Take charge of your communication

- I want to share a step-by-step guide of six key rules to become a master digital communicator. First, understand the power dynamics in your situation. Ask yourself who has more or less power, and how close or far are we in trust levels. Be conscious of the power dynamics and trust levels of your audience. Instead of jumping to a negative reaction, always ask yourself what's the likely positive intent of this message? If something surprises you, check your interpretations before responding. When receiving messages that are brief and confusing from others, ask for clarity. Probe on what they specifically need, such as whether the response time matters, or if there's information you might be missing. Use the right channel and communicate your feelings. Remember that each channel and language that you use imply different priorities and levels of importance. Number five, learn from your responses over time. If you get a difficult response back, go through your communication first. Try to always see from another's perspective and learn their behaviors to choose the best communication options for you. And last but not least, create digital body language norms on your team to reduce confusion and form clarity. Maybe you make rules such as when to email versus text, when you can use the mute button or not, and when to call out poor email behaviors. Check out the Take Charge of Your Communication worksheet to put all of these rules into practice on your teams. At the end of the day, these simple steps can make a huge difference. They've been used by Fortune 500 companies, small startups and nonprofits, and they've even transformed the relationships in my own life. Put these principles into practice, and you will become a digital body language guru and a master of collaboration.