a situation where you’re meeting with the CEO of your company, it’s a good bet that your communication should be formal and professional. If you’re in a Zoom meeting, that can also mean formal business dress.
Remain neutral
The first popular television police show was Dragnet, and the protagonist, Sergeant Joe Friday, had the slogan “Just the facts, ma’am” when interviewing witnesses. (Don’t believe us? Search for the term Dragnet on Facebook. Think we’re old? No comment.)
When you’re talking online in a professional setting, stick to the facts and be as clear as possible. Don’t make any jokes or try to start an argument. No one can read someone’s tone or facial expressions, though emojis online do help with that task and provide some context. Yet without other nonverbal cues, like body language, people translate messages in their own way. Some of that translation comes from how they’re feeling.
You’ve likely encountered the end result: The other person misinterprets or becomes angry about what you said, and suddenly you’re defending yourself against accusations that have come out of proverbial left field. And, of course, you never start sniping back, right?
Switch when you have to
You may need to switch your communication method when you find that you can’t get your point across in the current medium. For example, you’ve probably had a long email conversation with quotes from previous messages stretching endlessly in the email window. Or maybe a conversation has devolved into an argument because neither of you understands what the other is saying. In that case, it’s time to set up either a phone conversation or an online chat via an app so that you can talk with each other in person.
Eating: Shielding meeting participants from your eating habits
Do you like to hear other people gobbling their food during an online meeting? (Hearing yourself eat may be bad enough.) Then consider that other people on your Microsoft Teams call may not like hearing your slurps and smacks.
Even if you turn off your microphone, they have to watch you, and we’ll bet you dollars to (ahem) doughnuts that you dislike watching other people eat as much as they dislike watching you. And if you’re eating and a bunch of lettuce falls out of your burger, that means you have to leave the meeting and clean up. Not very professional, don’t you think?
So, if you’re setting up an online meeting with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or a similar app and everyone can see each other on their webcams, set expectations about food or drink ahead of time. Don’t assume (and we know the saying about the word assume) that everyone will adhere to the rules. Make it clear that there will be no eating of snacks, doughnuts, or any other meal during the meeting.
Telephone: Paying attention to the conversation and your behavior
You remember the telephone, don’t you? You still use it on your smartphone to speak with people. Many companies still rely on voice calls to interact with their customers, and even people in office settings have phones with receivers you pick up.
When you talk on the phone, you need to be aware of not only the conversation but also your behavior. This section details what we mean.
Follow this general guidance
In any call, here are some good rules to follow:
Answer the call within three rings.
If you can’t answer the call within three rings, it means you’re busy and letting the call go to your voicemail so that you can refer to it later.
Speaking of voicemail, record your greeting in your own voice that’s reasonably cheerful. Be sure to tell people that you can’t pick up the phone right now and ask them for any information you need, such as their name, a brief description, and/or their phone number.
Check your voicemail when you can, perhaps on a schedule. For example, you may want to check it once in the morning and once in the afternoon.
Use your speakerphone only when it’s absolutely necessary — and only if you’re in a quiet place.
When you call someone to talk, tell them the purpose of the call. If the other person doesn’t agree with the purpose, you need to come to an agreement before you can start the call.
Speak clearly. This advice should be obvious, but it’s easy to become lazy and start talking like you’re in the same room with the other person — at least until they jolt you back to reality when they loudly ask, “What?”
Use proper language. This advice should also be self-evident, but you need to pay attention to it before you start using language you would use only with your friends and not in a professional setting.
Actively listen and take notes. By actively listen, we mean that you may want to repeat what someone says to ensure that you understand them. And you can type as you talk to make sure you’re taking notes, though that’s harder to do with a speakerphone than a headset, because the speakerphone may be close to your keyboard.
Help your customers
For customer service calls, we have more tips to share with you:
Immediately introduce yourself when you pick up the call. Also ask who you’re speaking with.
Be friendly, but if you can’t do that, at least be neutral — unless you want to rile your customer enough that they decide to complain and your life becomes more difficult than it already is.
Listen to your volume level. If you’re starting to talk more loudly because the environment around you is growing louder, your customer may start to complain that you’re yelling at them. So you may need to move the call to another location.
Before you move your call to another location, ask the other person for permission to put them on hold or
