Communicating on the Job

Keep your manager aware.

• Communicate openly with your supervisor to ensure you share the same expectations for your performance. Schedule regular meetings so you can report on your progress and seek clarification on your goals.

Show others that you care.

In person:

• Remain patient, courteous, and calm.
• Use direct eye contact.
• Listen carefully and take notes.
• Ensure you understand by asking questions and paraphrasing answers.

By email:

• Always include a subject.
• Keep e-mail message short, concise and clear.
• Check your spelling and grammar before sending a message.
• Begin messages with "Hello", Hi" or "Dear"; you may us "Hey" for close friends, but it is not an appropriate salutation for colleagues or managers.

By phone:

• Identify yourself and your company when calling or answering.
• Speak clearly and concisely.
• Determine whether there is a need for action by either party.
• Summarize the next steps.
• Remember to say "thanks."

Get personal? Don’t you dare!

• Don’t chat online or on the phone. Don’t use the company’s computers for anything personal. Don’t use the email or Internet for anything not related to your job. No Facebook, Twitter, Hotmail... you get the picture!

For more tips, see an article by Lisa Stephens in the Globe and Mail on The communication troubles of Generation Text.