lifestyle and culture

Talking is easy. But communicating? That’s another story. Effective communication is a fundamental skill everyone needs to learn to succeed in life, and it’s a crucial component of managing personal and professional relationships. But with the rise of social media, effective communication has taken a backseat to emojis and posts with witty captions. Whether you’re looking to improve your communication skills at work or in your personal life, you’ve come to the right place. I’m offering practical tips to help you develop effective communication skills so you can share your thoughts and opinions with clarity and purpose.

5 Tips for Effective Communication
We are constantly communicating. Whether through talking in person in a meeting, emailing with team members, texting with a friend, or through our body language, verbal communication and nonverbal communication are always happening. So how can we ensure we’re conveying the right message with the appropriate tone of voice to build trust and make others feel heard and understood? Good communication skills, that’s how. 
More specifically, effective communication skills partnered with the right amount of emotional intelligence and active listening. I know because I spend my days communicating. Not just because I have to but because it’s literally my job as a communications professional. Throughout the years, I’ve learned what good communication looks (and feels) like and how to avoid poor communication. We’re going to dig into why effective communication is so essential to a fulfilling and successful career and how you can explore the best types of communication that suit your personality and your work style.

What is Effective Communication?
Communication, at its core, is the exchange of information among people. But when you’re in an important presentation or a one-on-one with your manager, you don’t just want to share information. You want to do it in a successful way that produces your desired result. You want to ensure the information you’re sharing is received and understood. In essence, you want to communicate effectively. This involves listening attentively, knowing the best words to get the information across, and being clear and concise in conveying your message. Effective communication, like most skills, takes time and practice to develop. But it’s a crucial skill to learn.

Why is Effective Communication Important?
Effective communication in the workplace is vital to a successful career, just as good communication in your personal life is critical to strong relationships. Here are a few reasons why effective communication is a skill you need in your toolbox.
Effective communication:

Reduces miscommunication
Enhances clarity and conciseness of messaging
Fosters trust, respect, and empathy amongst colleagues and personal relationships
Strengthens collaboration among team members
Boosts happiness at work and home
Reduces conflicts as a result of misunderstandings
Creates efficiencies and saves time
Develops a mutual understanding between people
Increases individual and team productivity 
Aids in effective problem solving
Facilitates healthy conflict resolution
Promotes innovation and creativity 

How to Communicate Effectively
We’ve all been in a situation where you’re trying to get your message across, and the other person just isn’t getting it. It’s frustrating for everyone involved. When it comes to figuring out how to avoid miscommunication, you can take a proactive approach. Imagine that every conversation or meeting you have results in a positive outcome with mutual understanding. That’s what we’re trying to achieve with effective communication. Here are five tips to help you develop and hone your effective communication muscle.

Practice Active Listening
Effective communication involves a mutual understanding, and while we all listen, are we doing so actively? Active listening is more than just hearing what another person is saying. It’s going above and beyond to ensure you understand the meaning and the intent of their words. It requires you to actively participate in a conversation, which means devoting your whole attention to someone and avoiding interruptions and distractions. Being fully present and engaged in an exchange allows you to understand the original message better and gather additional information relevant to the situation by asking questions you may not have originally considered.

Facilitate Two-Way Communication
There is nothing worse than communicating at someone when your goal is communicating with someone. Effective communication ensures the other party understands what you’re saying, and that includes gathering information and feedback from others. Two-way communication seeks to avoid a one-way dialogue. If you relay information to a person without understanding if your message was received or clear, it could lead to misunderstandings, miscommunication, and a lack of trust.
So how exactly do you do this? First, seek to understand your audience and what’s important to them. Then, determine your message and the best channel to communicate to your audience (i.e., in-person, email, phone, etc.). Third, encourage feedback and gather data to better inform your work and future dialogues. And finally, analyze the feedback and take action. Continue to repeat the steps to hone your messaging as needed. Two-way communication fosters an environment of openness and transparency, leading to meaningful and productive conversations.

Be Clear and Concise
To achieve effective communication, the person you’re communicating with must understand what you’re saying. The best way you can do this is through clear and concise language both in-person and digitally. Be as descriptive and specific as possible. Avoid using vague language that could result in confusion. The goal is to get to the point in written and spoken communication as efficiently as possible. It’s also critical to select the correct communication channel. If there are a lot of important details to share that need to be referenced, writing an email may be best. If you have to share direct feedback, an in-person meeting or a phone call might be the direction you take. Be mindful of the words you use, what they mean, and how best to share them with others.

Pay Attention to Body Language
While there are many different types of communication, body language is key to remember when striving for effective communication. Making eye contact, maintaining good posture, being mindful of facial expressions, thinking about the tone and pitch of your voice, and keeping open body language helps to show whoever you’re talking to that you’re interested and engaged in the conversation. By being mindful of how we physically convey ourselves to others, we can make them feel more comfortable and understood. When others feel more comfortable, they’re more likely to be engaged in what you’re saying, and you’ll be able to get your message across more productively.

Show Acknowledgement and Appreciation
Showing interest in a conversation or exchange of information is respectful and leads to a more productive discussion with mutual understanding. When receiving or relaying information, show acknowledgment and appreciation to the other person. Relay back what you heard and validate if it’s accurate. Thank them for sharing the information with you and keeping you informed. Effective communication promotes empathy, allowing people to foster a more meaningful connection where different perspectives are considered. Think about how you’d want someone to act and respond if you were communicating with them and model that behavior back when the roles are reversed.

10 Phrases Successful Women Use at Work More

We all send and receive so many emails every day that it’s easy to forget that email is a tool—a tool most of us were never taught how to use. Knowing how to create and send effective emails, while also making the most of an organized inbox, can save you a lot of time, improve your email communications, and boost your productivity.
Successful women understand the power of leveraging email to their advantage, so let’s break down seven email tips, tricks, and hacks that successful women utilize daily to be at the top of their email a-game.

7 Game-Changing Email Secrets Successful Women Know

1. They know the power of a strong subject line
Successful women know that first impressions matter and that a well-crafted subject line can make or break an email’s impact. They opt for concise, specific subject lines that summarize the main purpose or request of the message. By captivating the recipient’s attention with a compelling subject line, you increase the likelihood of the recipient opening and responding to your email promptly.
For example, instead of writing “Meeting Request” they might opt for “Meeting on Project X Due Friday”. This subject line clearly communicates the intention and urgency of the email, capturing the recipient’s attention from the start. Or instead of using a subject like “Project Update”, they would write “X Project Update: Milestone Achievement and Next Steps Discussion”.

2. They use confident and authoritative phrasing
Phrasing plays a crucial role in conveying messages effectively. Successful women choose their words carefully, ensuring their emails are clear, concise, and free from unnecessary jargon. They aim to get their point across without overwhelming the recipient with lengthy explanations. By mastering the art of phrasing, they make their messages more digestible and easier to respond to.
Successful women also avoid excessive apologies or self-deprecating language, as it can undermine their confidence and authority. They choose words that convey professionalism, respect, and assertiveness, while still maintaining a friendly tone.
Here are a few phrases that you can benefit from learning to avoid including in your upcoming emails:

Sorry: While apologies have their place, overusing the word “sorry” can undermine confidence and unnecessarily take responsibility. Instead, focus on addressing any mistakes or issues directly and offer solutions or alternatives when necessary.
Just or only: These words can downplay your confidence and diminish the importance of your message. For example, saying “I just wanted to check” or “I only have a quick question” may make you appear unsure or less credible. Be direct and assertive in your communication.
Actually: This word can accidentally come across as condescending or corrective. Instead, strive to provide information or clarify points without using language that may appear dismissive.
I think or I feel: While it’s important to express your opinions, using phrases like “I think” or “I feel” can weaken your message. Instead, state your viewpoint confidently as a fact without hedging or apologizing for your perspective.
Abbreviations or text-speak: In a professional setting, it’s best to avoid abbreviations or text-speak like “OMG” or “LOL.” Opt for complete and proper sentences to maintain a polished and respectful tone.

3. They tailor salutations and signoffs
The salutation and signoff set and enforce the tone for an email. Successful women tailor their salutations based on the level of familiarity with the recipient. They use “dear” for formal or unfamiliar contacts and “hi” or “hello” for more informal relationships. Similarly, they select signoffs like “best regards” or “sincerely” for formal correspondence and “thanks” or “warm regards” for more casual or friendly interactions. Paying attention to these details showcases professionalism and respect and can help you maintain healthy business relationships.

4. They have templates for everything
To save time and maintain consistency, successful women create email templates for commonly used messages. Templates act as a starting point, allowing them to customize the content as needed. Whether it’s a follow-up email, a request for information, or a meeting invitation, templates streamline the email composition process, ensuring efficiency without compromising personalization.
Templates are especially helpful for any email communications you send out repeatedly with detailed instructions. For example, if you onboard a lot of contract workers as a part of your role, you’ll want to have an email template ready to go with clear onboarding instructions. That way, you can skip repeatedly writing tedious emails while also making sure no important details slip through the cracks.

5. They organize their inbox with filters and folders
An organized inbox greatly benefits successful women. To help stay on top of things, successful women implement strategies such as creating folders or labels to categorize emails, prioritizing messages based on urgency or importance, and utilizing filters to automatically sort incoming emails. By keeping their inboxes clutter-free, they can locate important messages quickly and efficiently and respond to critical matters that could easily get lost in the inbox abyss.
For instance, they might set up filters for things like “Clients”, “Projects”, “Personal”, or “Newsletters” to easily sort and locate emails based on their respective categories. In addition to using folders, successful women prioritize their messages based on urgency or importance. They may create folders like “Urgent”, “To-Do”, or “Follow-Up” to highlight emails that require immediate attention or actions. By adopting this approach, they can swiftly identify critical matters and ensure that nothing important falls through the cracks.

6. They know how to manage their email time
Successful women have a lot to get done in a day. This is why they understand better than anyone the need to set boundaries and manage their email time effectively. They allocate specific time slots for checking and responding to emails, avoiding constant interruptions throughout the day. By establishing designated email windows, they maintain focus on their core tasks and prevent email overload from derailing their productivity.
So—when do successful women tackle their inboxes? A good rule of thumb is to check your inbox when you first start your work day to see if any urgent matters came up and right before signing off for the day to make sure no one’s waiting on an important response. In between those times, successful women use small pockets of time between meetings when deep work isn’t possible or when they’re experiencing an afternoon slump to catch up on emails.

7. They use AI to make their lives easier
AI tools like Chat GPT and Grammarly are invaluable for successful women seeking to improve their professional email writing. Stumped for words? ChatGPT can help you figure out how to phrase your email effectively. Just tell the AI chat tool all of the details you want to cover and it will give you a clear response. You can then experiment with different suggestions to refine your email drafts. Once you craft an email, you can turn to Grammarly or Hemingway for a quick grammar and spell check. Typos aren’t professional, so going the extra mile to avoid them counts.

The Takeaway
Mastering the art of email communication is essential for professional success and successful women have honed their skills in this area, enhancing their productivity, making lasting impressions, and navigating their inboxes with ease. Eventually, with enough practice, these tips will run naturally in the background of your mind, and you’ll be able to make the most of your email every day.

7 Career Habits Successful Women Practice More

I love working from home. I’ve been doing it since before it became cool (read, necessary) in 2020. Working remotely allows me to do my job without leaving the comforts of my home. It gives me more time in the day for myself and my family and less time behind the wheel commuting. And while it may not be for everyone, it’s my jam. But as stellar as the pros of working from home are, I’ve also experienced my fair share of cons, like lack of social interaction and collaboration, deafening silence and loss of focus, and time management and productivity challenges.
Over the years of working remotely, I’ve learned a thing or two about how to stay productive and focused. Not every day is perfect, but with these ten practical and effective strategies, you too can level up your work-at-home game to make it more healthy, productive, and, dare I say, fun.

10 Tips For Leveling Up Your Work-At-Home Game
Leveling up your work-at-home game can be easier than you think. By making simple but effective tweaks to your day, you can become the best remote worker for yourself, your productivity, and your sanity.

Create a Morning Routine
How your work day goes often depends on how you start it, so make the time to establish a morning routine that allows you to begin your day on the right foot. Getting in a workout, showering, meditating, or eating a healthy breakfast are a few of the ways you can start your day off right. Find what works best for you. What you’re trying to avoid is waking up, rolling out of bed, and immediately logging onto your computer to work. And please, change out of your pajamas. (If you need some work from home style inspiration, we have plenty of work at home outfits to help you up your game). 

Maintain Consistent Working Hours
If you were working in an office, you’d set a consistent work schedule. The same rule applies to working from home. You need to create a schedule and a routine you can structure your life around (because life isn’t just about work). Determine what hours you need to be or are expected to be available and make a plan to stick to them as best you can.

Keep a Dedicated Office Space
Just like it’s essential to maintain consistent working hours to help separate your working time from your personal time, it’s critical to keep a dedicated office space. This doesn’t have to be a separate home office (although that’s great if you have one!). It can be a dedicated corner of a room with a flat surface, a coworking space, or a quiet spot in your home. The goal of a dedicated office space is that at the end of the day, you can close your laptop and walk away, signaling to yourself and your brain that the workday is over.

Set Ground Rules
Working from home is a skill that, like anything, takes practice. As you become more established working remotely, you’ll want to set some ground rules. Setting a baseline for how you want to operate during the day when there is the possibility of so many distractions is essential to staying productive and focused. Think about how you want to use your phone, if you want to weave in personal tasks like laundry, and how you plan to take a lunch break. Get clear on your expectations for yourself and how to operate to set yourself up for success.

Schedule Breaks
When you’re working in an office, think about how many times you take breaks throughout the day. From walks to the water cooler to bathroom breaks to a quick chat with team members, real-time breaks are built into your day. These built-in breaks become less frequent while working from home, so it’s important to schedule breaks in your day. Plan to get up and stand at least once an hour, take a walk break on your lunch, or savor a few minutes by making a new cup of coffee. The longer we sit in front of a computer uninterrupted, the more unproductive we become. Breaks are essential to an efficient workday.

Work From Away
If you find yourself growing bored or uninspired by your workspace and your company is supportive, change up your scenery. Working remotely doesn’t always have to mean working from home. It can mean working from a coffee shop or at a vacation rental on a beach, or at a coworking space with friends. While routine is important, when you’ve been working from home for an extended period of time, switching up your working location is a great option to reinvigorate and energize your work.

Invest in the Right-For-You WFH Tools
To do great work, you need the right tools. In addition to productivity tools and project management software, it’s important that your space is set up to make you feel you’re most productive. Think about what would be valuable to you, and if your budget allows, make an investment. Some work-from-home tools that could really level up your space include items like a standing desk, a walking pad, an essential oil diffuser, a charging station, a second computer screen, or a printer. 

Take Time Off
Work is a big part of our lives, but it’s not the only part. While working remotely in comfy clothes might feel more leisurely than commuting to an office, it’s still imperative for your well-being to take time away from work. Utilize your vacation time. Take a sick day if you’re sick instead of trying to push through. To be well at work, we need to rest and charge. Working from home isn’t a vacation, so take advantage of the time off you’re given.

Stay Social
While working from home often still involves team collaboration and video conferencing, it’s not the same as being surrounded by an office full of people. It can feel isolating at times to be an office of one, so it’s necessary to proactively make an effort to stay social. Schedule time with friends or family outside of work to stay connected or book a workout class prior to your work day. We’re innately social creatures, so finding ways to get out of the house and surround yourself with people that energize you is important.

Make Time for You
For me, a big benefit of working from home is the extra time it gives me back in my day. Without commuting and extra time spent getting ready and preparing a lunch, I can spend more time doing things I enjoy. Don’t forget, the point of working remotely isn’t to work more, it’s to provide you with a better way to integrate your work and life. Throughout the work week, take time to do things you love. Read a book in the morning, get in a yoga class, play with your children, go for a walk, listen to a podcast, or spruce up your house. Take advantage of the extra time you have in your schedule and do the things that light you up.

Best WFH Tools
There are a lot of helpful resources available to level up your work-from-home game. I’ve identified five types of tools you might find valuable to improve your productivity, so pick what works for you and set you up for your best work day.

Planner
Call me traditional, but I love a good planner. There’s something about actually writing down your tasks and goals and crossing them out that motivates me. Planners (or even blank notebooks!) are a great, inexpensive way to keep you on track and productive while working remotely. The Everygirl has some awesome options available at Target.

The Everygirl x Day Designer

The Everygirl x Day Designer

Project Management Tool
Whether you’re solo or working on a team, a project management tool is an effective way to collaborate with others, especially across different time zones. They’re essential for time management and task efficiency. Many tools are cloud-based, have mobile apps, and offer free plan options to help make collaboration even easier. A few of my favorite tools include Asana, ClickUp, Monday.com, and Trello. 

Communications Tool
Communication is key when you’re working away from your direct team and those you cross-collaborate with at your company. Identifying a communication tool that works for you is crucial to your productivity. Your company may equip you with tools to help you chat and video call with others, like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Slack, or the Google Suite. Find what fits your needs and allows you to work efficiently with your team to accomplish your goals.

Digital Calendar
Keeping a digital calendar is essential for me. It helps me manage my day and stay on task. Digital calendars allow you to time block your day to help you focus on tasks and avoid distributions. There is no right or wrong calendar to use. The best one is whichever one you’ll stick with managing. Staple tools like Microsoft Outlook and Google Calendar are great places to start. The Google Suite is a useful option because it allows you to utilize other tools like Google Meet, Google Drives, and Google Tasks, which will automatically add any tasks you make to your Google Calendar to really help you organize your day.

Comfort Items
This work-from-home tool is a personal-to-you option. One of the perks of working within your own four walls is that you’re afforded the freedom of comfort. You can opt for leggings instead of hard pants. You can wear slippers instead of heels. You can play soundscapes instead of listening to coworkers chatting a few cubicles down. You can light a candle and enjoy the relaxing scent. Take advantage of what makes you feel good and allows you to do your best work. Obviously, if you need to be camera ready for a video call, ensure you’re presenting yourself professionally. But if you’re doing focused work, comfort is key.

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7 Productivity Habits Successful Women Practice More