Effective communication Strategies for the New Hybrid Work Culture

Ever since the pandemic hit, companies across the globe were forced to introduce and fully implement
the telecommuting model. Amid strict lockdowns, interestingly, telecommuting successfully ran all
business operations and allowed the businesses to survive and even grow. Of course, with a few
additional tools and tweaks.

In addition to remote work, several new services were introduced to facilitate and encourage people to
stay home. Among them were paperless billing and online payments to avoid visits to the outlets. A
good example of that has been set by Charter Spectrum bill pay service. It’s completely managed online
through the web or the provider’s app. But that’s not the only change. Hybrid is the new work culture.

Why Hybrid Work?

It’s been two years since we are surviving the pandemic. Life is still not completely back to normal.
Thanks to the COVID-19 variants that keep coming without a break. Things slowly began to open in
various parts of the world but work from home and distant learning were again imposed because of the
new highly-infectious coronavirus variants.

Today, the most preferred work model is hybrid, which is a mix of onsite and offsite work. The hybrid work
format refers to 25% to 75% remote work. Millennials and younger employees preferred a flexible work
environment even before the pandemic hit. Additionally, this flexibility results in boosted creativity and
efficiency by the employees.

Hence, hybrid work options, as well as remote work, are quickly becoming the default.

Check out –Steps for the Successful and Good Presentation

Effective Communication – The Prime Requirement of Hybrid Work Culture

We already have experienced communication problems during the two years of transitioning to
telecommuting. Companies and employees can now pinpoint the key problem areas in communication
in a remote or hybrid work environment. Therefore, mitigating them would be easy peasy.
Face-to-face conversations and meetings were replaced by Slack messages and video conferences.
Technology became our primary go-to resource for official communication. And this led to unwitting
exposure of gaps and limitations of our communication tools as well as remote communication.
Since the hybrid work format is here to stay, here are some effective communication strategies that you
should practice.

Awareness of Tone

Perhaps the biggest drawback of communicating via technology is that the person on the other end is
the judge of our tone. Let’s be honest! During these two years, there were times when our texts or
emails were misinterpreted. Similarly, we also misjudged the tone or intention in someone else’s emails
or texts. This issue seems inevitable. We are not suggesting that this can never happen when you are
talking to someone face-to-face. However, the chances of it happening in the office space are way
slimmer compared to remote work.

Since written communication is a vital source of info and knowledge-sharing in a hybrid work context,
clarity of tone is critical. Make sure you enlighten your employees about keeping their tone empathetic,
light, and clear. Share the best practices for tone in both written and vocal communication. Leaders
should practice them and communicate effectively and respectfully to inspire others to do the same.

This is especially important for written communication on both, written conversations/ email exchange
on a public forum as well as one-to-one messages. This will help in establishing a set framework for the
tone in accordance with the company values. Also, it will nurture a culture of transparency.

Foster Productive Communication

Not being able to see your leaders and colleagues every day can be a little demotivating for some
people. Therefore, leaders need to make sure that they use communication as a powerful tool to keep
their employees motivated, creative, and about future prospects. If they feel that there is no growth or
future because of a lack of effective communication, they might lose interest in working for your
company.

If you don’t want to lose your superstars, then make sure that all your team is on the same page even
though they are not in the same room. However, you have to be careful. Tools like Slack may feel like
you are dropping a text to a teammate just like you shared a joke or two while stopping by their desk in
the office.

But in a remote setup, constantly getting Slack messages can be distracting as the receiver will feel
obligated to answer them immediately. And to do so, they will stop working on meaty projects and
important work emails. Striking the right balance is the key!

Nurture Authentic Relationships

As a leader, you can become hyper-focused about the looming deadlines. However, in a remote or
hybrid work format, this kind of approach can result in transactional and robotic communication. Don’t
let the human element dissipate. When it comes to communication, employees completing the assigned
tasks and checking them off their list with robotic feedback from the supervisor is not a great approach.

Make an effort to connect with your employees on a human and deeper level. Encourage them to share
their pain points. Build a relationship with them and celebrate small achievements. This is especially
important for new employees and young professionals who began their jobs remotely. They have
already been forced to miss out on valuable face time with their colleagues and leaders.

Good luck!

Sean Roger

I'm Sean Roger, a passionate content writer & blogger. I love to write about the latest & upcoming technology, Business, Health topics. Currently, I'm writing for Spectrum.

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