Online Communication from a Management Perspective
In the midst of this difficult situation, the company I’m working for now, LINE, is encouraging telecommuting, and I’ve been working from home since the latter half of March.
As a product manager, I have to manage the product and the organization, and all communication has to be done online, but I think there is a certain know-how that only online can provide.
In this article, as a manager, I would like to write about what I pay attention to in the online communication.
Clarify and share policies.
When it comes to “what I’m careful about,” it’s tempting to write how-to tips, but I think that just doing how-to without policy is less effective and sometimes even misleading.
Whether it is product management or organizational management, I think the most important thing is to clearly state the philosophy underlying the management of the team, that is, what kind of mindset you have, and share it with the team.
My philosophies for management is detailed in this article, but to give you an excerpt, I have three policies
a) Trust and respect for all involved people
b) Transparency
c) User first
Why is policy so important? Because when you communicate online, whether it’s through chat or video conferencing, the amount of information you can convey is inevitably less than when you actually meet face-to-face.
Face-to-face communication can include a lot of information other than words, such as slight facial expressions and atmosphere. When there is a lot of information, even if there is some misunderstanding, it is possible to correct the course each time.
However, in online communication, where the amount of information that can be conveyed is limited, it is difficult to make minor course corrections, so I think it is even more important to clearly state the fundamental thought and share the philosophy of the “why” of the “how-to” at the initial stage.
On the premise that this policy is shared, I’ll write down some how-to’s that I’m aware of on how to make online communication smoother.
Respond as soon as possible, preferably immediately
I try to respond as soon as possible that are sent to me from members, my boss, or if I have a small question, especially sent as To or mentioned.
Of course, there are reasons why a manager or leader should not stop someone’s work. Before that, fast communication is simply a good feeling.
I don’t care who it is from or what it is about, I basically try to reply to all questions immediately. Of course, there are many questions that I am not sure how to answer, but if I don’t know, I tell them I don’t know. If I think it might be something like this, I will reply to it anyway.
A quick “I don’t know” response is much better than a slow, vague answer. (It’s like the saying in user relations, “A quick response to dissatisfaction can result in a turnaround to satisfaction.)
And if you practice early and immediate responses on a regular basis, you can reduce the amount of frustration you cause the other person by not knowing your presence, which is common in online communication. What I mean by this is that they will think, “I usually respond right away, so there must be a reason why I haven’t responded yet,” and as a result, you will be able to communicate your presence even not in face-to-face.
Also, if you continue to respond quickly and immediately, you will be perceived as a person with low communication costs, and you will be able to be asked for advice and be given FYI information. As this happens, less formal information and ideas will flow to you, and you will be able to quickly recognize various risks and negative situations. I think this is a very important element for management.
Conveying facial expressions in writing
As has been said since long time ago, when communicating with text, writing only the necessary information gives a very cold impression. Especially in internal communication, there is nothing good about giving a cold impression. On the other hand, if you are a manager or a leader, I think it is just right to be deliberately casual in order to create a comfortable atmosphere for talking online.
For example, instead of writing, “Good morning,” write, “Good morning!” or “Good morning~!”. This is the first step.
For example, if you want to tell someone that you don’t understand something, instead of just saying, “I didn’t understand,” you can write, “Well, I’m sorry, I just didn’t understand…”.
~(be soft) ! (be positive) . (a kind of hesitation), and so on to softly express emotions. English-style emoticons, such as :) and :D, are also often used to convey emotions in an understated way.
In the case of LINE, I often use the LINE app for internal communication, but I also use sticker a lot; in Slack, I often use emoji. (Although using too many of them can be counterproductive.)
When conveying facts, the general rule is to thoroughly reduce the amount of information and keep it simple, but when expressing opinions or discussing issues, even if it is a bit verbose, try to convey the emotions at the time of writing, and be careful not to make people feel uncomfortable or give a negative impression.
Just like the previous quick response/immediate response, if you practice this as well, you will create an atmosphere where you feel comfortable talking to people online, and as a result, you will be able to notice various situations more quickly.
Use different communication channels
The third is to use different communication channels.
There are two points of view.
One is asynchronous (chat), and the other is synchronous (phone/video calls).
If the trust relationship is strong, even somewhat sensitive exchanges can be completed through asynchronous communication. As long as as asynchronous communication can be done, there is no need to constrain each other’s time, making it more efficient.
However, if the relationship of trust is not strong yet, or if the information is quite sensitive, then it is better to communicate synchronously, preferably through a video call where you can see the other person’s facial expression.
In other words, I think that synchronous communication is sufficient when the reaction after the message is delivered cannot be anticipated, and asynchronous communication is sufficient when the emotion after the message is delivered is known with certainty.
The other is a tool that is appropriate for the information it handles.
In my current work, I use a wide variety of text communication tools such as LINE, Slack, and email (I often use LINE for work communication as well), but I think each tool has its own suitability.
LINE is suitable for sharing small amounts of information or exchanging casual consultations quickly. In the real workplace, it is used in the same way as having a light discussion or chatting around the table.
Slack is good for discussions where you want to reach a conclusion. There is no threaded discussion, and there is a log. For example, you can use reactions to measure the “strength of opinions” and make decisions based on that. In real life, it is used in the same way as a discussion in a meeting.
Email is a formal communication of information and requests. It’s the same image as communicating at an all-hands meeting. It’s not often used, but it’s still necessary when the situation calls for it.
In summary, you need to use different channels depending on the person you are talking to and the “firmness” of the conversation you expect. The use of LINE/Slack/email is just one example in my current department, but I think it is effective to be aware of the channels in any case.
By the way, if you use different communication channels with the same policy, you will be able to convey the intention behind the words depending on the channel you communicate. For example, if you send a message via LINE, the recipient will imagine that you are expecting a casual and quick communication. In this way, you will gradually come closer to “good chemistry”.
Gauge your team’s condition through online conversations
This is a byproduct effect, but if you communicate with awareness of the last mentioned channel, you will be able to get some idea of the condition of your team just by looking at the log of online conversations.
A good team usually has a good balance of chit-chat, discussion, and sharing. The optimal condition depends on the project situation at the time, but my sense is that 20% of the time should be chit-chat, 50%-60% is discussion, and 20%-30% is for sharing.
On the other hand, if there is an imbalance, it is likely that there are some issues. If there is little chit-chat, the team is probably still not trusting each other. If there is little discussion, you can imagine that there is no direction and the team can’t do discussion. Also, if there is little sharing, the organization may not be in lack of transparency.
It’s the same as when you manage a team within visual range and looking at the mood and expression of the conversation to gauge whether it’s going somewhat well or not. By looking at the conversation logs, you can get a sense of the mood of the team online as well.
When managing a large number of projects or an organization with a large number of people, it is very difficult and very important to discover the issues that need to be solved. One way to do this, I think, is to look at the balance of the conversation, which can be an effective approach to creating a hypothesis.
These are some of the things that I am aware of on a daily basis in online communication. This is a how-to that depends on my management style, so it may not be very versatile. I hope this will be of some help to you.
