Working from home comes with a lot of obstacles. Coronavirus (COVID-19) converting your dining room into a office crammed with your kids, pets, spouse, parents, roommates and others makes completing tasks nearly impossible.
We need to communicate better. Let's start by acknowledging everyone's situation is unique and difficult. I had many of the same issues you're experiencing when I started working from home 6+ years ago. And I hope the mistakes, failures, and experiences can help you during these difficult times.
1) Talking Without Words - Humans are social animals. We like being together. We're also visual creatures. This explains why social distancing and interacting with co-workers is so difficult from home. It's because about 55% of the communication you receive from a person talking is nonverbal. We know how a person feels from their facial expressions, posture, gestures, eye contact, and other movements. This means we have to compensate for the loss of person-to-person communication. More about nonverbal communication at: https://www.helpguide.org/articles/relationships-communication/nonverbal-communication.htm
2) Know Your Audience - Are you talking with your boss, the board of directors, customers, or a Zoom crowd? Each group will have their own needs and expectations. All may be discussing the same production, but each segment will have very different questions about it.
3) "Hello Out There!" - This can be the most difficult during social distancing. It's easy to lose your social skills. And you'll develop other strange social skills. So, set aside some time to talk with your co-workers on Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Facetime, etc. While my organization is a "one-man band," I talk regularly with other artists, online sellers, and curators. It's not only good networking, but keeps me from becoming socially isolated.
4) Communicate Visually And By Voice - You may be busy right now, but this can save a lot of time in the long run. The human brain did not evolve to understand texts, emails, and other abstract communications. Because of this, they are frequently misread and interpreted negatively. How many mundane emails/texts have you sent that turned into a fight? So, use Facetime, Zoom, Skype and/or the phone to let people see your facial expressions and hear the tone of your voice. Humans are emotional creatures. And seeing your emotions will put them at ease.
5) Virtual Meetings - Honestly, I've never used Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype, Facetime, or other software before Coronavirus. So, here's what I've learned through trial and error:
a) Set a Time Limit - People zone out after 10 minutes. Check emails and other things after 30 minutes. Are useless at 1 hour.
b) Pause - Allow others to respond. Some connections are slow and other's have to release mute because of household activity
c) Be Prepared - Have a concise agenda, documents uploaded, and stay on topic.
d) Discipline - If you have a long meeting, don't allow unrelated conversations, down time for loading documents, and other interruptions or the meeting will be a waste of time. Allowing time for distractions means they may be on screen, but they are no longer participating in a real way.
e) End On a High Note - With any spare time, ask a fun non-worked related question. Or do something fun as a team.
6) Repeat Yourself. Repeat It Again. And Don't Forget To Repeat Yourself - With virtual communication being so cheap and easy, people forget things mentioned in text, email, etc. If something is important, I find I have to say it three times to make it stick in their brain. Another trick is to include a "task list" in every message during a project. This way, everyone know's where you are at on a project.
7) Tell A Story - For eons, humans communicated and learned from stories, myths, and legends around a campfire. So, if you have something important to say, make a story. It can be simple. Just have a clear message, show the conflict, easy to understand structure, share your personal experience, act it out appropriately, and edit out unnecessary details.
8) Ask and Accept Criticism - Some of the harshest attacks I've received for my art has improved my work. I posted a cityscape on social media and someone said "Terrible. You're better that this." Instead of replying with an insult, I asked him, "Why don't you like this? Please, be specific." He gave me his honest feelings that it lacked certain details to make it feel like a real location. It really forced me to rethink my work and how it was being perceived. Most importantly, he cared. He cared enough about my work to tell me his emotional response. He cared enough to tell me how to improve my painting. And he cared enough that he bought an improved version I created in response. Today, it's one of my more popular subjects to create.
9) Who's Being Quiet? - Meetings can easily be overpowered. Some people just love to hear themselves talk (especially when they have little to say). If someone's been silent the entire time, ask them about their thoughts, feelings, or ideas. For some reason, the shy one's tend to have the best ideas. Probably because they're listening and have contemplated the problem while everyone else was yakking about nothing.
10) Only Have A Meeting With A Written Agenda - Everyone's time is important and expensive. So, stop wasting it. And it can be super simple. For example, this is what I use:
(Client Name) Meeting on (Date), (Time)
1) State purpose of meeting (ie - purchase custom artwork)
2) Discuss purpose of meeting (ie -subject, size, colors, style, etc)
3) Review purpose of meeting (ie - confirm design details)
11) Save It - Have a meeting folder for your minutes, notes, presentations, or Zoom recordings. It will help you on your current projects. Confirm details that may be forgotten. And you can reuse many items for future meetings and projects.
12) Break Routine - If you want people to remember something, change expectations. It can be as simple as a funny meme in a Powerpoint, strange fact, or changing your normal meeting time, date, or location. It doesn't take a lot to surprise people.
13) Just Shut Up and Listen - Most people will tell you exactly what's on their mind and how they feel. Look at them. Ask follow up questions about details. And respond to their thoughts and emotions.
6) Repeat Yourself. Repeat It Again. And Don't Forget To Repeat Yourself - With virtual communication being so cheap and easy, people forget things mentioned in text, email, etc. If something is important, I find I have to say it three times to make it stick in their brain. Another trick is to include a "task list" in every message during a project. This way, everyone know's where you are at on a project.
7) Tell A Story - For eons, humans communicated and learned from stories, myths, and legends around a campfire. So, if you have something important to say, make a story. It can be simple. Just have a clear message, show the conflict, easy to understand structure, share your personal experience, act it out appropriately, and edit out unnecessary details.
8) Ask and Accept Criticism - Some of the harshest attacks I've received for my art has improved my work. I posted a cityscape on social media and someone said "Terrible. You're better that this." Instead of replying with an insult, I asked him, "Why don't you like this? Please, be specific." He gave me his honest feelings that it lacked certain details to make it feel like a real location. It really forced me to rethink my work and how it was being perceived. Most importantly, he cared. He cared enough about my work to tell me his emotional response. He cared enough to tell me how to improve my painting. And he cared enough that he bought an improved version I created in response. Today, it's one of my more popular subjects to create.
9) Who's Being Quiet? - Meetings can easily be overpowered. Some people just love to hear themselves talk (especially when they have little to say). If someone's been silent the entire time, ask them about their thoughts, feelings, or ideas. For some reason, the shy one's tend to have the best ideas. Probably because they're listening and have contemplated the problem while everyone else was yakking about nothing.
10) Only Have A Meeting With A Written Agenda - Everyone's time is important and expensive. So, stop wasting it. And it can be super simple. For example, this is what I use:
(Client Name) Meeting on (Date), (Time)
1) State purpose of meeting (ie - purchase custom artwork)
2) Discuss purpose of meeting (ie -subject, size, colors, style, etc)
3) Review purpose of meeting (ie - confirm design details)
11) Save It - Have a meeting folder for your minutes, notes, presentations, or Zoom recordings. It will help you on your current projects. Confirm details that may be forgotten. And you can reuse many items for future meetings and projects.
12) Break Routine - If you want people to remember something, change expectations. It can be as simple as a funny meme in a Powerpoint, strange fact, or changing your normal meeting time, date, or location. It doesn't take a lot to surprise people.
13) Just Shut Up and Listen - Most people will tell you exactly what's on their mind and how they feel. Look at them. Ask follow up questions about details. And respond to their thoughts and emotions.
AND DON'T FORGET TO HAVE FUN!!!
Have any questions? Please feel free to contact me.
Have any questions? Please feel free to contact me.
Mike Kraus was born on the industrial shoreline of Muskegon, Michigan. After earning his Fine Arts Degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he attended Grand Valley State University for his graduate degree. From there, he gained varied experiences from the Chicago Architecture Foundation, Art Institute of Chicago, Hauenstein Center For Presidential Studies, Lollypop Farm Humane Society, and the Children's Memorial Foundation. And every place he worked, he had his sketchbook with him and found ways to be actively creative. In 2014, Kraus became a full-time artist by establishing Mike Kraus Art. Since then, he has sold hundreds of paintings that are displayed in nearly every state and dozens of countries. Currently, Kraus lives in Rochester, New York with his beautiful wife and goofy dog.
For more information or custom order, please visit:
Store: MikeKrausArt.etsy.com
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