10 Digital Miscommunications & How to avoid them?

PRESENTED BY MUHAMMAD FAROOQUE
TEN (10) DIGITAL MISCOMMUNICATIONS—
AND HOW TO AVOID THEM?

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. What is Digital Miscommunication?
3. 10 Types of Digital Miscommunication & How to Avoid Them.
4. Conclusion

1. INTRODUCTION
1. In these tough times of COVID19; the global pandemic, working from home /
working remotely has gained enormous attention. Considering this global shift,
it’s crucial to take steps to avoid miscommunication when working as part of a
virtual team.
2. Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy are the writers of the article “10 digital
miscommunications and how to avoid them”. They have thoroughly studied
the science of emotions and their intersection with our lives at work. They have
spoken to thousands of workers globally and the most common question they
have come across is “How to best communicate in this digital age?”

2. WHAT IS DIGITAL MISCOMMUNICATION?
1. Often “Digital Communication” can be confusing and misconstrued.
2. Without access to body language to understand what people really mean. We
can get scared, nervous and stressed out for things that really does not matter.
3. Vague texts like, “We should talk.”, “Call me A.S.A.P.”
Monosyllabic response like “Hi, How have you been? Fine.” and
Responding to long email with “?????” leaves your message open to
misunderstanding.

3. TEN (10) TYPES OF DIGITAL MISCOMMUNICATIONS
1. Add Emojis (but proceed with caution):
a. Correctly used emojis can help communicate emotions.
b. Emojis help us express tone, meaning, and emotional cues.
c. Most used emojis are happy, sad and angry faces and hearts – Which are all
emotional cues.
d. However, outpouring of emojis, especially when you don’t know the other person
well, can undermine your professionalism.

2. Realize, ‘typos’ send a message:
a. Typos is the typographical error / typing mistake.
b. Typos reveal that we were in a rush or heightened emotional state when we hit send
button.
c. For example: A boss sends an email to his employee, “Hello Ahmed, $150 per hour
raise is what I am giving you.” is a lot different than the $1.50 the boss meant to give.
d. Therefore, it is suggested to spend a minute or two proofreading the message before
hitting the send button.

3. Emotionally PROOFREAD your message:
a. Always re-read what you’ve written before hitting send to make sure your message is
clear and conveys the “intended tone”.
b. Sending “Let’s talk” when you mean “These are good suggestions, let’s discuss how to
work them into the draft” will make the recipient unnecessarily anxious.
c. Defusing an emotional issue via emails is quite a difficult task but on the other hand if
you don’t proofread your message/email, inflaming an issue is quite an easy job.

4. Punctuation marks matter for one-word or very short sentences:
a. Responding “Okay.” with a period can come across as more negative in tone than
“Okay” without a period.
b. Adding a period adds a finality to your statement and strengthens the negative
emotion. It can communicate, “This conversation is over” rather than “Okay, sure,
we’re in agreement.”
c. Tip: As you get to know someone, pay attention to their punctuation style. You may
find there are people you work with who always add periods after the word okay, and
so you can stop overanalyzing their punctuation.

5. Use richer communication channels when you are first getting to know
each other:
a. We’re most likely to interpret ambiguity as negative when we’re texting or emailing
with people we don’t know well or with more senior colleagues.
b. Using video conference when you begin working with someone new helps build trust.
In general, seeing each other’s facial expressions will allow you to better read
between the lines, chit chat, and develop genuine relationships.
c. After you know the person, you can use email more frequently.

6. Communicate your level of urgency in Slack/WhatsApp:
a. Slack is essentially a chat room for a whole company.
b. Slack and WhatsApp are mainly used for urgent communication within a workplace.
c. “Can you just give this a quick glance?” or “Could you add your ideas to this
document?” by sending these kind of messages, you are dumping work on other
people.
d. The real-time nature of Slack/WhatsApp means that people interpret your requests as
urgent, and feel they need to respond right away.
e. If you don’t need a response right away, say, “No rush, but could you help me with
something when you have a chance?”

7. Don’t Panic:
a. If an email makes you enraged, anxious, or euphoric, wait a little while to write back.
Even better, talk face-to-face when you’ve calmed down. Once you’ve calmed down,
you’ll be able to better articulate your emotions, and the needs behind your
emotions, rather than just your immediate reactions.
b. When you do reply, re-read your draft through the other person’s eyes. It might be
easier to imagine how your reader will interpret your email if you first send it to
yourself.

8. Avoid email when you need a “yes.”
a. An in-person request is more than thirty times more successful than an emailed one.
b. Research shows people see email asks as untrustworthy and non-urgent.
c. If you do enter into an email negotiation, it helps to first schmooze in person, over
video chat, or on the phone. It will build trust.

9. Don’t send emails or slack messages during off hours if it’s not urgent.
a. If you don’t need urgent response from the recipient, try saving the email to your
draft folder or schedule it to send later.
b. If you write “don’t read/respond to this until tomorrow/Monday,” chances are the
reader will still think about your email all weekend (and might even feel pressure to
respond immediately).

10. Default to video in general, when you can.
a. At Trello, a project management software company, if even one person on a team
works remotely, the group will jump on a video call; this ensures everyone feels
included and makes it less likely for information to be lost.
b. When you’re not on video, you’re missing emotional cues that come from facial
expression and body language.

4. CONCLUSION
1. Most of the digital miscommunication happens because we don’t have access
to the non-verbal cues, including tone of voice, body language, and facial
expressions, that give us valuable emotional context when we are discussing in
person.
2. Don’t hit the send button until you have re-read all your email/message to
avoid any typo. Keep the “To:” section of your email empty until you are done
proofreading.
3. Never compromise on your professionalism while communicating digitally or
otherwise.

10 Digital Miscommunications & How to avoid them?

10 Digital Miscommunications & How to avoid them?

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