How to Have Effective Communication when Working from Home

God wants us to have effective communication at all times, but it is even more necessary when working from home. Effective communication when working from home can help us to convey positive messages to our coworkers, which can create a positive working environment.

Effective communication means more than just speaking, we need to look at emails and even text messages. These need to be just as effective in the world of communication. Think proper grammar, not using all CAPS, you get the message!

I remember the game called “gossip”. We played it one time at summer church camp or youth group or something like that. If you don’t know what the game “gossip” is, everyone sits in a circle and one person tells something to another person to start it. Then each person passes it around from person to person. Typically by the time it gets passed to the last person, it is hardly the same thing that it started out as. For example, I have heard one start out as “My friend is beautiful and loves to sing” and it ended up as “My friend’s name is Bertha and she loves to sew.”

This is such a good reminder of how much of a necessity good communication is. It is necessary for all aspects of life, but can you imagine how good communication needs to be when working from home? Kind of like the gossip game, you rarely look people in the eye when talking because it is virtual. So things can get mixed up and lost in translation super easily! This means having excellent communication skills.

In the technology-savvy world, we live in today, effective communication seems to be lacking. Now that we are working from home more than ever, our communication needs to be even better than before. We need to be sure that we don’t read between the lines and if there are questions, we need to address them and be sure that we have the right information.

We need to remember our emails and text messages and how they can sound if worded incorrectly. Did we use the correct grammar and/or punctuation? Don’t use all CAPS!! Be sure that you word everything exactly as it needs to be said and try not to add anything else to it or take away from it.

In the gossip game, no one is allowed to ask questions. No one is allowed to be sure that what is being said is correct or not and that is part of the problem. There is no communication and that is how things get messed up by the end of the game. We need to keep this in mind when communicating while working from home and be sure that we avoid any instances of communication mishaps.

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” Proverbs 25:11

Much like the verse above, we need to make sure that what we say, whether written or verbal, is spoken in the right way. We need to watch those things in written communication that can cause misunderstandings and of course, in verbal communication also.

Sometimes, we honestly need to think before we speak and think of what we are saying. Make sure your words are like apples in gold and silver. And I am talking fresh apples, not rotten ones! That goes for writing also. If you are upset when sending an email, take a break and gather your thoughts before composing it and always be sure to double-check before sending!

Always remember to think before you speak. Think about how your words sound and maybe even write them down and look at them. Be sure that any communication you have is not anything that can be misunderstood. And if you are the recipient of questionable communication, go to the source and clear it up. Who knows? We might just save ourselves a lot of trouble. And by the way, I played the “gossip” game another time and they cheated and it ended up with what it started with due to effective communication!

Later!

Kara