Communication skills are needed in any job, and with digital communications becoming more mainstream, learning how to get your message across online is a valuable skill. To communicate effectively with your team, it’s essential to understand and practice digital communication skills in the workplace.
Why Digital Communication Skills Are Critical in the Modern Workplace
A few statistics prove how important great digital communication skills are in today’s workplace. With the Zoom video conferencing platform logging 3.3 trillion meeting minutes annually and over half a million organizations relying on Microsoft Teams for workplace messaging, teams now need to adapt to embrace the changing digital landscape. Great digital communication skills are critical in ensuring your message gets across online and that your employees are engaged with what you’re saying.
As great as it is to have so many ways for everyone to stay connected, it also means more opportunities for poor digital communication skills to impede workflow and have information lost in translation. For example, something as simple as a misworded message in text or an unclear video conference can inadvertently deliver the wrong impression or prevent adequate communication. With remote work here to stay, ensuring your team understands and retains what you’re saying is vital in ensuring your message is received.
Common Digital Communication Platforms
In the world of digital communication, there is a wide range of platforms used. The most common means of digital communication that your team should be comfortable using include:
- Instant messaging apps
- File-sharing platforms, such as WeTransfer and Dropbox
- Project platforms like One Drive and Microsoft Teams
- Video conferencing platforms like Skype and Zoom
- Text messaging
- Social media platforms
Keys for Improving Digital Communication
Even the best communicators can struggle with digital communication skills. On digital platforms, you have many more facets to consider and navigate for effective communication. Therefore, it is important for those within the workplace using digital communication to be excellent communicators already. Learn2 Communication Skills Training works to build excellent digital communication with team members and leaders, teaching the keys to success. Below is a look at three effective techniques to ensure your message gets across as intended.
Delivering Crystal Clear Speech and Audio
Someone delivering an important message in person would never step before a team and mumble or skip words. Unfortunately, this is possible if speech and audio are not crystal clear when communicating digitally. So, while speaking on Zoom, Microsoft Teams or another video calling platform, ensure you’re using a crystal-clear voice, as you would in person. A great technique to test your audio is to record yourself giving a short presentation. This will allow you to clearly hear if you are speaking at a too-low volume, not enunciating words, or speaking too fast. This simple test will flag any audio issues before they occur in a meeting or when collaborating with your team.
Ensuring Great Video Quality
Good video quality is imperative during workplace meetings carried out via video conferencing. It’s also the quickest way to improve the quality of your communications because you can catch non-verbal cues on camera that would otherwise be missed if you were communicating via audio alone. To ensure excellent video quality, make sure you have adequate lighting, that your camera is centered on your face, and your background is tidy to limit distractions. One of the perks of video conferencing is the ability to speak naturally and use voice variations, visual aids, and body language to communicate better. However, if the quality is lacking, this can lead to misconstrued information.
Using Visual Aids to Enhance Digital Communication
Digital communication can be tricky when it comes to conveying the tone of the message, especially when it comes to strictly text interactions. To enhance your digital communications, we recommend using visual aids, similar to how you would when giving an in-person presentation. Whether giving a live presentation or providing a slide deck, including accompanying visuals will help not only capture your team’s attention but help them retain the information you’re presenting.
Grow Your Team with Communication Skills Training from Learn2
Ready to give your team the skills they need to communicate effectively? Learn2’s Communication Skills Training can help. Get in touch to get a conversation started about how our communication training translates to successful digital communication.
