Sadly, the coronavirus pandemic still continues with little or no success in all attempts to finding a solution. This hardly comes as a surprise. However, it is important to review and keep our business operations up to date in order to optimize our productivity.
Working remotely has one very obvious difficulty and it is the inability to have physical interactions. Working from home makes it difficult to communicate effectively. These issues will not persist for long as I am here to help you work remotely with improved communication skills.
LISTEN
Listening attentively to your colleagues is essential in communication. Employers and employees do not listen attentively when it is actually a key part of effective communication. It is difficult to communicate efficiently if you are not good at listening. Listening and communication are two peas in a pod. During communication be sure to listen attentively and also respond when necessary. You are only able to provide feedback when you have acknowledged what has been said to you.
HOLD OPEN MEETINGS
Meetings can be boring. We are always only physically present without being a part of it actually. We zone out during meetings, become lost or distracted, and even worse fall asleep. We need to be active and the best way to achieve this is to hold open meetings. In open meetings, everyone involved gets the chance to express their views and thoughts. When a meeting is interactive it helps effective communication.
COMMUNICATE WITH HUMOUR
Robotic communication is not effective communication. The clear difference between human beings and robots is the ability to exhibit emotions and be creative. You should apply this to your advantage by bringing up humour and light banter with colleagues. This is a good way to foster friendly relations with colleagues. It would also help you work better with your colleagues and improve trust since the air is friendly.
EMAIL
It is best you send confirmation emails in a bid to sustain professionalism. There are organizations that make use of social platforms such as Skype, Zoom, and even Slack but these do not communicate professionalism as much as emails. Emails are also proof of communication.
TRAINING
We all dread trainings. It is considered to be more boring than meetings. The truth is that training does not have to be boring. You should keep your employees up to date through training. You can use videos, gifs, photos, and graphics to make training more interesting. Training helps all employees get uniform information and knowledge since they learn at the same time.
SET SCHEDULED HOURS, AND STICK TO IT
It is important to fix meetings with employers and colleagues but it is even more important that you stick to time. Punctuality is important and it communicates professionalism.
ENCOURAGEMENT AND FEEDBACK
Criticise constructively. It is important to let your employees and colleagues know that you appreciate their hard work and see what they are doing. It is also equally important that you correct them and offer suggestions. You should support and encourage them with healthy feedback.