The Global Collective: Communication

(5 Minute Reading Time)

We recently sat down with Eelinn Vanquaethem, a London-based Digital Marketing apprentice, and Andrew Cascino a New York-based Data Fellowship apprentice to discuss all things communication, read on for their best tips and tricks

Hey Andrew & Eelin! Can you start by telling us a little bit about where you both work and your apprenticeship?

Andrew: I came across Multiverse through another program called Streetwise, it was a mentoring program which in the end they help you with a job search. They emailed me about WhiteHat (at the time) and I began to set up my profile, record my video and then I was helped to progress through to the interview stage. I was then invited to have an interview at Chubb, in the New York office for a Data Analyst role in the IoT team, from there I had 2 interviews. One was with my manager now and the next was with the head of IoT and the vice president.

Eelinn: My name is Eelinn and I am doing the Digital Marketing apprenticeship. I work at Envirobuild which is a sustainable building material supplier, I was already working here for about a year, I have a degree in journalism but as I was working in marketing my manager thought it would be a good idea for me to get some additional training which is how I came across Multiverse. My role is Marketing and Communications Coordinator so I deal with the day-day social media and email communications. 

What would you say is your style of communication? How does this work in your favour?

Andrew: I would say my communication style is a mix of steady and conscientious. I recognise some of my characteristics such as being a relaxed, patient, and cooperative person, so I find communication a pretty easy skill to master. It's all about listening to what the other person has to say and then once they've finished - asking questions. I think that's a big benefit working in the tech field, everyone is really helpful and wants to explain themselves as they are so knowledgeable and wants to share what they know to make sure everything is on the right track and work is getting done as our workloads can be really heavy. So listening to this advice is a huge part of being able to communicate well. I also adopt a conscientious style of communicating working in data analytics, I have to work logically, cautiously and risk adversely, even down to PowerPoint slides when presenting I have to make sure all graphs are spaced equally. Things have to be consistent and make sense in the workflow which filters through to how we communicate with one another. 

Eelinn: I think my style of communication is conscientious, definitely through the apprenticeship I've learned to think about the strategy before I say or do anything. I try to think about what I'm putting out there, making sure the information is correct, backing up my statements with data. I also think about whether I'm communicating with internal or external stakeholders, whenever I'm communicating within the company I'm often communicating with managers from different teams so they have different perspectives on how things could/should be done and if I don't agree I have to make sure I communicate this in a way which they'll understand. For example, one of the recent projects I was working on was automatic email comms that would go out to different customer segments and they wanted an email to be in text format whereas I thought it would be more appealing and encourage more clicks if we made it imaged based. However, we didn't have any data to back this up so I put it on the back burner, and now 6 months later when all the data has started coming in and I've analysed it, I can see my initial assumption was correct but now I can bring that data to them.

Have you had to adapt your communication style in different scenarios? Can you give an example?

Andrew: I would say the biggest way I've had to learn to adapt my communication is with technical phrases and jargon, it helps me to explain myself a lot more efficiently when it comes to problem-solving and bringing up a problem to my manager. A certain term can change the level of understanding in the conversation completely. 

Eelinn: I think often dealing with customers I often need to adapt to a more steady communication style, especially when people turn to social media to ask a question, they can be a bit heated. Logic doesn't always work in that situation so it's about putting myself in their shoes and understanding their frustrations and pointing them to the right support. This is super important on how this reflects on the brand as well. 

How do you assess the best means of communication when updating or communicating with various stakeholders? 

Andrew: In general, when communicating with my manager I try to use email and keep them concise and to the point, using screenshots to ensure that they understand the point I am making. This way they are receiving all the information they need.  

Eelinn: I think it depends on the situation, if I need feedback on something and I want to keep track of what is being said, I think email is a great way to communicate with people. Another good way of having a track record of what's being said is using a project management tool such as Trello, you can leave comments on a specific project which means that it is all concentrated in one space. We had an intern over the summer so Google-Hangout was great for taking her through various areas of work and different software that we use as I can screen share which is useful when working from home. I also use Slack a lot, which I use internally, this is great for instant responses or quick feedback, etc.

Has remote working presented any difficulties or barriers when it comes to communication? 

Andrew: I work from home, I went to the office in Manhattan once and it was a cool experience as it was very much like in the movies in what you see of corporate America, everyone was really friendly and helpful which automatically put me at ease which allowed for flowing conversations and communication. Even working from home, I know they are just an email away, I never found communicating via computer daunting as I play video games and so have built lots of relationships with people from all over the world.

What would be your advice for anyone who is not finding their communication as effective as they intend?

Andrew: On the Community Hub there are lots of events, I've been to a few on communication and I've found them useful. There are also lots of groups on the Hub which are a good place to try and practice virtual communication. For me, being able to communicate with people effectively I think is related to life experience, if you're more of an introvert I think going on YouTube and finding some resources to watch would be beneficial.

Eelinn: I would say if you're unsure on how to respond to something, take a step back from it and give it some thought before replying. Next, I would try to think about what tools are available to you and which is best suited for the situation. Finally, if you disagree with something someone is saying try to use some data to back up your logic.