Digital body language : how to build trust & connection, no matter the distance

Digital body language How to build trust & connection, no matter the distance

Erica Dhawan

Book - 2021

"From Erica Dhawan, co-author of Get Big Things Done, the definitive guide to communicating and connecting wherever you are. Email replies that show up a week later. Video chats full of 'oops sorry no you go' and 'can you hear me?!' Ambiguous text-messages. Weird punctuation you can't make heads or tails of. Is it any wonder communication takes us so much time and effort to figure out? How did we lose our innate capacity to understand each other? Humans rely on body language to connect and build trust, but with most of our communication happening from behind a screen, traditional body language signals are no longer visible -- or are they? In Digital Body Language, Erica Dhawan, a go-to thought leader on collabo...ration and a passionate communication junkie, combines cutting edge research with engaging storytelling to decode the new signals and cues that have replaced traditional body language across genders, generations, and culture. In real life, we lean in, uncross our arms, smile, nod and make eye contact to show we listen and care. Online, reading carefully is the new listening. Writing clearly is the new empathy. And a phone or video call is worth a thousand emails. Digital Body Language will turn your daily misunderstandings into a set of collectively understood laws that foster connection, no matter the distance. Dhawan investigates a wide array of exchanges--from large conferences and video meetings to daily emails, texts, IMs, and conference calls--and offers insights and solutions to build trust and clarity to anyone in our ever changing world"--

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Subjects
Communication in organizations.
Interpersonal communication.
Information technology > Social aspects.
Body language.
Published
New York : St. Martin's Press 2021.
Language
English
Main Author
Erica Dhawan (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
xix, 267 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9781250246523
  • Introduction
  • Part 1. Digital Elements of Style
  • 1. What Is Digital Body Language?
  • 2. Why Are You So Stressed? Navigating Power Plays and Anxiety
  • 3. What Are You Really Saying? How to Read Between the Lines
  • Part 2. The Four Laws of Digital Body Language
  • 4. Value Visibly Stop Disrespecting Me!
  • 5. Communicate Carefully Think Before You Type
  • 6. Collaborate Confidently Teamwork in a Digital Age
  • 7. Trust Totally Innovate Faster and Further Together
  • Part 3. Digital Body Language Across Difference
  • 8. Gender He Said, She Said, They Said
  • 9. Generation Old School, New School
  • 10. Culture Lost in Translation
  • Conclusion
  • Appendix: The Digital Body Language Guidebook
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • Index
Review by Booklist Review

Dhawan (Get Big Things Done, 2015), founder and CEO of collaboration-consulting group Cotential, offers this timely book on digital body language and creative ways to foster inclusion and belonging in digital communications in the workplace. Due to COVID-19, many people are working from home and are remotely engaging with their colleagues frequently. But in an online environment, tone, social cues, and body language can be difficult to interpret. How do we "build greater trust, connection, and authenticity, allowing us to communicate better and build stronger relationships" in the workplace? Dhawan shares examples from psychology to provide helpful anecdotes and ways to decode various communication cultures today. The book is a quick read, and many of its lessons can be applied immediately. The Digital Body Language Guidebook appendix is a helpful resource for reflecting on the questions and adopting steps and strategies to enhance one's communication approaches. Readers interested in workplace culture and communication skills will find this fascinating, helpful, and engaging.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Building trust among remote work teams is no small feat, advises executive coach Dhawan (Get Big Things Done) in this sharp, timely treatise on the importance of translating body language to the digital space. Nonverbal cues, she writes, make up such a large part of communication that learning to function without them is a new skill: virtual employees face "widespread misunderstanding and conflict," which has led to anxiety, distrust, and paranoia. To counter this, Dhawan offers four laws of digital body language: value visibly, communicate carefully, collaborate confidently, and trust totally. She shows readers how to make colleagues feel valued without handshakes or in-person eye contact by, for instance, avoiding multitasking during meetings and sending emails in a rush; navigate power plays that come in the form of ambiguous digital communication such as overly-formal or one-word answers (she advises getting a second opinion when in doubt); and manage generational differences (understanding preferences is key for such decisions as when to use emoji). Dhawan's high-energy advice comes right on time: "As we all know by now, video meetings are far from perfect, with many feeling decidedly uncollaborative... but there are ways around this." Anyone trying to find their way through the new normal of office life will learn something from this real-world guide to respectful, productive communication. (May)

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Review by Library Journal Review

The volume of email to be answered and the number of virtual communication channels to be monitored in today's working world are seemingly ever-increasing. The importance of communicating effectively in all of these spaces is now as important as doing so in person (if not more so). Dhawan (Get Big Things Done) seeks to help readers correctly decipher others' signals and project their own so that they are not misunderstood. In addition to explaining what this means and why it's useful, Dhawan details her four rules for communication--value visibly, communicate carefully, collaborate confidently, trust totally--and points out the ways in which differences of gender, generational group, or culture can influence communication. Some of the advice might not be appropriate for every workplace or profession (e.g., her suggestion to use all caps and multiple exclamation points to communicate urgency), but much of the content will be broadly applicable, in the vein of Thomas Zweifel's Communicate or Die and Kerry Patterson's Crucial Conversations. VERDICT Written in an approachable style, and organized such that readers can pick and choose sections that apply to their situation, this will be a useful resource for anyone who struggles with online communication.--Sara Holder, Univ. of Illinois Libs., Champaign

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