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Ditch The Long Email Chains and Messages

Dixita
November 9, 2020
4 Min Read
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Harvard Business Review
“Human communication is naturally ‘bursty,’ in that it involves periods of high activity followed by periods of little to none.”

Harvard Business Review: Successful Remote Teams Communicate in Bursts

COVID-19 isn’t going anywhere for awhile, so it’s time to adjust, again (we’re looking at you remote folks 👀 ).

At the core of everything… Communication is the key skill that keeps the world spinning (not up for debate). Harvard Business Review recently found that spurts of rapid-fire communication, with intervals of silence, leads to higher performance.

Especially with remote teams, the consistent back-and-worth, long email threads, and hour-long meetings aren’t cutting it anymore. You can use an email deliverability tool to boost your chances.

The Takeaways

  • Align communication around your team’s schedule, so everybody can respond rapidly and attentively in real time.
  • Focus on chunking small sets of topics to help keep team members engaged and declutter unnecessary communication.
  • Prioritize audio over video calls. Research has found that with remote communication, visual cues can be distracting when focusing on the task at-hand.

Conversation Starters

We got eyes everywhere. Even on the back of our heads. No, but seriously here are some trending topics from this week that we think will pique your interest.

  • Candor: Author Julie Zhou has a good point. Is fear or excitement your biggest motivator at work? Now, be honest. (Source: Twitter)
  • Coaching: CEO of Practice, Julien Smith, launched a mentorship platform that allows professionals to teach, coach, and help others who are looking to develop their skills. (Source: Twitter)
  • Productivity: We see you Slack. The messaging app recently integrated a feature that lets users find the right channel quicker. (Source: Twitter)
  • Influence: Meet Imma, a computer-generated influencer with more than 300,000+ Instagram followers. Oh, and she makes more money than you or me. (Source: Bloomberg)
  • Vision: Skills for a post-pandemic life: self-direction, tech-savvy, empathy, communication, adaptability, and self-motivation. (Source: Fast Company)

Editor’s Corner

Question of the week: “A senior co-worker last week gave me feedback on how I bring valuable insight to the team, but they barely hear from me. I don’t feel comfortable speaking all the time. How can I push myself to speak during meetings at work?” — Avery, design strategist

Editors’ recommendation: Baby steps, it’s all about taking baby steps when increasing your visibility during a meeting. Instead of spewing your feedback right away, try asking open-ended or follow-up questions to create a presence in the meeting.

Then, consider building on that by sharing what components of that meeting resonated with you. For example, “I appreciate that you added customer testimonials to your presentation.” It’s important that you adapt your communication style to your comfort level and not to your peers.

Now's Your Turn

Ahem... wondering if you're that person who is sending long email chains and messages? Get feedback on your communication skills:

>> ​Gather feedback​ <<

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