Digg this | Add to del.icio.us

As a telecommuter, you need to be acutely aware of how you communicate with co-workers and clients. A linguistic misstep can get you in trouble quicker, when you communicate by phone or email, than when you communicate in person.

In person, you get immediate visual feedback when you say something wrong, or something you say is misinterpreted. Furrowed eyebrows or a slight twitch, signals you’d better try again to say what you mean. Over the phone, a too-long pause might alert you to a problem; but, you could just as easily interpret that as someone collecting his or her thoughts before responding. With email, you get no instant feedback as someone reads your message.

With all business communication, you should be extra careful to say what you mean and say it clearly.

•  KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid. Short, simple, direct statements are less subject to misinterpretation than long rambling sentences full of comma-separated clauses.