Someone once told me good communication happens when the message sent and the message received match up as closely as possible. Speaking clearly is a skill we focus on a lot. We work on giving great presentations, explaining concepts clearly and telling engaging stories. But listeners bear the burden of good communication, too. In this article, we’ll share how to effectively communicate with colleagues online and afar, through effective communication and listening skills.

When you’re on a distributed team or another team working predominantly online, the things that make a good listener don’t change. You do however have to apply listening skills in slightly different ways to make sure the messages you receive match the intentions of the sender.
[ictt-tweet-inline via=”meistertask”]listeners bear the burden of good communication, too.[/ictt-tweet-inline]
What Good Listening Does
There’s been a lot of research conducted on how we listen in many fields, including psychology, communication, linguistics, anthropology and management. Researchers have identified a lot of different factors that affect how we listen, like memory, attention span, motivation, listening capacity and the context we’re in when we’re trying to listen.
For example, it might be harder to listen to your teammates if you’ve lost motivation at work. And listening is going to take a lot more effort in a noisy lobby than in a quiet office.
But if you can master listening skills, you stand to gain a lot. In fact, studies have found that listening produces three main results:
- understanding or knowledge gain
- relationship building
- a change in our feelings and attitudes
So, if you’re a good listener, you’ll be more tuned into what’s going on, what others need and how others feel, which can help you make better business decisions and be more productive.
Distributed task management made simple.
Try MeisterTask with your teamListening & Online Communication
There are a range of tools and methods we use to communicate with our teams, whether we’re working remotely or are co-located: video, voice calls, email and project management apps. These are just some of the tools distributed teams can use to communicate, and each come with their own set of opportunities and limitations.
Text-only communications like email and chat apps, especially, can make listening more challenging.
“Email does not convey emotions nearly as well as face-to-face or even telephone conversations,” writes Kaitlin Duck Sherwood, author of A Beginner’s Guide to Effective Emails. “It lacks vocal inflection, gestures, and a shared environment. Your correspondent may have difficulty telling if you are serious or kidding, happy or sad, frustrated or euphoric.”
With text-only online communications, tone can easily be misconstrued. Sherwood says sarcasm can be particularly dangerous (especially if the sender and the recipient don’t know each other well).
But there are also some ways text-only communication can improve listening.
For example: When someone has an accent that’s unfamiliar to us or your first language is your coworker’s second language, it takes more cognitive effort to listen and comprehend. Text communication like chat or emails can help eliminate that cognitive load.
Also, because they can be delayed, text communication can also give the listener extra time to digest ideas, process emotions and respond more thoughtfully.
When working on distributed teams, many teams prioritize video chat because it allows for nonverbal communication like body language and facial expressions, which provide context.
Remote work and listening can seem at odds sometimes because the amount of face-to-face contact is much more limited. But just because in-person conversations aren’t always an option doesn’t mean good listening can’t take place.
For example, someone who doesn’t make eye contact while telling you bad news says something completely different than someone who looks you directly in the eye.
Video chat is not always realistic or possible, though. Connections can be unreliable. People might be traveling or unavailable. Tools might not work correctly.
“I think everybody here agrees that the most implausible science-fiction aspect of Star Wars is how smoothly all the Jedi video conferencing works across the galaxy,” notes Jacob Harris, developer for 18F, the digital services agency for the U.S. government.
To make it work, have a range of tools and a plan for how and when to use them. Be aware of the limitations of each online communication method so you can adjust and make the extra effort to fully listen.
Tips for Better Listening
Here’s how you can be a better listener and foster a better environment for listening, whether you work remotely or with a co-located team.
1. Establish rules of responsiveness
When there are clear expectations about communication, you can minimize feelings of people not feeling listened to or their messages being ignored.
“When people are working remotely, it’s important that you define what your rules of responsiveness are for your culture,” writes Michelle LaBrosse, Project Management Professional and founder and CEO of Cheetah Learning. “How quickly are people expected to return an e-mail, an IM or a phone call? What is your protocol when people are out of the office or on vacation?”
LaBrosse says that when people know what to expect, it “lowers the blood pressures on both sides of the customer/company relationship” which can promote better, more careful listening.
2. Schedule distraction-free conversations
This rule applies no matter how you’re communicating. It’s harder to listen if you’re multitasking. It can be easier to fall into this trap of multitasking with online communication because the person on the phone or in your chat conversation can’t see that you’re on your laptop sending an email or checking your smartwatch.
In their book, The Plateau Effect, authors Bob Sullivan and Hugh Thompson wrote:
“Your brain is hungry for information, like a golden retriever puppy is hungry to chase a tennis ball. Important information, however, rarely comes as fast as your brain can take it, just as you can never toss the ball fast enough for your puppy. At the dog park, your baby Fido won’t be able to resist if someone else nearby throws a ball…off he bounds, chasing after whatever is moving. And your brain, thirsty for data, with a whole bunch of seemingly spare time on its hands, can’t resist the ping of a text message or the temptation of looking at YouTube videos of cats.”
To be a better listener, do what’s in your power to minimize distractions and keep your focus on the conversation at hand. That means managing notifications and resisting the urge to multitask while you listen.
3. Use emojis
It might sound silly, but emojis help mirror our emotions and provide valuable context for the tone someone means to convey.
See how emojis can change the tone of communication:
Without either emoji, you’d have less information to help you interpret the true meaning of what someone is saying.
4. Ask about feelings and reactions
Checking for understanding is an important part of listening.
“When you’ve actively focused on another person’s communication and asked questions to clarify as needed, rephrase what you think they’ve said and ask them if it’s true, whether it’s in person, on Skype, or via email,” writes Jennifer Roberts, marketing and integrations manager for Hubstaff.
Add context by asking how what someone said makes them feel, so you can clarify meaning.
Adrian Tuts, music and audio editor for Tuts+ suggests using phrases such as:
- How do you feel about that?
- Does that sound good to you?
- Is that going to work?
- Is that what you were expecting?
5. Read before you respond
This sounds like a no-brainer, but sometimes when we’re in a hurry, we respond after we’ve glanced at something someone said only to realize that’s not what the person was asking, or there’s a whole section we forgot to address. Read. Then respond. Otherwise, you could get a reputation for not listening.
No matter your work environment, listening is an important skill to master. It’s not just hearing (or reading) words; good listening means understanding and connecting with what the person intends to communicate and making sure they know you understand them.
Work on honing your listening skills in order to fully connect with others, improve learning and have a keener awareness of how others think and feel.
If you can do that, you’ll help create an environment where the people you work with feel valued and inspired to freely share with you.
Discover collaborative task management.
Try MeisterTask
This post is really amazing. Village Talkies a top-quality professional corporate video production company in Bangalore and also best explainer video company in Bangalore & animation video makers in Bangalore, Chennai, India & Maryland, Baltimore, USA provides Corporate & Brand films, Promotional, Marketing videos & Training videos, Product demo videos, Employee videos, Product video explainers, eLearning videos, 2d Animation, 3d Animation, Motion Graphics, Whiteboard Explainer videos Client Testimonial Videos, Video Presentation and more for all start-ups, industries, and corporate companies. From scripting to corporate video production services, explainer & 3d, 2d animation video production , our solutions are customized to your budget, timeline, and to meet the company goals and objectives. As a best video production company in Bangalore, we produce quality and creative videos to our clients.
1 million new cases and 627, 000 deaths globally in 2018 according to the last release of GLOBOCAN data 1 clomid from india verapamil will increase the level or effect of everolimus by P glycoprotein MDR1 efflux transporter
overnight cialis delivery The insulin tolerance test has been considered as the gold standard provocative stimulation test to make the diagnosis of GHD, but caution should be exerted and alternative secretagogues should be considered in patients at risk for seizures 90
Le mois dernier, nous avons ajouté un nouveau casino à notre site. EUSlot est un autre bon casino en ligne fiable qui a ouvert ses portes en 2019. Nous avons préparé un bonus spécial pour nos visiteurs canadiens au casino EUSlot. Si vous décidez d’essayer EUSlot, vous recevrez 100 tours gratuits sur des machines à sous sélectionnées. En outre, le casino double votre premier dépôt en argent réel. Si vous décidez de déposer C$50 chez EUSlot, vous recevrez C$50 en extra de notre part. Avec les tours gratuits et votre premier bonus de dépôt, vous pouvez gagner une somme d’argent illimitée. Lorsque vous utilisez le bonus de dépôt, vous pouvez choisir parmi plus de 1000 jeux différents pour jouer. Sur un casino en ligne, il y en a pour tous les gouts… Ceci est également valable en termes de dimension des gains déblocables. Certaines machines proposent en effet des jackpots de quelques milliers d’euros, en fonction des mises que vous souhaitez engager. D’autres offrent même la possibilité de jouer sur des jackpots progressifs. Ici, ce sont des millions qui vous pendent au nez… Ces jeux ont déjà fait des centaines de millionnaires cette année, prouvant qu’il est en effet possible de gagner gros sur un casino en ligne !
https://brooksbtkb109865.bloggerbags.com/19055458/jeu-mini-roulette-casino-canadiens
Ce dernier propose des jeux de qualité et bourrés d’options intéressantes, 2 000€ sont réservés pour la première place. En plus des anciens jeux de casino comme le baccarat, 1 500€ pour la seconde place. Je ne suis pas une fan de gambling et j’ai dit à qui voulait bien l’entendre que je ne jouerais pas à Las Vegas (on s’est finalement laissé tenter la veille de notre départ et on a joué 10$… qu’on a perdu en 10 minutes. On aurait dû s’écouter), mais c’est un peu choquant, lors d’un premier voyage, de voir à quel point il y a réellement des casinos partout… D’une manière générale, les moyens de retrait proposés par les casinos en ligne sont similaires aux moyens de dépôt. La principale différence se trouve au niveau du délai de traitement des demandes :
88 Fortunes® is the perfect slot experience for players to test their luck. Featuring 10 Free Games that can be endlessly re-triggered, 88 Fortunes features the “All Up” game style, which gives players the chance to buy gold symbols to increase their winning opportunities. Notice how v-slot=”slotProps” matches the slot function signature. Just like with function arguments, we can use destructuring in v-slot: A Penny vs. Dollar Slots comparison followed by Penny Slots Winners is the focus of this content. This article expands the slots section at gamerisms to a total of 10 parts. To book reservations for Rock Spa® & Salon or for more information, you can contact our Customer Care team at 1 (866) 502-7529. The same is true for the machines in the high-limit rooms. Between March and May 2019, statewide, $100 slots paid back 95.69%.
https://www.yankee-bookmarkings.win/blackjack-21-free
Enter location: address, city or country The Casino in Monte Carlo is the place to be for opulence and over the top.Exotic cars galore and the people to match.This place exudes luxury. Sporting Monte-Carlo 26 Avenue Princess Grace Monte-Carlo 98000 Monaco Exclusive Ceramic Chips Quick Navigation Exclusive Ceramic Chips Exclusive Ceramic Chips Exclusive Ceramic Chips Watch EPT Monte-Carlo action on PokerStars YouTube channel. Exclusive Ceramic Chips This is by far the nicest casino in the world. It is like gambling in Buckingham Palace or a mansion living room. Quite impressive. However, the gambling is terrible. One craps table and does not open most nights until 10:00pm. Furthermore, the table is usually only played at one end. This means that sometimes there are 8 plus people on one side of the table. Very crowded and extremely slow.If you are an American, don’t waste your money and time. Stay in USA and use the travel funds elsewhere.
fr E mail siden top chimie paristech order cialis The past few weeks have definitely been a challenge for us all, which is why I wanted to send you a quick note to see how you were doing and to share with you on something I am looking forward to