I write this with cold fingers and numb ears.
You see, I work from home. I'm a virtual employee of ADP and travel from time
to time for meetings, but for the most part, day-in-day-out, I'm here in my
home office with my two dogs. So over lunch, I had time to snow blow and I just
finished plowing the driveway with the snowblower for, what feels like, the
millionth time in the last month and a half due to the snow we've been getting
in Cincinnati (Don't worry Boston, I'm not bragging).
Being a home shored employee for officially one
year this month, I've come to some firm conclusions. Homeshoring has its
benefits, but it also has its downsides. I love wearing yoga pants every day
but I also really miss seeing my colleagues face to face. I miss out on the
chats over coffee and popping into my boss's cube (he may not miss it haha).
The point is, you don't hear about their day
unless you make it a point to "ping" them via company messenger or if
you take a few moments from your ragged day to ask before a call starts. They
don't learn your tone because they don't see you and you don't have the
"casual" time between meetings and calls.
Humans are made to communicate via body
language as much as, if not more than through verbal communication. When your
colleagues can't see your face, can't see your body shift, then they can't read
your tone.
This is why emoticons (and the casual haha -
see what I did there?) matter.
Your virtual emotions matter in the
conversation because it allows your colleagues to learn your communication
style. Even when they can't see you in person. You have to get creative. Use
your words and your pictures to convey a message. Not only will you seem less
robotic (pun intended), but you will also begin to forge a relationship based
on understanding.
Now I'm not saying this is meant to be included
in your email to the CFO thanking them for their awesome speech (unless you
have the gall). What I am saying is that this can be very useful to convey your
humanness; that you can relate.
So next time you send that message with someone
internally and what you want to say is, "Yep, got it." try "Yep,
got it :)" and see how far it goes.
Looking forward to sharing more thoughts with
you about homeshoring!
