🎒 Microlesson

🪞 Reflect

Has a coworker ever disappeared or gone silent, leaving you wondering what was going on?

💡 Concept

Ghosting: spooky, right?

In an age when communication is easier than ever, still we find ourselves in situations where people go completely silent.

It’s frustrating in any context, and perhaps even more so in a professional environment, especially if your work depends in any way on the missing person’s information or responsibilities they have.

Ghosting can happen in any type of work situation, but remote and async-first teams are particularly vulnerable. It’s easier for someone to ghost since team members don’t necessarily see each other every day and delays between communications are expected.

So how can you prevent ghosting from happening?

1. Set clear communication expectations. Working async-first requires more than sending proof of life once a week. But your team needs to document all communication expectations in writing. Then, ensure that everyone on the team 1) understands these expectations and 2) knows what the consequences will be for not following them. This written documentation and process is referred to as a communication charter.

2. Set a communication cadence. Establish daily and weekly rhythms for communicating with team members so you’ll be more likely to notice a pattern of unresponsiveness before it becomes an issue. Set up daily async check-ins, and make sure that progress is clearly visible in all tasks and projects.

3. Model proactive and responsive communication. If you want others to be responsive and proactive in their interactions, model those qualities in your own communications. Provide updates before someone has to ask, and respond to requests in a manner in accordance with your team’s communication charter.

4. Build psychological safety. Some people disappear or go silent when they are anxious or overwhelmed. Build psychological safety for all team members by providing opportunities to share when they are feeling overwhelmed.

When someone is not responsive, you might be tempted to resort to micromanaging. Don’t!

You don’t want to turn a ghost story into a monster origin story.

🎬 Take Action

If you do experience a situation where someone is ghosting you, here’s how to approach it:

1. Be transparent. Explain that the lack of communication does not align with your team’s expectations and be sure to mention how it has impacted work.

2. Inquire about blockers. Ask if there is anything work-related that is keeping them from communicating according to expectations.

3. Offer support. Provide any kind of support that your team member needs to overcome those blockers.

4. Reiterate expectations. Refer back to the team’s documented communication expectations to provide guidance and feedback on how to move forward.

✅ Check In

🧠 Keep Learning

Learn more about proactive communication in the Workplaceless Remote Work Certification course.

🎁 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.