apm 5 4

We all recognize that nonverbal communication has an impact. Some have said it's as high as 70 to 80% of communication that's non verbal. You'll hear things like, it's not what Mike said, it's how he said it. It was the tone in his voice, the way he leaned back and crossed his arms when he said it. It was his posture, his eye contact, facial expression. Non verbal communication, well, it matters. It has a huge impact on how we communicate with our team members. Now, a lot of this is cultural. So consider that as you begin to recognize your non verbal communication. We need to be attuned to these cues. Now politicians, especially skilled ones, they're, they're masters of this. At one point, I was going to run for office and be a politician. Actually studied this as part of speaking in public. But for politicians, they're very deliberate with their body language. During a press conference, you might see they kind of put their palms up like this, showing that they have nothing to hide. This movement, it conveys that they're trustworthy. They've got nothing up their sleeves. Now, most of us, we might not even notice that. It's just kind of something people do every day. Instead, we should take notice. We need to take note of people's body language. Now, in this remote environment, this is even more important. I mean, heck, this is a remote on demand class. I can't see you. I'm just staring into the camera. I'm assuming you're there and interested and paying attention. Hey, stop checking email. Come back. But consider a typical online meeting. In many work environments today, you have people in varying states of engagement during the meeting. Some are smiling, others are listening intently, but you can see them. You can see their body language. And most of us would notice if someone's disengaged because we can all see each other. Okay, now what do you see? Well, in a remote environment, when everyone has their cameras off, you don't see anything. You lose all sort of nonverbal cues. Now, I get there's situations where cameras are required to be off. Just know that you're losing context. So if you're working with a team where there's just a camera off culture and it's not required, why don't you try going cameras on? Maybe, maybe try it for a sprint. And look, if we don't like it, we'll talk about it in the retrospective and we'll go back to the old way. All right, now let's talk about active listening. This is another crucial part of effective communication. It involves fully concentrating on the speaker, understanding their message, and responding thoughtfully. Some key techniques include maintaining eye contact, using non verbal cues like nodding to show agreement, paraphrasing to confirm understanding, asking clarifying questions, and avoiding interruptions. Put that mobile device away when you're listening to someone, would you?

Zach can't come to the phone right now. He's on his way to pick up his season tickets to detention.

And by doing this, by practicing active listening, we're creating a non judgmental environment and it can significantly improve team communication. Early in my career, I worked with a team that was struggling with communication, but they didn't even really know it. During the Sprint reviews, I noticed a senior team member's negative body language towards junior developers. He would kind of cross his arms and lean back in his chair when they presented their work. This body language was sending a message of disinterest or disapproval. So I met with him one on one and we had a conversation about the impact of these nonverbal cues. I simply asked him, hey, did you know that during the Sprint review you have a tendency to lean back in your chair and cross your arms? What kind of message do you think this is sending to the rest of the team? He was surprised. He hadn't even realized how his posture was affecting others. We worked together on some more open body language and in the next Sprint review I saw him leaning forward and nodding encouragingly during presentations. The change was almost immediate. Junior members became more confident in sharing their ideas and asking questions and being vulnerable, which can be really hard for new team members or those just starting out well. This experience taught me the power of nonverbal communication and how small changes can have a big impact on team dynamics. Effective communication is the cornerstone of successful agile teams. By mastering both verbal and non verbal communication skills, you can create an environment of trust and collaboration that'll drive your team towards excellence.