Video, Chat, Email, Too Many Choices — Advice for Connecting in the New World

by Michael Tessler, Managing Partner

With the sudden shift to remote work, professionals around the world are grappling with the best way to connect with colleagues, engage with prospects and communicate with customers. From messaging and voice to text and social, there are endless options for connection. As a workforce, we need to challenge communication overload by using the right tools for the right audience. I’d like to share a few observations and best practices based on the people you’re engaging with and the channel you’re using to connect.

Video is the New In-Person

The most significant change we’ve seen at True North over the past few months is the rapid and universal adoption of video conferencing. In fact, video meetings have gone from niche to mainstream. But this rapid adoption has put a spotlight on a lack of agreed-upon best practices.

For video conversations, the first thing business leaders need to do is decide what kind of meeting they are having. Is this a formal meeting with several participants? Is it a networking call with a friendly contact? Or perhaps, it’s a social happy hour with close colleagues? The biggest mistake business professionals make is they treat a video meeting different than a face to face meeting. This type of mistake can lead to wasted time and minimal business impact.

As a leader, it’s also imperative you lead by example and set the tone of the call. You need to be the one to share how you would like to run the meeting. You need to establish an agenda, dress in office-appropriate attire, ensure everyone has an opportunity to participate, record notes and distribute action items post-call. These steps will result in more efficient and productive video conferences.

Email Is External

The tried and true method of business communication is email. As times have changed, I recommend executives try and use email like you would traditional mail — it should be formal, well written and thought out. An email should be the primary way to communicate with customers and partners. However, you should try to limit the use of emails internally. By switching internal emails to messaging platforms, you can better manage your inbox while answering questions quicker than ever.

Real-Time Messaging

The primary communication channel for internal conversations should be through a messaging platform. At True North, we use messaging as the main way to engage and discuss topics without the use of email. The messaging interface is perfect for teams to collaborate in real-time without creating a to-do list via email. Messaging is also a very mobile-friendly form of communicating.

That said, one pitfall to avoid with messaging platforms is creating too many messaging threads or spaces. If you are not thoughtful about who to invite to a group, you suddenly have dozens of unstructured conversations where it’s impossible to keep up with tasks.

Moreover, if you’re not active in a messaging thread every day, they become just like another email inbox — piling up tasks and notifications to check. My recommendation is to think about every thread as a team. You need to carefully decide who should be part of the team and make sure every member has a role. If you find gaps in your contribution to specific threads and spend the day trying to keep up, exit the group. And suggest your team do the same.

Texting with the Team

Due to the personal nature, one special kind of messaging is texting. I urge you to only use this communication channel with contacts you know very well. Most professionals find it rude when people approach them via text to sell me something or engage in a long conversation. Texts should be used for short messages that help coordinate calls, answer quick questions or serve as reminders.

Getting Social

One tool I recommend to help with professional networking and personal connections is LinkedIn. This social platform has become an excellent tool for reconnecting with colleagues and discovering new teammates.

While some workers use LinkedIn to help identify and engage sales prospects, I would suggest finding a different approach. Sending out hundreds of connection requests and cold pitching a product not only ruins your reputation, but it doesn’t produce results. LinkedIn is about making personal connections based on past roles and experiences. Use this site like you would any other social engagement or networking event: ask friends to make introductions, share helpful information and search for individuals with shared interests.

That said, different areas of the business need to adapt to the new remote challenges and may use these channels differently. For example, high touch salespeople will need to retool how they do their work. Taking clients out to lunch or connecting over a round of golf may not be a feasible way to grow your business. Additionally, walking around your client’s office and learning their priorities is not easily replaced in the virtual world. However, by testing the above tools, savvy sales teams will adapt and adjust to the new normal, using these platforms to their advantage.

The final piece of advice I want to leave you with, regardless of the platform you choose or the task at hand, is to think about how you can make your interaction benefit the other side of the conversation. Think about what you can do to help the person you are communicating with. Maybe they need an introduction to a new contact? Maybe you know someone that’s looking for a product they’re selling? Perhaps you can share expertise to help solve a problem? Regardless of the task, once you’re able to build two-way trust, well, the tools you use to communicate will become secondary.

Stay safe, all. And here’s to communication without the overload.