To, Cc, Bcc, and Reply All: The New Measures of Inclusion — Picture This: You’re sitting in your office; you get an email from your boss’ boss letting everyone know that today is your arch nemesis’ last day. She finally got the boot, though he doesn’t say that. He lets everyone know to wrap up projects with her by the end of…

Unregulated instant messaging tools can lead to missed deadlines, ignored messages, and passive-aggressiveness. — Many executives are suddenly tasked with a new responsibility: overseeing the conduct of their hybrid teams across various apps and platforms. But services like virtual chat tools Slack, Microsoft Teams or Skype, which are instrumental to communication and collaboration in our hybrid offices, feel harder to regulate. …

The way you respond online might be fracturing trust and connection. Here’s a better way. — Anxiety seems to be an unavoidable symptom of our times, and the workplace is not immune. Unfortunately, our growing reliance on digital communication — a dependency that’s only grown with the rise of hybrid work — is not only contributing to our workplace anxiety, but also actually a key cause…

Your future employer will — is your digital persona showing up the way you want it to? — Getting a job in today’s world is all about making a great first impression online. Research shows it takes only 7 seconds to make an in-person first impression. So how do we make sure our virtual first impressions convey confidence and preparedness? With virtually no body language to read —…

Avoid creating resentment and eroding trust in your daily work messages. — Many of us are familiar with power plays in face-to-face encounters at work. We’ve all been there when a boss or older colleague pulls away physically, deliberately turns toward another teammate in a meeting, or suddenly stops making friendly gestures. …

Writing well and, above all, consciously is a critical mark of respect. Period. (And no, I’m not angry with you.) — Misunderstandings are rampant in today’s virtual workplaces. And while poor communication habits may feel inevitable with colleagues, it can often come at the cost of a team’s potential to succeed. We should always strive to engage with clarity and empathy, especially as we come to rely more on remote work…

Spend less time wondering about the meaning behind that period or (lack of) exclamation marks. — In our digital world, our screens filter out the non-verbal signals and cues that make up 60 to 80 percent of face-to-face communication, forcing us to adapt the emotional logic of computers. We’re rendered cue-less. By way of compensation, our communication style relies on punctuation for impact. In an effort…

You assume they’re ignoring you, but there could be another explanation — Have you ever emailed someone only for them not to reply for days, but then you see them post on social media? Your initial thought is, “If they have time to post a photo on Instagram, then they have time to email me back.” As time goes by you wonder…

Avoid unnecessary back-and-forth by getting your reply right the first time — Today’s communication channels, which encourage speed and immediacy, can create misunderstandings, broken commitments and annoying feelings of disrespect. When a workplace is burdened with missed, rushed or criss-crossing messages, collaboration is hindered, leading to widespread inaction or worse, chaos. Tom emails his boss, “Do you want to speak Wednesday or…