information before the meeting also helps to increase understanding and participation.

Once upon a time, leaders at any level were expected to have the solutions, know the answers, and be able to weather all issues with steely grit and fortitude. Today, leadership roles are less focused on this stereotypical attitude and more about creating deep, lasting relationships in teams and throughout workplaces.

Becoming vulnerable in personal and professional relationships starts with having conversations from the heart. This is not always easy and is a shift that is not always comfortable. Generally, people have a fear of being vulnerable as it poses the risk of being hurt. However, if you are not able to connect with people on your team or in your personal life on a deep emotional level, you will have challenges in building relationships.

Get in Touch with your Emotions

The first step to being able to be vulnerable is to recognize and acknowledge the emotions you experience. Many people are brought up in households that encourage the expression of positive emotions (happiness, joy, excitement, satisfaction) but discourage the display of other types of emotions (anger, frustration, embarrassment, anxiety, worry, fear, etc.).

Recognizing your own emotions and being able to express them in a way that is true to what you are feeling but that does not overwhelm those around you is critical. This is also part of being vulnerable, as you recognize that others may not have the same reaction as you do.

Taking the First Steps

Becoming vulnerable is something you can do over time and at your own comfort level. To get started in opening up to others, here are a few exercises you can try in your personal conversations and relationships as well as at work:

• Share something about yourself – most people hold a lot of information about themselves back and keep it hidden. Talking about a time you made a mistake or failed makes you more vulnerable, but it also gives people around the space to talk more openly about their mistakes or failures.
• Express an opinion – sharing an opinion you hold that is not the same as the rest of the team is a way to demonstrate vulnerability. Sharing a different point of view with respect to the views of others allows for greater discussion and possible solutions.
• Doing something outside your comfort zone – taking on a role or a task that is not in your area of expertise creates a sense of vulnerability. It also allows you to learn from others and share a more meaningful learning experience throughout the company.

Sharing more and being open about your thoughts, emotions, and ideas creates vulnerability. It also develops personal and professional relationships that are based on mutual understanding and respect, which is an essential part of great relationships.

One of the challenges of being in a leadership role is having to share information that is not positive, or that may be seen as threatening or critical. These difficult conversations are often made more difficult as leaders sit and worry about the possible reaction or response by the individual or individuals.

This “what if” or worst-case scenario message becomes the focus of your thoughts, resulting in a self-fulfilling prophecy. You are already hypersensitive to the emotional level or the response you have built up as the only possible outcome.

While it is not possible to eliminate difficult conversations, it is possible to reframe them and create an environment where people are less reactive and more open to engaging in conversations. It is also essential to prepare yourself for these conversations to effectively manage any emotions and avoid reacting and escalating the situation.

Setting the Stage

Setting the stage or setting the context for the conversation is essential. Think of this like setting an agenda for a meeting. People who understand what the conversation is to be about are less likely to feel blindsided or ambushed if they are just suddenly called into an office for a talk.

Setting the context also means considering how to approach the conversation. For example, letting a team member know you need to talk about not meeting productivity or performance goals is very different from asking to talk about how you can help the individual reach their goals.

Clear Message and Information

Another common issue in difficult conversations is not having a clear message and key points thought out in advance. When the speaker seems to be unclear, hesitant, or uncertain about the message, it is more likely to create uncertainty for the listener. When the message is difficult to hear in the first place, this additional uncertainty will only serve to make things worse.

Approaching these conversations as a mutual problem to solve together can be very helpful in reducing resistance and reaction. By putting the individual in the problem-solver role, it allows you to get more information, to have insights into their needs, and to look for areas of common ground.

It is impossible to avoid all negative or difficult conversations in our personal or professional lives. However, we can consider how we approach these conversations to provide opportunities to obtain more information, clarify issues, and work together to find solutions.

There are many different levels of communication that go beyond the meaning of the specific words selected in any conversation or to deliver the message. In a world where messaging is reduced to analytics, striving to become a more authentic communicator may seem to go against the grain.  

Authentic communication is a way to express your ideas, thoughts, and message in a way that is true to yourself but also respects the intended audience. Authentic communication includes expressing opinions or information that may be difficult in a way that opens up the possibility of creating a solution rather than shutting down the conversation. It is not about using the latest buzzwords or jargon. Rather, it is learning to communicate in a way that respects the speaker and the listener.

There are characteristics or areas of focus any speaker can use to build authentic communication. These are strategies or techniques that can be practiced and improved upon with time and effort.

A Two-Way Process

To get started communicating more authentically, it is vital to see the process as a two-way interaction. Simply giving information and not listening for questions, feedback, or lack of clarity is not communication. It is a monologue at best.

Authentic communicators are interested in what the other person or people have to say. They ask questions and listen to answers, stay open, and they do not become dismissive or defensive. They spark conversation rather than shutting it down.

Speak from the Heart

Being authentic in communication means recognizing the human side of any discussion. It focuses on honest communication, which may mean saying, “I don’t know” or “I will need to check on that,” and then following through.

Being authentic in communication also means recognizing the challenge the other person may be experiencing and empathizing with the situation. This is not just recognizing they have a different point of view but attempting to understand more about that point of view. This helps the communication to come from a place of empathy and not judgment or sympathy.

Walk the Talk

Authentic communication is also about walking the talk or doing what you talk about doing. This is an outward expression of your values, integrity, and commitment to honest, open, and transparent communication. When people match what they say with what they do, and that message is direct and from the heart, it is authentic communication.

Body language is one of our most important forms of communication. Most people are more attuned to the body language of others than they realize. The way we move and the expressions we make send subtle clues to others. We don’t realize the message we’re sending, and the recipient may not consciously recognize the message either, yet they may form opinions and determine whether or not they like and trust you based on those subtle and unconscious clues.  

For this reason, it is important to monitor our body language to ensure that we are sending positive messages with our bodies. Simple techniques like always looking people in the eye and standing in an open rather than closed position are simple ways to ensure people feel comfortable with you and inherently trust you.  

It is critical that what we say with our bodies is in congruence with the words we speak. For example, telling someone, we are happy to see them while looking down at the floor is pretty unconvincing. While most of our body language clues are not so overt, they do send clues nonetheless.  

If you want people to feel comfortable with you, these simple body language tips can help you exude confidence and trustworthiness.  

1. Smile. Practice smiling until it becomes natural for you to smile at everyone. Often we don’t even realize that we look glum, but other people definitely notice.
2. Use good posture. Whether you’re sitting or standing, keep your back straight and your head up.
3. Use open body positions. Avoid sitting or standing with your arms crossed in front of you. Keep your torso open to those who face you.
4. Be engaging. Look people in the eye, smile and nod when you’re having a conversation. Mirror the gestures of the other person. Mirroring sends a powerful message that you are interested in what is being said to you.
5. Don’t fidget. Fidgeting sends a signal to the other person that you are bored or anxious. Often the subtle clue that others will receive is that you are bored with them. If you have a habit of tapping your fingers or some other repetitive movement, work on ridding yourself of it, or at least learning how to stop it when you are talking with others.
   

These simple tricks, along with paying more attention to how you approach people nonverbally can help you feel more comfortable with other people, and ensure they feel comfortable with you. In business, this skill is one that will help you engage with employees, colleagues, and customers.

Nearly all professionals lead really busy lives, managing multiple priorities at home and at work. It’s easy to let yourself get spread too thin, if you don’t master the art of saying no.

There are many reasons we say yes to things that we don’t really have time to do. Sometimes, we say yes because we don’t have a good grasp on how our time is spent, so we don’t really know that we are over committing. However, sometimes we say yes to things we don’t really have time for because we simply have trouble saying no, out of guilt or fear of letting someone down.

However, when we over commit ourselves, we often fail to do a really good job at any of the tasks we attempt. It is important to remember that it is better to do a few things really well than to do many things but do these poorly.

To help you determine which things you should say yes to and which you should weed out of your life, make a list of the things you are dedicated to supporting. In addition to your business, consider things in your home life and your community that you are passionate about. Perhaps you find it very important to volunteer at your child’s school, or you love to work with your local animal shelter. Those things are important to your personal happiness. In addition, it’s important to schedule enough time with your family and friends to properly maintain those relationships.

Once you have your list, write down the amount of time you believe you need to devote to each of these areas each week. Once you’re finished, you can easily see whether or not you have any time left in your week to take on additional activities. When your schedule is full, it’s full. If there are other activities you’d like to pursue, think about when your schedule will permit you to add these activities, but don’t commit until your schedule is really free. For example, if you volunteer at your child’s school during the school year, you could put a different activity into that timeslot over the summer when your child is on summer vacation.

By having this kind of control over your schedule, you will feel less guilty about saying no to other things, because you will truly understand where your time goes, and how much you have left over. This is when you know you have mastered the fine art of saying no.

Listening is a critical skill. Many of us think we’re good at listening, but what we are doing when others are talking may not be really listening. In many cases, we’re just waiting for our turn to talk.

You see, often our minds are formulating our response to what’s being said while the other person is still talking. This isn’t really listening, and often our response isn’t based on the entirety of what was said, because it was created before we had all the information.

The next time you’re having an important conversation with someone, do your best to turn off your natural urge to start thinking about what you’re going to say and just listen to what’s being said to you. Then, taking all of what you heard into account, formulate your response.

We often listen only with the intent to respond because we believe we need to have a response at the ready. This isn’t necessarily the case, and you’ll find that people won’t be upset with you if you take a minute to think about what is said before you answer.

The more intense the subject and the more passionate you are about your opinion on the subject, the more likely you are to not really listen to what the other person is saying. (Think about fights with your spouse.) You’re eager to make your own argument. This is when listening only to respond, however, is most dangerous. You may be shutting out the feelings and opinions of someone who is important to you. In your quest to be heard, or to be right, you’re jeopardizing the entire relationship.

So, next time you’re having a conversation with someone, whether it’s business or personal, practice listening just to listen. It isn’t easy at first, especially if you’ve never realized that you listen to respond. Over time, you’ll learn to really hear what is being said and you’ll formulate well thought out responses more frequently. You’ll likely find that you make better decisions, and that your relationships with those you love are better, too. That’s when you can truly say you’re a really good listener.

 Text, email and other forms of quick messaging have definitely made it easier to communicate with others in an efficient and timely manner. The ease and simplicity of shooting someone a quick text or email has allowed us to stay instantly in touch, which would appear to have increased our ability to stay in constant contact. However, as great as messaging is, there are times when picking up the phone is the better form of communication. Here are three reasons why it is often better to make a call rather than send a message.

1. The feelings behind your thoughts are more readily understood. The empathy, concern, laughter or even anger are significantly more evident in your voice as compared to tagging your text with an emoji! When you pick up the phone, it’s much easier to communicate how you feel, and to understand the feelings of the other party.

2. It allows for clearer communication. When an issue is detailed, or there are many questions and options to be evaluated, it is much clearer when this is done via live conversation. You can sort out an issue much more quickly by discussing it than you can trying to work it out via text or email.
   

3. It shows a greater level of interest and concern. The very fact that most people text and email rather than bothering to call gives your phone call a little extra weight. Making a call immediately communicates your level of attention to the person or the issue.

Though it is clear there are times when a phone call is the better way to resolve an issue or simply get in touch with a person, many people still use messaging to save time. If you find that you have limited time to make phone calls, use these tips to help you make the calls you need without sacrificing time management.

1. Determine which issues and relationships need a phone call rather than a message.
2. Set aside time in your day to make the calls. For many people, scheduling an hour each day on their calendar to make the day’s phone calls helps to ensure both that the calls get made and that these do not take up too much time.
3. Learn to keep it short. One reason many people avoid phone calls is the fear that these will drag on too long. Learn to be friendly and polite without letting what should have been a five-minute phone call turn into a marathon chat session.

Don’t forget the power of the phone call. When used appropriately, making phone calls can help resolve situations more quickly and ensure that people feel important to you, too.

Delegation is one of the most important parts of leadership, yet it can be one of the most difficult for many leaders. Delegating tasks, systems and processes to others requires trust and comfort that these tasks will be carried out appropriately.

The most important thing a leader can do to ensure delegated tasks are managed to his or her high standards is to communicate the purpose and the process to the employee well. When both you and the employee or team feels that they have been adequately trained in how to take over a process or task, there is a great comfort level that no quality in the work will be lost. This requires proper communication and clear instructions.

This is where many attempts at delegation fail. Often, the person who has handled the task for a long while feels so comfortable with the process and knows it so well, that it can be hard to effectively communicate the requirements and instructions to others. Here are some tips to help ensure that you are appropriately communicating instructions to employees.

1. Write the process down for yourself. Often, processes that are being delegated are so rote to the person who has been handling them that there is no written process. Getting the process on paper will help you to fine tune all the steps necessary to complete the task before instructing others on how to do so.

2. Walk through the task with the employee or team. Provide verbal instruction on each step, explaining why this step is important and what consequences arise from the task not being performed properly. One of the most important pieces of clear communication is ensuring that employees know why they are doing what they are doing, not just how to do it. This keeps employees invested in the work they do.

3. Allow the employee to complete the task, using the written process, under your supervision. This is a great test of whether your written communication was clear, and allows you to tweak it, if necessary. Ask the employee for feedback on the written process, so that you can make corrections that benefit them.

4. Be available for questions and help as the employee begins to tackle the task on his or her own. This will give both of you the comfort level that there is plenty of opportunity for help to ensure a smooth transition.

Clear communication is one of the most important attributes of a productive work environment. When you take the time to write down instructions and then provide them step by step verbally, as well, you help ensure that employees really know what you’re trying to say.

Our ability to communicate is comprised of many things besides the words we speak and the way we speak them. As most of us are aware, body language plays an extremely important role in how we are perceived by others. Though most of us may have learned the most basic rules of making eye contact and focusing on those we are talking to, there are other simple body language tweaks we can make that help us be more well received by those we seek to influence. Here are three simple tips you can try.

1. Take up a bit more space. A wider stance with the legs and an open position with the arms make you appear more confident. We are all aware that standing with arms folded across the chest makes us appear unapproachable, but many of us fail to recognize the difference a wide stance can make. Making your body appear more open makes people more trusting of you and more likely to accept you as an expert in your field. When you shrink away physically, people don’t believe you have as much knowledge to offer.
2. Relax those shoulders. Most people carry tension in their shoulders. This tension is more obvious to others than it is to you. Take the time to think about how you’re carrying your shoulders throughout the day, especially in the workplace. You will look more confident as a result of this relaxed posture. The bonus is that you will likely sleep better, and have less muscle tension and pain, as well.
3. Gesture. People who use their arms to gesture, and who tend to talk with their hands are perceived as more likeable. When you pair a wider stance and relaxed shoulders with enough gestures to make you likeable, you come across as having the powerful combination of being confident, knowledgeable and likeable.

Our body language habits are well ingrained in our everyday behavior. The first step to changing these habits is to recognize your current body language. Once you have a good handle on the things you may need to change, tackle on of these suggestions at a time. As you begin to hold one posture naturally and without thought, you can move on to adding the next one to your repertoire. You may be amazed at how your inner confidence improves as people begin to see more confidence in your body positions.