Show Your Coworkers and Vendors Some Appreciation – Tell Them You Care

Last week I had lunch with people I worked with twenty-seven years ago. Twenty-seven years. I have long forgotten the projects we worked on, deadlines, and deliverables that were important at the time. What I do remember, are Jim and Siobhan. Some of my closest friends and the people most important to me in the world, are the people I’ve worked with.

It makes sense that we make friends at work – it’s where we spend a lot of time. And the people we work with make work fun or miserable. Building relationships and making friends at work are a couple of reasons virtual and hybrid work may feel challenging. I’ve never met Sarah who lives in California and codes our website, or Jessica, our attorney in Boston, and I rarely see Dana, who works for Candid Culture and lives in Arizona. But I feel connected to them, nevertheless. We email, text, and meet via video and phone.

There is a considerable amount of research citing the connection between having good business relationships and employee engagement, retention, and performance. When we feel we belong and have good relationships at work, we are happier and do better work. It makes perfect sense.

As I’m writing this, I’m thinking about my past coworkers who I traveled with for weeks on end, who also endured a CEO who made us practice and re-write presentations until 1:00 am for a meeting the next morning, and the coworkers I worked with at the World Trade Center. As much as I appreciated and cared about the people I worked with, I’m not sure how often I told them that they made my work world better.

Valentine’s Day is a day we express appreciation for the people closest to us. Don’t limit your appreciation to your loved ones at home – include your coworkers who make work fun and help you get things done. Of course, I hope you’ll express appreciation more than once a year, but Valentine’s Day is an occasion not to miss.

Write the people you work with, who matter most to you, a handwritten note that they’ll keep for a long, long time. You can see our assortment of greeting cards for the workplace HERE. I’ll admit that I collect stationery and love giving and receiving handwritten notes. I suspect the people you work with will appreciate receiving a handwritten note too.

How to Write Emails People Will Read

When I get an email that has multiple paragraphs I look at it, decide I don’t have time to read it, and close it out, promising to go back to it later when I have more time, which never happens. If you want your emails read, shorter is better.

Here are a few tips for writing effective emails that are more likely to be read:

1. Put a specific subject in the subject line that says what the email is about.
   1. This does not include your name. We already know your name.
   2. Example: “Meeting” (that’s not specific). Instead try: “Meeting to agree upon Q3 goals.”
2. Highlight and bold important parts of the email.
   1. Limit this practice so what’s bolded and highlighted stands out.
   2. If everything is bold, nothing stands out.
3. Use bullets.
4. Use the fewest number of words possible.
5. Use links that send readers to relevant information.
6. Offer to provide additional information, if desired.

The shorter your emails are, the more likely they are to get read. You can always offer additional information, but readers won’t get to the detail if they never read the email.  When it comes to writing effective emails, shorter is better.

Make It Safe to Tell the Truth – Working Well With Coworkers

Giving feedback upwards is hard. Giving feedback downward is hard. Giving feedback to peers can be the hardest of all. We work closely with our peers. They’re often our friends. And still, we need to be able to speak freely when our coworkers violate our expectations.

The key to being able to give peers feedback (to give anyone feedback) is to agree that doing so is not only acceptable but expected. Before agreeing to give and receive feedback, peers need to set clear expectations of how they’ll work together and treat each other.

Telling people how you want to work with them is always easier than asking someone to change their behavior. But it often just doesn’t occur to us to tell our peers what we want and need from them. We’re busy. They’re busy. And don’t they already know what courteous workplace behavior looks like? Return all emails within a day or two, tell people if you’re running behind on a project and will miss a deadline, and call into meetings on time from a quiet workspace. Aren’t all of these behaviors fairly obvious? Do I really need to tell people these are my expectations? Uh….yes, you do.

If you don’t want employees dumping these challenges on their managers, help employees talk to each other.

Here are seven steps to help people who work together set expectations and hold each other accountable:

1. Schedule a meeting during which people working together can discuss what they need from each other to be satisfied and productive. Then facilitate a discussion during which the group creates 5 – 7 behavior guidelines each person agrees to follow.
2. Put the list of agreed-upon behaviors in a shared folder. Leave the guidelines there indefinitely.
3. Give each person in the group permission to talk to individuals who violate the guidelines. This is very, very important. For the most part, employees won’t tell a peer they are missing deadlines, gossiping, or is distracted during meetings. People will suffer in silence and avoid the offender rather than speak up about the behaviors that frustrate them. Ask the group to grant each other permission to speak up when guidelines are violated. Giving each other permission to speak up will make future conversations possible – difficult but possible. Without permission and these agreed-upon behaviors in place, people will suffer in silence or talk about each other, not to each other.
4. Ask everyone in the workgroup to take feedback graciously, responding with “thank you for telling me,” rather than with defensiveness.
5. Two weeks after making the list of guidelines, get the group together on a call to review the list, and make any necessary changes to it. Discuss behaviors that were omitted, aren’t realistic, and are realistic but aren’t being followed.
6. Then follow up by facilitating a monthly conversation during which group members give honest feedback about which guidelines are being followed and which are not, and problem solve as a group. These conversations aren’t a chance to embarrass or call people out in front of a large group. If one person is violating a guideline, that conversation should happen individually. Group conversations keep the lines of communication open – which is essential to making working with others work.
7. You will need a strong facilitator for the group discussions. The facilitator must tease out people’s thoughts while making sure no one gets blasted in front of the group. Don’t let concerns, that you know exist, be brushed under the rug. Group members must openly and regularly discuss what is and isn’t working about their work environment, or frustrations will build, and unhappiness and dissension will ensue.

It’s not too late to put these practices in place, even with a group that has been working together for a long time. Just schedule the conversation and explain why you’re having it. People will be relieved and grateful.

Writing Effective Emails for Better Business Communication

When I get an email that has multiple paragraphs I look at it, decide I don’t have time to read it, and close it out, promising to go back to it later when I have more time, which never happens.

If you want your emails read, shorter is better. 

Here are a few tips for writing effective emails that are more likely to be read:

1. Put a specific subject in the subject line that says what the email is about.
   1. This does not include your name. We already know your name.
   2. Example: “Meeting” (that’s not specific). Instead try: “Meeting to agree upon February goals.”
2. Highlight and bold important parts of the email.
   1. Limit this practice so what’s bolded and highlighted stands out.
   2. If everything is bold, nothing stands out.
3. Use bullets.
4. Use the fewest number of words possible. 
5. Use links that send readers to relevant information.
6. Offer to provide additional information, if desired.

The shorter your emails are, the more likely they are to get read. You can always offer additional information, but readers won’t get to the detail if they never read the email.  When it comes to writing effective emails, shorter is better.