With limited interactions with colleagues, many workers believe their communication skills have deteriorated, finds report
While the advent of remote work made it possible for workers to be able to work and communicate outside of the office space, it has hurt the communication skills of many, finds a recent report.
Specifically, over four in 10 (43%) Canadians believe that their social skills have declined due to limited in-person interactions during remote work, reports Preply. This trend is more common among women (46%) than men (37%).
On average, people working remotely communicate with others only 4.2 times a week – that’s less than once per day.
CEO John Donahoe recently blamed remote working for Nike’s innovation slowdown.
How effective is digital communication?
“The shift to remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant reduction in face-to-face social interactions,” says Sylvia Johnson, head of methodology at Preply.
“Instead, employees often end up interacting in a more limited, structured, and deliberate way on digital platforms, which can limit the spontaneity and richness of social cues that come from in-person communication. This could lead people to perceive that their social skills have declined due to these limited in-person interactions.”
However, less than one in four workers have been able to successfully adapt to digital modes of communication, according to Preply’s survey of over 1,500 Canadians, conducted from Jan. 30 to Fed. 2, 2024.
Source: Preply
Used properly, communication through digital means can bring a lot of positives, says Johnson.
“The creation of virtual teams allows employees to share knowledge and ideas more effectively, which leads to better solutions being created faster. Another benefit is a decluttered environment in terms of minimalizing the number of meetings as online communication is more efficient.”
However, over two in five (41.3%) of workers say their employers have not offered workers any form of training or resource to improve communication in the remote work setup.
Meanwhile, of the nearly six in 10, 25.5% have been provided with online resources, workshops or courses; 15.0% have been offered formal in-person training, workshops or courses; and 12.2% have received regular feedback from colleagues or managers.
About one in four (23%) hybrid employers in Quebec 23% would like employees to spend more time in the workplace, according to a previous report. And the federal government will require workers in the public sector to be in the office three times per week starting this fall.
However, DropBox CEO Drew Houston recently said that employers should not be forcing workers to report back to the workplace. He claimed that doing so is simply bad for business.
How do you ensure effective communication and collaboration for remote work?
For remote teams, having open communication is one way to improve team connection, according to project management tool provider Hive.
“Communication in remote teams often happens in silos (emails and private messages). In an office, conversations are easily overheard and people chip in to offer helpful suggestions. A substitute for these discussions are open conversations,” it says.
According to Hive, Pilar Orti, director of Virtual not Distant, suggests that employers looking to regulate the communication should be “asking questions where the answer can be of interest for others, sharing some of the thinking behind your decisions, letting others know of something you’ve heard is going on in the organization, etc.”
Hive notes that communication within a remote team is a dynamic process and that it requires a lot of deliberate action and work.
“But putting in the work is worth it. Your team will collaborate better and trust each other more,” it says.
Improving communication now seems to be of utmost importance for employers. ADP Canada previously reported that workers’ overall happiness level dropped in March compared to the previous month, and the drop happened across all indicators.