Digital Body Language

Let’s face it: digital communication can be exhausting. Take Jack, a mid-level manager, who just got an email from his boss. It bugs him — or is he overthinking things? The last sentence — “That’ll be fine.” — ends in a period. It seems to dominate the screen, a black bead, a micro-bomb, lethal, suggestive, and — Jack would swear — disapproving. Boss is pissed, or at least Jack thinks so. But is he really? Did Jack screw up? If so, how? Is he reading into things? If he’s not, how can he work for a boss who’s so oblivious about the implications of a period?

When punctuation and shorthand set us off into bouts of uncertainty, we can be sure we’re living in unmapped times. None of us needs a linguistics degree to know that the ways we communicate meaning today are more confusing than ever. Why? Well, our understanding of body language is almost exclusively informed by face-to-face interactions.

The Prevalence of Digital Body Language in the Workplace

No traditional expert in body language could have predicted that today, the majority of our communications would be virtual. Contemporary communication relies more than ever on how we say something, rather than on what we say. That is, our digital body language. When the internet came along, everyone was given a dais and a microphone, but no one was told how to use them. We all just picked things up as we went along. And the mistakes we’ve made along the way have had real consequences in business.

A research study published by Quester called explores the challenges that we all face in workplace digital communication. Through a survey of almost 2,000 office workers, the study found that over 70% experienced some form of unclear communication from their colleagues. This leads to employees wasting four hours per week on average on poor or confusing digital communications, which adds to an average annual amount of $188 billion wasted across the American economy. Yikes!

Here’s the bottom line: what is implicit in body language now has to be explicit in our digital body language.

Each of us as marketers may have different expectations and instincts about whether we should send a text versus an email, when to call someone, how long to wait before we write someone back, and how to write a digital thank you note or apology without seeming insincere. These seemingly small choices create impressions that can either enhance or wreck our closest relationships in the workplace (not to mention our personal lives.)

Most today’s boardrooms, workplaces, and classrooms minimize the conditions necessary to foster and augment clear communication, leading to widespread distrust, resentment, and frustration. There are more far-flung teams. There are fewer face-to-face interactions. There is virtually no body language to read. (Even today’s video meetings are scarce of eye contact or hand gestures.)

Tips for How to Improve Your Digital Body Language as a Marketer

The question is: how can we stay connected when a screen divides us? The answer lies in understanding the cues and signals that we’re sending with our digital body language, and learning to tailor them to create clear, precise messages. What was implicit in traditional body language now has to be explicit with digital body language.

By embedding a real understanding of digital body language into your workplace, communication processes can provide both the structure and the tools that support a silo-breaking, trust-filled environment. This skill, in turn, will lead to enormous efficiencies and a new communication ideal, one where the language and punctuation we use across all mediums is careful, conscious, and considered, and we’re always mindful of how our recipients might respond.

Choose the Correct Medium

The medium is the message. Not all communication channels are created equal! Knowing how and when to use each one is important. Each channel brings with it a set of underlying meanings and subtexts, and knowing how to navigate this array of hidden meanings is a telltale mark of digital savviness and ultimately, professionalism.

If you’re unsure, ask yourself: how important or urgent is your message? And to whom are you communicating? If so, what’s better: email, Slack, a phone call, or a text?

And remember: you’re not bound to one or two communication channels. Switching between channels is a good way to indicate a shift in urgency of a message, or even to denote the closeness of a relationship.

Punctuation is the New Measure of Emotion

In a digital world, our screens filter out the non-verbal signals and cues that make up 60-80% 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 to infuse our texts with tone and to clarify our feelings, we might use exclamation points, capital letters or ellipses, or else hit the “like” or “love” buttons on messages we receive. However, instead of clarity, sometimes our reliance on punctuation and symbols can generate more confusion. It is best to say what you mean in a professional manner.

Timing is the New Measure of Respect

Face-to-face interactions require that both parties be in the same place at the same time. But today, most of us are scrambling to keep up with our digital inboxes. This often means that communication happens at a slower pace. Though most of the time a non-answer can mean nothing at all, it is still an annoyance when it happens. If this is an issue in your workplace, consider . For example, it can be within the hour for any emails that are urgent or client-facing. This ensures team-wide accountability.

‘To,’ ‘CC,” and ‘BCC’ are the New Cues of Inclusion

Sometimes, it is necessary to hit the reply all, cc, and bcc button on that email. But before you do, ask yourself who really needs to be included. Be careful how you use these features, particularly “reply all.” Be conscious of the level of power dynamics and trust with your recipients. (Plus, it is important to remain cognizant of privacy and cybersecurity concerns.)

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Marketers are experts at promoting products and services for brands, but when searching for a new job, many have trouble promoting themselves.

“It’s much more personal,” says owner Michelle Robin, a former marketer who now works as a career coach for marketing and sales executives. “They’re just not comfortable promoting themselves or don’t know how to write about their accomplishments in the right way.”

It’s important for marketers to grow comfortable with promoting themselves, as employees in the U.S. now change jobs more readily than ever. The average U.S. worker changes jobs 12 times during their career, lasting a median four years at each job, . One in four workers plan to switch jobs in 2021, according to a . Of the one in five workers who switched jobs in 2020, 33% identified as Gen Z and 25% as millennials.

While real-life networking and social media platforms such as LinkedIn have become more important for job searches, rĂ©sumĂ©s remain the key marketing tool in any job hunt. But very few rĂ©sumĂ©s stand out to recruiters. According to Glassdoor, companies receive an average of ; from this pile, between four and six people are interviewed and one is hired. Additionally, most recruiters don’t give rĂ©sumĂ©s much time—Ladders reports that, on average, .

With attention low and competition high, here are eight steps marketers can take to better promote themselves with their résumés.

1. Be Formulaic but Riveting

RĂ©sumĂ©s can’t be boring, but they must be formulaic to a point. Wendi Weiner, a career and branding coach for leaders and executives and owner of , says that rĂ©sumĂ©s must have a few things:

While everyone’s rĂ©sumĂ© should have the basics, Robin says that rĂ©sumĂ©s should also stand out from others in the pile. She coined an acronym to help: TRASH. This stands for targeted, riveting, accomplished, succinct and honest. Few people may think of their rĂ©sumĂ© as riveting, but Robin says it can be done by showing personality.

“The riveting comes in by weaving in your personal brand,” Robin says. “Add a little spot of color here and there. You don’t even have to get all fancy unless maybe you’re a visual artist, but you can do something to stand out from the sea of gray that human resources sees.”

2. Be Succinct

The biggest problem Robin sees is in marketers who don’t narrow the scope of their rĂ©sumĂ©.

“They feel like they’re going to miss out on opportunities,” Robin says. “They feel like they’re leaving opportunities on the table when it’s just the opposite. People don’t hire broad experience. They don’t care about that. They hire people to solve problems. You need to be clear on what problems you solve.”

Weiner says that even the most experienced executives need to fit their careers onto a two-page rĂ©sumĂ©. An executive may have many speaking engagements, articles published or board experience that could extend to a third page, she says, but they’re in the minority.

The most important rule, Robin says, is to let the content dictate the length. A two-page résumé of fluff will always look bad, but a two-page résumé filled with relevant experience can be a great marketing tool in a job search.

3. Talk Accomplishments, Not Activities

Instead of simply listing what you’ve done in each job, Robin says that the linchpin of a rĂ©sumĂ© should be accomplishments. An activity may be, “I led 20 campaigns,” but an accomplishment would be, “I increased traffic by 20%.”

The problem for many marketers—especially those who have worked at the same job for years—is that they may not remember specific accomplishments from past jobs. Weiner says that even those who are happily employed should keep an ongoing list of what they’ve accomplished to tell the story of their career.

“It used to be a summary of your work history, but today it’s got to be a strategic marketing document that sells your value in a branded way with storytelling,” Weiner says. “You want to make it results- and achievement-oriented rather than just a boring list of job responsibilities.”

4. LinkedIn is a Complement, Not the Centerpiece

LinkedIn will never replace the résumé, Robin says, but job recruiters will always search your name on Google.

“In marketing, it’s important to make sure that your digital brand is out there and that you can be found for what you do best,” she says. “LinkedIn needs to complement your rĂ©sumĂ©, but don’t ever dump your rĂ©sumĂ© into LinkedIn. It doesn’t add anything.”

When recruiters click on your LinkedIn profile, they should get a deeper look into your career story and your personality. If there are two candidates who have the same skill set, recruiters may look at each LinkedIn page to see who better fits into the company culture.

Marketers should also have a professional headshot taken for their LinkedIn profile image, Weiner says. Marketers should check that the dates on their rĂ©sumĂ© and LinkedIn match up. Recruiters will likely see it as a red flag if they don’t.

“Remember: Your LinkedIn profile is your digital footprint,” Weiner says. “Your rĂ©sumĂ© is only getting seen by a handful of people that you actually send it to, whereas your LinkedIn profile gives you visibility of 500 million users.”

5. Never Lie

Back to Robin’s TRASH acronym: H stands for honest. Never lie on your rĂ©sumĂ©.

“And people do it,” she says. A 2017 survey by CareerBuilder found that .

“That’s such an easy thing to check,” Robin says. “It’ll come back to bite you at some point.”

6. Get Rid of…

For years, people looking for jobs would insert an “objective” into their rĂ©sumĂ©, calling out what kind of position they were looking for. But Weiner says that a rĂ©sumĂ© needs to be more strategic and instead include a branding statement or professional summary.

Robin agrees and adds that professionals should also rid their rĂ©sumĂ© of the phrase “responsible for.” “Nobody cares,” she says. “And it’s passive.”

She also advises against long paragraphs: “If you’re looking at more than three lines of text, it’s getting hard to read, especially when it goes all the way across the page.”

7. Leave Out Hobbies and Interests, Unless They Fit

Marketers should leave hobbies and interests off their rĂ©sumĂ©, unless they’re relevant to the career or show an accomplishment, Weiner says.

“I’ve had clients who have hiked the Grand Canyon, rim to rim,” she says. “That is an amazing thing to actually include in the rĂ©sumĂ© because it shows a type of determination that you’re not going to see every day. But for example, if your hobby is cooking, sewing or knitting and it doesn’t relate to an achievement for the industry that you’re in, it’s not going to be a value-add item to include in the rĂ©sumĂ©.”

8. To Start, Go Deeper Than the Résumé

The rĂ©sumĂ© is no longer the only marketing tool in a job search—many jobs are filled before they’re publicly posted.

“People end up spending too much time slaving over their rĂ©sumĂ©, wanting to get it to perfection when they should be spending more time networking and building relationships that can turn into career advocates,” Robin says.

Instead of starting a job search by rewriting your résumé, job searchers should start by figuring out where they want to go next in their career, how they can get there and who they know. Then, they can figure out how to revamp their résumé and target their search to the job that they want. In 2016, CareerBuilder surveyed recruiters and reported that .

“There’s no magic bullet in your rĂ©sumĂ©,” Robin says. “You need to be targeted correctly for the right job.”

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Digital channels have grown crowded this year. The events industry is on pause and no small number of businesses have diverted that spend to online media. The resultant battle for clicks is nothing short of epic.

to address new channels. Paid search and social spend both rose more than 25%, says the IAB, and yet , according to The CMO Survey.

The issue has come to a particularly painful head with blogs, where digital content operations were not built to navigate these waters. We’re coming off of the decade dominated by content marketing where good advice was stripped to its bare essentials and repeated endlessly, often incorrectly. The experts all said “quality” but companies heard “volume” and now everyone’s armed for daily, multi-channel content publishing in a world where more is no longer more—it’s all just noise.

Amid this maelstrom, I began wondering: How does my team write more enticing headlines? Ones that actually get noticed? What I discovered was that the key has very little do with the writing itself—a rather tough pill to swallow for many writers. In the inbox or on Google,.

In short, your blog team would do well to focus a lot less on “emotional” or “strong” words in their titles and a lot more on the blog’s branded appearance, style and tone.

Headline Analyzers Are a False Prophet

Every month, more than an estimated 800,000 writers visit , a web tool designed to “optimize” your headlines. It is incredibly popular. Nearly everyone I spoke to in my informal study had heard of and used it.

The analyzer is built on the assumption that adding more strong, novel or emotional words will increase the rate at which people click. The assumptions here are many. Who decides what word counts as emotional? What constitutes a strong word? Where exactly is this data coming from? You might think such a highly-trafficked tool would be based on some analysis of actual headline success, but it seems not to be.

I ran a test and found that the analyzer seemed to disdain the headlines from articles that were among the most successful from publications like Wired and blogs from companies like Google, Shopify, and Whole Foods. None scored higher than 62%. Instead, the analyzer delighted in lingual rubbish: “Rare ecstatic exploit killing it nematode” earned a 76%.

Below, headlines that were hugely successful everywhere but in the analyzer.

• How a ‘Diabolic’ Beetle Survives Being Run Over By a Car = 59%

• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Storms Twitch = 29%

• How Brand Discovery Is Changing for Today’s Consumer = 60%

• Building a Niche Board Games Business Through a Million-Dollar Crowdfunding Campaign = 38%

And so on.

If the headline analyzer can’t confirm real-world success, can it really be predictive? And furthermore, why were some admittedly drab headlines from the publications and blogs I discovered still so successful? For example, “What Our Leaders Can Do Now” and “Market Update” were objectively uninteresting, but universally read and shared. It had to be that there was something more I didn’t yet understand.

Containers, Context and Clicks

, I gathered headlines I both liked and didn’t like into a spreadsheet for analysis. When the pandemic went into full-force, I abandoned the project, only to return three months later to find that I didn’t recognize any of the headlines. Some that I’d ranked highly, such as
“What Happened to Lee?” no longer held any interest. It was only upon revisiting the articles themselves, in their natural environment, that I understood.

Below, the deliciously moody thumbnail is what had caught my eye.

This led me to explore the idea of “containers,” or the context within which all of these headlines lived. Time after time, I found headlines to be far more interesting in their original form. The text, I realized, could not be divorced from all else—the author, the typography, the image, what’s
happening in the news that makes the headline relevant, and so on.

Each of these elements is part of the whole message—the entire blog’s brand. And each matters. The author, for example, can even be their own brand. You may not know what the business Ahrefs does, but if Ann Handley wrote the article they published, and you like her, you’ll read it. At the more extreme end, you may not be an avid reader of The New York Times, but if the morning’s opinion piece is and he makes you laugh, you may give it a try.

Do you recall the “objectively uninteresting” headlines from earlier? Below, I’ve added the author and context back in, and you can see why they were successful:

“What Our Leaders Can Do Now” — written by Bill Gates in March 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 scare.

“Market Update” — written by the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, from the same time period.

Once apprised to the idea that sender matters as much as the subject line—perhaps even more—I started to realize this phenomenon everywhere I looked. I click LinkedIn articles because of the person who posted them. Sometimes, I click rather drab titles from otherwise interesting people, assuming they must not know something I don’t. It’s the same in the inbox,
on social media, and in search.

People click for many reasons—a clever headline being only one of them. And that’s led me to the conclusion that the most powerful thing you can do to increase your clicks in a raucous digital publishing environment is not to visit the headline analyzer, but to instead ask, what is our brand communicating that will make people want to click? Then, alter your blog to make that brand clearer.

To Improve Your Blog Branding

I do realize that many readers may not have direct access to their site’s design. Saying, “Just update the blog” may come across a bit like telling someone who’s hungry to start a bakery. It is difficult. But it is, I promise, the most effective thing you can do long term. If you don’t hold the keys to the site, appeal to those who do. Publishing is only growing more crowded and this will only grow more important.

The good news for some is that you don’t need permission from the entire business to revamp your content’s brand. Lots of content teams take an “ask for forgiveness” approach and only after they’ve proven its success, pitch it to the entire company. You can even experiment by branding specific channels to see how audiences react.

Take Duolingo for instance. The language learning app has a mission that’s staid and corporate: “Personalized learning.” But : “To help you learn and expand your view of the world.” While the app is full of fake-feeling scenarios like “Let’s find the library,” the podcast interviews people about their lives and covers tough topics like genocide, kidnapping, and gender rights. I don’t know who created the podcast, but it has my undying loyalty, and that transfers onto the parent brand.

A Four-Step Process for Blog Re-Branding

1. Decide what you’re promising your audience
Write a mission statement (what you do) and a vision statement (the change you’d like to see) that are specific to the blog. What do you stand for? How will you achieve it? Who is the blog intended to help?

2. Alter the blog to make your position clear
If needed, rename your publication to fit that vision. (There are no wrong names except, “Blog.”) Add a one-sentence tagline that summarizes the mission and links to an “about us” page that goes into further detail. Then, the design changes. If you are missing any of those pictured, add them to your site. They are crucial for helping readers understand who the sender is and vital if you, the publisher, are to build a relationship that makes them want to click.

3. Devise and uphold strict editorial standards
Where many corporate blogs go wrong is they’re a bit of everything for everybody. Which means that rather than thrill one audience so much they’ll click anything you write, it bores everyone equally. 

To uphold your standards, publish a mini style guide, which is easier than it sounds. As you take or receive feedback, collect all of those preferences in one document that serves as a checklist for anyone writing for the blog. 

To ensure you publish only the highest quality stories, manage a content backlog and accept only on-brand stories. Then, edit ruthlessly to ensure consistency and quality. 

4. Defend the brand
By now you understand the value of clear and precise blog branding. But these topics probably aren’t generally understood within your company and you’ll have to educate others about the necessity of narrowing your focus to increase your effectiveness. Publish a blog guideline which begins by explaining the blog brand and its importance. Then, decline off-brand stories, partnerships, channels, so you can focus on your mission. When you have a strongly branded blog where people recognize you simply by the topics of stories you choose, it will sing. 

Do all of this and you’ll unlock a hidden marketing achievement: You will have generated a subconscious click machine that guides your audience anywhere they find you, irrespective of the word choice. When people see your articles in a Google search, on LinkedIn, or in a newsletter they’ll jump to engage. 

And where competitors may occasionally ensure your readers with the offhand clever headline, their success will be ephemeral. Yours is rooted in something much deeper—a brand and a relationship with the audience—and that’s the sort of success that compounds and builds upon itself. 

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Call it your life’s work, your purpose, your presence, thought leadership or je ne sais quoi, we don’t have to make it harder than it is: Your personal brand is your energy moved out into the world.

Imagine knowing your purpose, feeling it with powerful certainty and blazing energy, and taking action from that place. You are tuned in to what matters most and the impact you want to have. That type of energy is palpable and contagious, and it’s your personal brand.

If you’re still not on board with the personal branding craze, let’s check in to see if you already have a brand:

● Are you selling creative services such as consulting, advising or coaching?

● Are you the creative voice of your company?

● Do you share stories or lessons learned in your career?

● Do people choose to work with you because of your leadership and idea-generation?

● Do you speak at events or share your expertise on panels?

● Are you passionate about a social cause and want to recruit others in supporting and growing the cause?

● Are you on LinkedIn?

If you answered “yes” to any of the questions, you have a personal brand.

Now you get to choose: Do you want to grow your personal brand in an intentional and thoughtful way to reflect your values and the future trajectory of your career? Or do you want people to just assume they know who you are? I’m going to assume you’d prefer to be known in a deep way that’s connected to and led by your values—and a personal brand can help get you there.

Three Steps to Intentionally Designing Your Personal Brand

1. Define what branding and personal branding is

First, let’s lay the groundwork for what we are creating. According to Seth Godin, “A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a customer or client’s decision to choose one product or service over another.”

What I love about this definition is that it’s absent of the word “design.” If you’ve taken a branding course, you’ve probably developed a brand mood board. People often like to focus on the visuals of a brand—which is fine—but it’s not the first step for personal branding.

Starting to build a personal brand from visuals and graphic design elements is like saying a marriage is just the ring and the wedding. But personal branding is a full experience. It’s not just a beautiful grid on Instagram or witty posts on LinkedIn; it’s the declaration you make every day that’s in alignment with who you are and the impact you want to make in the world.

2. Brainstorm your purpose

Ever notice how certain things come easy to you that may be hard for someone else? As you begin to look for what your purpose is, look for things that seem simple or obvious to you but that others praise you for. Make a list of 10 such traits—big or small, silly or trite.

What are you good at and, more importantly, what do you love doing? Imagine you are writing a 10-chapter book; what would the title of each chapter be? Next, write an intro paragraph for each chapter, explaining why the topic lights you up and why it would make a difference in the world.

I find the formula for both your personal brand and your leadership style is to add up the vivid clarity of your purpose, your laser focus and your intentional action. This formula is key to not only your personal brand, but to your personal leadership.

Energy is a renewable resource. As Tony Schwartz and Jim Loehr explain in “The Power of Full Engagement,” “Performance, health and happiness are grounded in the skillful management of energy. The number of hours in a day is fixed, but the quantity and quality of energy available to us is not.”

Here’s the catch: Most people live their lives by default. But you can choose to be in alignment with your personal brand commitment, your life purpose, who you are and how you show up in the world each day.

Here are three quick ways to align your energy with your personal brand:

1. Vivid clarity: We have 63,000 thoughts a day, 70% of which are repeat offenders. Use clear language that is aligned with your purpose.
2. Laser focus: Notice what drains you of energy and what generates energy.
3. Intentional action: Find a role model, mentor, consultant or coach to help you create an intentional action plan to build your personal brand and career path.

3. Get over yourself and just do it already

Highly ambitious, creative people often dim their light to make sure they aren’t shining “too bright.” After recently having brunch with a friend, she posted a message to Facebook about our conversation:

“[W]e talked about the feeling you get after you’ve shared your gift with people. The elation you feel when you realize you are doing something you can no longer live without. And the absolute positivity pumping in your veins when the recipients of your gift tell you the same thing.

We talked about how often we dim our light to make sure we aren’t shining ‘too bright.’ You know, that moment when you make less of a huge thing you accomplished because you worry you will come across as full of yourself or boasting on social media. You get self-conscious of how much you enjoy the attention you are getting for the thing you do well, so you try to stop it from happening.

Well, I’m going to stop doing that. Because screw that noise.

There may be someone waiting to criticize us for one thing or another, and starting today I’ve decided that I’d rather they criticize me for what I’m doing than for what I’m not doing. My shine will no longer be in anyone else’s hands.”

My friend goes on to share that she recently developed a series of leadership presentations in her spare time. Funny thing, she doesn’t have spare time, this is the power of vivid clarity and laser focus generating more personal energy inside of her that she shines out.

We have a choice each day to turn our energy toward or away from what we most value. Do the work to find what you are committed to and choose that path. Be you, be personable, relatable, authentic and share with genuine honesty. Without that personal touch, people who want to know more aren’t truly getting a brand experience. They want to know you, like you and trust you.

Plus, it’s so much easier to be yourself than not.

Photo by Fuu J on .

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In this new normal working from home, I’ve tried to make it feel as much like I’m starting my day as I used to in the past. That’s part of the challenge for a lot of folks: compartmentalizing. I try to replicate the work atmosphere as much as possible and create boundaries to not make it feel like I’m at home. 

I’ll start my day at around 7 or 8 a.m. and I don’t think about work quite yet. I like to start with taking in some of the external outputs from the world, whether that’s listening to a podcast or checking daily news updates from NPR, CNN, BBC to get a more global perspective. Starting your day with these external outputs is really important before getting into the bubble of your own company or own world, which tend to be too narrow. Sometimes I’ll also do a decent bit of cleaning—when your external space is cluttered or messy, it tends to have an impact on your headspace. 

Once I’m done with that part of my morning, I start with reviewing my running list of to-dos—I like to keep this list pretty short and prioritize the three most important tasks and visualize what needs to be done to make progress or check them off the list. One work-from-home tip I would emphasize is that I think it’s unwise to start your day with Slack [or other inter-office chat tool] or checking email. Personally, I think that puts you in a position where you’re reacting to messages that were sent or requests being made of you, versus being proactive and strategic about managing your time. Game-plan and reflect before accepting those inputs from other people.

What time do you wake up?

My alarm goes off at 7 a.m. Depending on how I’m doing on a given morning, it could be 7 on the dot or closer to 8 a.m.

What’s your typical breakfast?

I don’t actually eat breakfast—I’m an intermittent fasting guy.

What are some of your favorite news sources to read or listen to?

The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times’ “The Daily” podcast, Vox Media’s “Pivot” podcast and the “Robinhood Snacks” podcast.

How do you wind down after the workday?

I like to exercise every day. I have a Peloton and a little gym environment with a yoga mat and some weights, and I’ll do various bodyweight exercises.

Illustration by Eugene Smith.

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Part of the Marketing News COVID-19 Special Issue

Absent of tone, context or intention, even the most innocuous of office emails can read like an inflammatory YouTube comment. This phenomenon abounds in the virtual workplace and is more pronounced now that offices are closed to slow the spread of COVID-19. It’s possible that emails and instant messages could amplify misunderstandings between employees in the absence of face-to-face interaction. Nuance is nearly impossible to decipher over the internet and conflicts are certain to arise.

“When folks are working remotely, people tend to tone down their social inhibitions 
 it can make people more cavalier about their actions, which can result in people getting their feelings hurt,” says Lindsay Kolowich, team manager of marketing at HubSpot. “We don’t have in-person signals like body language and facial expressions that can give us an indication of how someone is feeling or what they are saying.”

A workplace conflict is, at its root, a misalignment of expectations. In some cases, two parties interpreted project responsibilities in wildly different ways, leading to work that needs redoing. This can take the form of personality conflicts, exacerbated by the stress of work. Once employees start blaming and pointing fingers at one another, it’s likely time for a manager to step in.

Effective conflict mediation requires a human touch, so the process of remote mediation begins by stripping away as many technology barriers as possible. Tough conversations are best held over video chat rather than via email. Communication frequency should increase to compensate for the loss of casual conversations around the office. And remind your team that they’re working alongside the same colleagues as before—people who share goals—and not anonymous internet commenters.

Please fill out the form below to access the rest of this article and the COVID-19 special issue.

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The first thing I do is look at my calendar to ensure that I know where I need to be, when I need to be there.

I have a daily habit at the end of the work day where I get tomorrow’s calendar and either print or read all of the materials for the meetings or decisions that I need to make the next day. I know once I get into the day, it’s going to change. I’m going to get pulled into a different meeting, I’m going to get a call, I’m going to get asked for something else. I try to be as prepared as I can for what I know is coming and allow those other things to pop up.

FedEx also has a media relations briefing that addresses headlines for our business, those of our competitors or things happening in our industry. I always scan that first thing in the morning to see if there’s something that might inform what I’m working on or that I need to address in a meeting.

I have an incredible administrative assistant who keeps me on track. I couldn’t do my work without her. I also have a kind of chief of staff who I’ve recently hired to make sure that we’re keeping on track with deliverables. She’ll also challenge my thinking when we’re trying to address some issue or make a decision.

What time do you wake up?

6 a.m. I’m not a morning person, so I like a slow start to the day.

What’s your typical breakfast?

Hard-boiled eggs or Ore-Ida’s Just Crack an Egg.

How long is your commute?

20-25 minutes.

What do you listen to on your commute?

Either the news or podcasts: “The Daily” and “The Tuesday People Podcast.”

Illustrations by Eugene Smith.

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Respondents:

• , talent engagement manager, WunderLand Group

• , recruitment partner, Sprout Social

• , creative account manager, smartdept. inc.

If called for an interview with a recruiter, how can I best prepare to exhibit the full range of my experience?

EM: It’s important to prepare for every conversation. As a recruiter, I’m impressed by candidates who have their “elevator pitch” or talking points ready to go—a one- to two-minute summary of their professional experience, explained in a way that makes it easy for me to understand their current skills and goals. I’m also impressed when people have viewed my LinkedIn profile, [company’s] website, and have questions prepared about how I can best support their job search.

MK: Recruiters are mostly looking to understand your motivations in what you’ve done. Be prepared to talk through your rĂ©sumĂ©, key accomplishments and have an answer to, “Why are you interested in our company and this role?” Beyond recruiter interviews, I always recommend preparing specific examples of common interview questions using the STAR method, [which stands for] situation, task, action, result. Practicing out loud can be very helpful, as well.

MI: Look through the job description for the role you’re being interviewed for and compare your experience. Write it down. Then, make edits to your rĂ©sumĂ© to highlight these experiences that are being tailored to the job you’re being interviewed for.

Why do recruiters like quick aptitude tests?

MK: Companies with strong talent brands can receive hundreds of résumés per week. Quick aptitude tests are an efficient way for recruiters to narrow down their list of qualified candidates. That said, quick aptitude tests can have limitations, such as weeding out candidates that may otherwise be qualified. One way to set yourself apart in a sea of candidates is to follow up directly with the recruiter or hiring manager on LinkedIn to reiterate your interest in the role.

Do you prefer candidates link to their website to show their work or to send a combined PDF file?

EM: Work samples are a great way to tangibly show hiring managers your skills. I like portfolio websites because they are a living, evolving tool—and they’re interactive. The ability to click through materials and quickly navigate to information makes it easy for recruiters and hiring managers to view your work. If a website isn’t possible or it’s still a work in progress, PDFs are a great backup option.

MK: It depends on what you’re trying to show. For example, if you’re a designer attempting to showcase your expertise in responsive design, a link would be much better. If you’re in marketing and looking to showcase campaigns and collateral, a PDF file might be more appropriate.

MI: Website links or portfolios are usually preferred. It makes it a lot easier, and sometimes websites are cleaner than portfolios in a combined PDF file. In my experience, I’ve received a PDF file that’s too large for a hiring manager to open or download, which creates a lot of frustrating back-and-forth between recruiter and hiring manager. We want to make it as easy as possible to view your work.

What’s more attractive: an MBA with an emphasis on marketing or the continued earning of certificates?

EM: I think the most important thing you can do as a marketing professional is show that you care about and invest in your professional development. For some people, that may be pursuing an MBA; for others, professional certifications specific to certain skill sets or technologies. And yet for others, still, it could be networking events, staying on top of industry trends and reading thought leadership materials. There will certainly be industries or companies who require a master’s degree, but I would never underestimate the power of showing your value in other ways. Do your research, come prepared for any conversation and add value.

What’s a must-have on a rĂ©sumĂ© for a marketing professional?

EM: Marketing is a broad, diverse field with so much opportunity to either become a generalist who knows a little about everything, or laser-specific in a certain area, be it paid media, analytics, social media, account management—the possibilities are endless. If I had to name one trend, I’d say data is key. Marketing folks who understand how to look at analytics and use data to tell a story are certainly in high demand. Technical skills in Tableau, SQL and marketing automation tools such as Eloqua and Marketo are becoming more common requests from hiring managers.

I’m a recent graduate and have had trouble finding a marketing position due to lack of internship experience. Any suggestions?

EM: This is the age-old challenge—you have to have experience to get experience. I’d suggest working your network—your relationships are so important. Ask to chat with your parents’ friends in marketing. Chat with recruiters—our team works on tons of marketing positions at varying levels of experience, and we love to provide suggestions and help make connections. Also, it never hurts to volunteer your experience for causes you care about. Being proactive and getting out there makes all the difference. Be thirsty for knowledge and relationships and always be willing to take a chance.

MK: There are still other ways to highlight your experience. For your rĂ©sumĂ©, focus on projects you completed in school or passion projects you’ve done outside of curricular work. And don’t forget about the power of networking. Making connections is key. LinkedIn is also a great tool—you can join alumni groups and other interest groups, or find employees that work for companies you’re interested in.

MI: Don’t give up! We’ve had clients look for candidates who have recently graduated without internship experience required for an entry-level job. Include any relevant school experience that you can showcase on your rĂ©sumĂ© to let them know your training has prepared you well enough to get the job.

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When you think of creativity, especially within an agency setting, you might think of a group of people gathered in a room, bouncing ideas off of each other, sketching concepts on whiteboards and “yes, and-ing” their way to a truly unique solution for the task at hand.

That technique simply isn’t possible these days. While we can meet through videoconferencing, that technology is better suited to presenting finished work rather than developing creative concepts. Video calls are great if there’s a single presenter leading a discussion, but they’re less effective when you’re engaged in a free-for-all of ideation. If you’re used to throwing ideas at a wall to see what sticks, you can quickly find that screens are a bit more slippery—it’s harder to find ideas with staying power.

Here are some workarounds that can help creative teams keep their imagination engines tuned and revving while maintaining creative consistency.

Readjust to Short-Burst Output

One thing about working from home is that you may experience more distractions. Kids home from school, pets demanding attention, dishes and laundry and spouses and last night’s leftovers. Lower your expectations about how long you can stay engaged in work.

Divide your work into smaller windows of time. Try 20 or 30 minutes per work window to start: Set up your file, then check in on the kids. Sketch out some ideas, then make a cup of tea with your significant other or roommate. Go back to the computer to work on the file some more, and so on. This helps you address all the demands that arise from work and domestic life without neglecting any of them. Baby steps for everyone.

Seek Out the New

In our normal lives, we’re introduced to new ideas, new technologies and new campaigns all the time. Whether it’s exploring a new part of the city, looking out the bus window on our commute or chatting with a coworker over lunch, we’re engaged in the world. That’s harder to do when your world has been reduced to your home and the occasional (and socially distant) walk around the block. We have to go looking for the new to spark inspiration.

Whether it’s finding articles about your specialty or taking an online course, proactively seeking out and learning about what’s beyond the confines of your four walls can keep your brain active and alive. And these activities don’t have to be work-related. Pick up that guitar you haven’t touched in a few years, perfect your coffee-brewing skills, do those home improvement projects you’ve been putting off. Or go outside your comfort zone and try something new, like a writer restoring an antique or a project manager trying out painting for the first time. Resist the pull of Twitter and Netflix and stay engaged in learning by being an active explorer of experience.

Pare Down Creative Sessions

The type of conversation flow expected during a physical meeting doesn’t translate perfectly to virtual meetings. The more people involved in a virtual meeting—whether over video or phone—the more unwieldy it becomes. You can end up with too many people talking over each other or teammates so frustrated at not getting a word in that they stop participating. And even if you generate a bunch of great ideas among a larger group, the team leads are still the ones who have to take the project forward.

Consider limiting your creative sessions to the primary people on a project. Keep it small and simple, such as a director, a designer and a copywriter. We’ve seen that the work generated by smaller brainstorming sessions is more often than not just as effective as the work created by mosh pits of ideas. Find the right number for your needs and be flexible.

Change Scenery

Many of us have carved out a little corner of our home for work. It’s (ideally) a space where we can close the door and block out our housemates and family members so we can get work done. But just as different meeting rooms at the office offer different vibes, so, too, does your home workspace.

If you know you’re going to need to be creative in a meeting and generate original ideas, then consider finding a different space at home to do it in. Maybe you get Wi-Fi access in your yard. Maybe the bathroom acoustics make every pitch that much more resonant. Of course, we don’t all have the luxury to move rooms or find outdoor space. If that’s the case, consider changing up your office layout, sitting by a window or simply changing your outfit to get in a more creative headspace.

Hack Your Solutions

We’re all adapting to this new reality. It’s hard. But adaptation is a key element of creativity. If necessity is the mother of invention, then we have the opportunity to become super maternal right now. Remember that failure is always an option—experiments that don’t work clarify the parameters of what will work. Rev up your imagination, explore (and then expand!) your new, smaller world and let creativity bloom.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio via .

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