Effective communication skills for hybrid work: smashing success in the new normal

“Can you give me some tips advice on overcoming common communication challenges that people have?”

This was asked to me by a client recently and it's a big question, isn't it? Especially in a world that involves more and more hybrid working.

I paused and then I asked them if they’d ever been to Iceland.

And they looked at me a bit confused and then said no.

I then asked them to bear with me and it would all make sense soon.

First up, let me share that I lived in Iceland for some years as my husband is Icelandic.

And Iceland is really two countries in one.

In the winter it's mainly dark and cold and there can be a lot of snow. At its height it’s light (ish) for about 4 hours a day.

Fast forward to July and the sun kisses the horizon about one o’clock in the morning before it starts to rise again. And at its height it’s dark (ish) for about 4 hours a day.

You get the drift.

So, here we have one place and two very different experiences: cozy candle light in the dark winter months of the year when you get a chance of seeing the northern lights (and yes, I’m one of the lucky people who’s seen them, loads of times actually) and brilliant brightness and lightness in the summer that gives you so much energy and when it's really easy to travel across the whole country which you really can’t do in the winter time.

Think about your audience and the environment

So, what's Iceland got to do with communication skills development?

Well, although we all experience communication the communications skills we need and use can be influenced hugely by the environment we’re in.

What is the environment you’re communicating in?

Think about that for a moment.

Are you one of the number of growing people who works hybrid? Are your colleagues all over the world, or just in the one office?

Do you work for a small startup? You and your colleagues are all on the same floor in the same building and there’s the odd online meeting with a stakeholder in a different city or country. It’s intense, people know each other really well, systems are flexible, and people roll their sleeves up and do a range of tasks.

Or do you work for a multinational? You operate mainly remotely with every meeting being done through a screen. Tens of thousands of people work for your organisation, you only know a fraction of your fellow employees and systems are well established and hierarchical.

These are very different environments, aren’t they?

And these environments require different kinds of communication skills to thrive and get ahead in your career. Each has a different way of being seen to add value and develop leadership and teamwork skills that meets the cultural expectations.

How to ace stakeholder management

What are the specific communication skills that you want to get better at?

Has your manager gently pointed out that people find it tricky to speak to you and don’t actually know you. Or has your boss shared that your listening skills are poor and that your ability to build relationships with stakeholders is, well, less than inspiring?

Are you seen as a bit cool and a bit difficult to navigate (think Iceland in the winter)?

Then, this would mean you’re looking to grow your visibility and stand out a bit. And that you’d benefit from strengthening connections, offering more value, and engaging more meaningfully with your colleagues and clients.

Top tip 1
Listening is your new superpower to develop. People are the expert on one subject: themselves. And most people love to talk about themselves. So, get curious. Ask thoughtful questions. Listen to what you hear and take notes, so that you don’t forget and can refer back to that next time you speak to them.

Top tip 2
And you’re perhaps going to think this is a stupid question. But when you talk to someone, where do you look? You look in their eyes, don’t you? So, when you’re working remotely and are talking online.

Look. At. The. Camera.

That way the person you’re talking to experiences it as if you’re looking in their eyes.

Trust me. This works.

How to manage your nerves when speaking to groups

What about speaking to groups? Having all eyes on you? Does this shut you down and make you feel small? Is your heart thumping in your chest and your mouth is as dry as the Sahara desert?

Are you getting overwhelmed and hot under the collar? I would be making some metaphorical link here to summer in Iceland, but one thing summers haven’t got a lot of in Iceland is heat).

Then, it’s about looking for how to manage your anxiety and energy and how you present and facilitate in a way that involves others and use techniques that keep people’s attention and arouses their curiosity.

Top tip 1
Really think about how you can calm and ground yourself before an event and build that in. When I work with clients we explore why breathing, visualization and managing that inner critic, monkey brain, the shitty committee, call it what you will, before a talk really helps them.

Top tip 2
When you plan any talk, use coloured post it notes for each different part of it and that way you can quickly tell if you’ve too much of one thing or not enough of another and can then do something about that before the real event.

So, getting back to that question, can you give me some tips on overcoming common communication challenges that people have, you can now see that there’s no short answer to that question without doing a bit of digging around the communication challenge and the environment and culture that you work in.

But I have answered it with 4 tips that you can take away and put into practice and boost your communication skills.

Try them.

And let me know how you get on.