If you\u2019ve recently made the switch to remote work, you\u2019re not alone. At least a quarter of U.S. employees worked from home at least part of the time before the Covid-19 crisis. An estimated 16 million U.S. knowledge workers started working remotely due to Covid-19 as of March 2020. That number has likely continued to grow.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the same digital technologies that make it so easy to exchange information can make it more difficult to achieve understanding.<\/p>\n
Working from home, we don\u2019t have hallway conversations and office parties that strengthen relationships and build trust. Also absent are the contextual clues that help us interpret meaning: body language, facial expression, and tone of voice.<\/p>\n
Without context, misunderstandings are more likely to occur. Without contact, trust can quickly dissolve into suspicion. The result, all too often, is a war of words carried out through electronic messages.<\/p>\n
I started Michael Hyatt & Co. as an entirely decentralized team. So we\u2019ve been perfecting remote communication for nearly a decade. Even now, we all work from home at least part of the time. And some work remotely nearly all the time.<\/p>\n\t\t