What's your team connection language? Take the quiz to find out + earn the Work Life badge!
We've all been there - staring at a message from a coworker, wondering what do they actually mean by that? 😅
That mental energy spent decoding tone, intent, and meaning? It's called emotional overhead, and it's more common (and costly) than you'd think. The good news? A lot of it comes down to how you and your teammates prefer to connect.
Read more about where emotional overhead comes from and how to cut it down - starting with a quiz to uncover your team connection language, so you can communicate in a way that actually lands.
So what's YOUR team connection language?
👉 How to avoid emotional overhead at work - Inside Atlassian
Take the quiz and drop your results in the comments below to earn the Work Life badge 💙
20 comments
Interesting 👀
For you, talk IS action. Your most used work phrase is “do you have five minutes to chat this through?” and you love when your team huddles up to problem-solve out loud.
Because you get affirmation through dialogue, you search for meaning in words AND tone, so every yes, no, and a-ha! is important.
And you’re not alone! 56% of people say that phone calls are one of their top three forms of communication.
You feel most appreciated at work when your colleagues:
- Say “hey, you didn’t sound like yourself in that meeting – want to chat about it?”
- Send a voice note over Slack instead of a written message
- Start thinking out loud and then grab you to riff on an idea
- Huddle you to chat through a brief rather than sending a lengthy email
Priorities definitelly shifted as I'm handling and monitoring 4-5 projects at the same time - so, if it can be a 5-minute talk instead of a lengthy email, I'll sign it :D
Ah! This is interesting ✨
Looks like I am Visual Validator 👩🏼🎨
The Message Maestro
You are The Message Maestro.
For you, there’s nothing better at work than when someone takes the time to write a thoughtful message.
You mean what you say and say what you mean – there’s little reading between the lines, which means you feel your best at work when your colleagues.
And you’re not alone, as the most productive teams are 1.4x more likely to prefer written communication when prioritizing clarity.
You thrive when your team:
- Makes messages interesting to read by using bold for impact and italics for sarcasm
- Sends clean and simple messages without emojis
- Conveys their tone effectively by CAPITALIZING important notes
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Feels intense dread and disdain whenever desk phone rings
Feels intense relief when caller messages in any other text-based comms format
Often hard to define, and sometimes deemed “too harsh” because of your directness, you actually feel deeply connected to your teams when work is delivered on time and efficiently.
Whether it’s a clear project timeline or a concise DACI, you live for clarity so you can optimize your day and your teams'.
You despise inefficiency, especially with written messages and you’re not alone as 64% of people say they waste time struggling to interpret written messages from colleagues at least a few times a month, if not more frequently (even daily!).
What you do love is:
- When your team uses a Slack integration to automatically ask for weekly updates
- When deadlines are met without you having to ask them or chase them down
- Being kept in the loop – even as an FYI
- To optimize workflows so everyone can work independently
Quite accurate! 🧡
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