Communication on COVID
It’s difficult to write another article on the communication challenges societies have faced during and due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I feel this strange sense of obligation to say something new, to find a new complaint. Engagement is capital, and everyone likes to commiserate. Finding a new sore spot to push on, a new and unique complaint about communication “on COVID” would likely garner more “claps” and interest, and frankly, that benefits me. In a way, this is what I’ve been asked to do. That, or repeat what we all know: isolation is hard. Virtual communication, communicating through masks, is tough. We lose tone, we lose body language, we lose physical touch and gestures, and in the case of masks some facial expressions and lip movements and… we’ve all heard this since March.
Rather than discuss the things we’ve all heard over, and over, and over again (regardless of prompt, regardless of how much we all feel the strange need to consume more tragic articles about how hard COVID makes our lives) I will be discussing something more positive.
While I cannot decree that these changes are always positive, or are true for everyone, I will make blanket statements for the sake of illustrating my point. The shift to virtual communication has had undoubtedly profound effects. Enabling those who may not typically feel comfortable speaking up to coworkers, peers, or even within a friend group the opportunity to ease into more direct confrontation and communication, providing opportunities for people to listen more (it’s so much harder to talk over your female coworker on Slack, for example), and giving space to think about reactions to things prior to responding. Additionally, the etiquette in spaces like Zoom and Google Meet allow for more organized meetings — if the host can mute everyone while they’re presenting, they may be able to get their point across without being interrupted by that one product manager who always has something to say.
Additionally, while the shift to work and school from-home doesn’t benefit everyone (especially more often “essential” workers like those in retail, manufacturing, automotive, etc.), overall, people in the US have more leisure time due to lower traffic, shorter commute times, not commuting at all, or more flexibility with remote work and school. This has empowered a new wave of citizens becoming active on social issues (there are issues within this realm as well if we want to discuss extreme political polarization and social media echo chambers — but that’s an entire other article, so I’ll oversimplify for now), seeking out educational resources such as Coursera, focusing on self-improvement, health, and wellness (see Google Trends data for keywords such as “home gym” between February and July). Additionally, resources such as tele-health visits with physicians and clinicians allow those who have typically worked a 9–5 to potentially even access their provider more easily (I know this was true for me and my coworkers when I was still living in Los Angeles and working for a company).
Large-scale shifts in culture will leave long lasting effects on communication that occurs within that culture, even after the pandemic is over. I remain hopeful that the lessons we’re learning virtually will apply in person someday — that we see ourselves listening better, thinking before we respond, and speaking out when we have something worthwhile to say without as much shyness.
In conclusion, while I could write another post about how hard life is being isolated, wearing a mask, and trying to make friends over Zoom, I will instead focus on empowering myself, my peers, and my family to use this time — to improve communication, to listen, learn, and carry on those skills after the pandemic ends.
