How to communicate online

Communicating online is sometimes challenging, but you can improve your own communications by considering the distinctive characteristics of online communication. Online communication requires more planning than face-to-face communication, because the risk of misunderstanding is greater and things proceed more slowly if you have to wait for responses.

Communications in online courses via a variety of software programs are more akin to workplace communications than leisure time communications in the social media, for example. When writing messages, remember to be business-like and polite and keep confidentiality aspects in mind.

Checklist for online communications

What are you saying and how do you formulate your message?

1. Consider the purpose and goal of your message.
2. Make one important point per message or break them down into paragraphs by using headings and numbering.
3. Keep your messages positive and to the point, e.g. “When is our next meeting?” rather than “Did you fail to state the time of our meeting clearly as I cannot find it anywhere?”
4. Remember to be polite: salutations, greetings.
5. In written online communications, immediate feedback and nonverbal communication (such as facial expressions, gestures and movements) are missing, and even in verbal online communications, nonverbal communication is only partially transmitted. Humour is then harder to understand, so consider using it sparsely.
6. If you find a message offensive or provocative, for example, only respond to it when you have calmed down. Consider what the other party may have wanted to say and why. Why does the message feel offensive to you? Have you understood the message correctly?

To whom is the message addressed and which channel should be used for sending it?

1. Consider who can read the message and who will actually read it. On the other hand, if you send an email to your teacher about matters concerning your group, the other group members will not be informed unless you also email them. A specific person or small group is the easiest to reach with a private means of communication (e.g. by phone or email), while a matter concerning the entire group of students should be written on a platform shared by all (e.g. Moodle or Microsoft Teams).
2. Consider the other course participants and remember that you are not the only one who has other things to attend to at the same time: Respond to the messages as quickly as possible and follow the communication tools used in the online course.