🎒 Microlesson

🪞 Reflect

In your remote work setting, how often do you put yourself in someone else’s shoes?

💡 Concept

Perspective-taking means actively working to understand and consider the viewpoints, thoughts, and emotions of others. In remote work settings, having strong perspective-taking skills helps you better navigate cultural differences, varying time zones, and diverse working styles. It also helps you anticipate potential challenges that may arise from different perspectives, thereby facilitating smoother collaboration and more effective problem-solving. 

Perspective-taking bridges communication gaps by fostering clearer communication and collaboration and encouraging team members to empathize with one another. It also encourages a culture of inclusivity, where team members are more sensitive to the unique challenges and needs of their colleagues. This heightened understanding builds trust and cohesion within remote teams, contributing to a more positive and productive work environment. 

🎬 Take Action

• Read and listen to stories of others’ remote work experiences. Pay attention in live meetings, reading posts shared on LinkedIn, or as you complete professional courses like Leadplaceless or Remote Work Certification. Understanding other people’s experiences on distributed teams can deepen your comprehension and empathy as well as hone your communication and leadership skills.  

• Practice active listening in meetings. Whenever possible, use video calls rather than phone conversations so you can observe non-verbal cues and expressions. This helps all participants to understand not only the words spoken but also the emotions and perspectives behind them. Avoid multitasking during meetings to ensure your full engagement and comprehension.

• Get to know your colleagues. Have one-on-one conversations with coworkers to learn who they are. Schedule regular informal virtual coffee chats and block off time in meetings to connect before getting to work. 

• Encourage team members to share their points of view. Structure time and opportunities for team members to share their viewpoints, even if they differ from the majority. Leverage asynchronous communication methods to gather these perspectives. 

• Remind yourself to think about others’ perspectives. When sending or reading messages, assigning work, or taking any other action at work, consider the situation of the other people that are also involved.

✅ Check In

🧠 Keep Learning

Read about others’ experiences in distributed teams in the Leadplaceless and Remote Work Certification programs.

🎁 Learn with your team!

Refer our weekly microlessons to your team members to learn as a group! Just follow the instructions in the section below to get started.