How To Improve Communication in Remote Work

2020 wasn’t an easy year for many of us. Our plans, budget, habits, and even thinking changed, and most of us started to work remotely. I believe that the most crucial change was how we communicate with not only our coworkers, but with ourselves.

We still need to plan our workday, make compromises, and, at the same time, remain passionate about our work — even if we’re working in the kitchen without communicating with our team in-person every single day.

I’d like to share with you some tips that helped me build effective communication skills with my colleagues and myself during this period of remote work, it’s likely to continue for a long time.

Work takes up a third of our day and uses up physical and mental energy, so enjoying what you do is important. We already know that proper nutrition, a good sleep schedule, and frequent exercise improve physical energy. On the other hand, all of our actions, habits, and especially thoughts contribute to our mental energy, which leads to the necessity of quality self-talk. The main goal of self-talk is to feel peace of mind, so take care of your mental health by meditating, reciting affirmations, and practicing giving thanks.

Meditation teaches us to be present in the moment and listen to ourselves. It can also improve our memory and IQ. Last year I tried meditation for the first time in my life, during the stress of an illness. Since I wasn’t able to work, I took a break and started to meditate. For me, meditations not only helped me get rid of negative emotions, but also taught me to be present at the moment and focus.

There are times when we feel uncomfortable while working on a task, so our brain tries to protect us from the discomfort. We’re ready to do anything except this task! That’s where meditation can help. The idea is to forget about the main goal and tell yourself that it’s your choice to do this task. What are the pitfalls? How can I solve this problem? The task will turn into something unique, complex, and interesting for you. You’ll begin to notice that you like working on this task, and are now ready to even spend free time on it (but don’t actually work during your free time). In this way, we learn to be in the moment, go in the flow state (getting into “the zone”), and develop good habits on an intuitive level.

Staying motivated ensures we perform at our best. Sometimes it’s enough to remember your goal with the highest priority and remind yourself about it periodically to continue working. You can be motivated not only by your team lead or your coworkers, but also by yourself.

Remember to remind yourself of your accomplishments. Really. When your energy is running low or you’re in a bad mood, take a piece of paper and make a list of your achievements, whether it’s in your personal life or work. It can be helpful and motivating when most of the small steps are already done and there are only a few tasks left to do. After checking off all the tasks on your list, congratulate and praise yourself, and enjoy the surge of happiness.

Setting the wrong goals, ignoring your feelings, hyperfocusing on the negatives, and being hard on yourself can drain your mental energy. Make sure to find some alone time to analyze your actions, behavior, and feelings, so you can better understand your negative thoughts and how to get rid of them. The main takeaway is to go through this process intentionally without harming your health.

When I self-reflected during meditations, I heard myself more clearly and realized what I needed to discard and what I was missing. I even started to do new things that inspired and energized me.

You can try different methods of self-talk to figure out which one is right for you, so you can calm down and keep your mind balanced. It may be difficult at first, but trust the process. Communicate with and listen to yourself, and make sure to be mindful of your actions every day.

Due to stay-at-home orders and the transition to remote working, in-person communication with teammates has almost completely been replaced by written communication. Before the pandemic, it was easy to come up to a developer with your laptop, show them the problem, and solve the issue in a matter of minutes. Now, you have to define the problem, describe it properly, and choose an appropriate way of communicating it.

Whether it’s in a quick message or an annual report, you have to make sure that what you’ve written is persuasive and clear. So remember that the structure of your message depends on who you’re writing for.

How often have you seen messages in Slack that look like a “War and Peace” novel and thought to yourself, “Oh, I have to read all of that?”

We use many communication tools every day: blogs, news, articles, etc. Maybe not everyone realizes this, but reading messages is reading, too. Did you notice that we’re reading fewer books nowadays? We don’t have time to read all the messages we receive. So to save your colleagues from informational noise, be concise.

What are you trying to get people to do? Highlight your main key point upfront. If your teammate quickly understands what you’re trying to convey, they’ll be able to help you faster.

Almost all messaging apps and emails have text formatting now. So don’t avoid headings, ordered lists, and so on — use them to your advantage and format your messages for easier, more organized reading.

Use Grammarly, Linguix, or other tools to write with proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation. For example, misspelling someone’s name could lead to confusion, and the right person might not see information intended for them.

Sometimes we have a long list of stakeholders. Write it once in Notes or whatever tool you prefer and copy it every time you need to message them. Nobody wants to be forgotten. There are situations when you need to message specific people in a Slack channel, so think about who’s responsible for a task or who’s able to help you. It might even be better to message someone directly so you don’t disturb everyone else.

In-person communication and written communication are different. Written communication lacks intonation, context, and facial expressions to convey intent. Inappropriate language in a written message can come off extremely rude and unprofessional. It can be easy to offend someone even if it wasn’t your intention, so try to be mindful of your language.

As mentioned before, the tone and intent of written communication can be misconstrued. For example, those who habitually use emojis to convey warmth and expression can interpret a single period at the end of a sentence (sans emoji) as a sign of passive aggressiveness. Some emojis might even be taken the wrong way, depending on how the message receiver feels about it.

If you recognize yourself in this example, try not to take every message personally. People perceive things differently and make assumptions based on their own experiences. We have different communication styles, even in messages, so pay attention to words, not signs. If you’re confused by something, ask for clarification.

We’re used to written communication; we’ve studied rules on punctuation, formatting, etc. throughout our lives, but how much do we know about video call etiquette? Due to the pandemic and the transition to remote work, video conferencing has become a part of our work lives — and with it, some issues have sprung up.

For some people, it makes sense to dress properly, brush your hair, and turn your camera on while video calling coworkers. But not everyone does it for different reasons. I think here, as well as in written communication, it depends on the person you’re calling.

If this is a call with your small team — where everyone knows each other and has agreed to leave your camera off — then why not? But if it’s a call with a client or partner, turning your camera on is mandatory. This not only shows that you’re professional, but that you respect the other person. Moreover, I believe that video communication is more personable and helps us feel less lonely.

Should you wear pants? It seems like a funny question, but it matters. On the one hand, nobody will know if you wear your pants or not, but on the other hand, it helps put your mindset in a working mood, and contributes to video etiquette.

I asked my teammates what else mattered to them in video communication, and some admitted that they’re embarrassed to see their own face during calls. If you’re also in the same boat, just hide your video on your screen by right-clicking it, and don’t be distracted by your hairstyle!

If you feel uncomfortable because of your stripped wallpaper or unkempt room, use a virtual background or mask. You can create one according to your company brand identity, as we did at Wrike.

Despite all challenges 2020 brought us, let’s turn them into new opportunities to rethink our lives and our actions, and be flexible and adapt to changes in 2021.

We all have skills we’re improving and habits we’re changing in remote work. What ways do you choose to communicate with yourself? What things annoy you in written communications? How do you do your video calls? Share your thoughts!

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