Pulse : What advice do you share with business leaders looking to motivate their teams while ensuring staff alignment and accountability ? D : The first principle of digital body language is one of the most critical to ensuring staff alignment and accountability : Never confuse a brief message with a clear message . Receiving an email from your boss that simply reads “ We should talk ” could have multiple interpretations . One-word responses like “ Fine ,”“ Sure ” or “ O . K .” can also cause uncertainty .

Sending multiple question marks (???) instead of asking your team an actual question doesn ’ t clarify the information to either party . The recipient could jump to negative conclusions while , in fact , a boss may just want to discuss a proposal they turned in last week .

If you ’ re a manager , here are three questions to ask yourself to create a culture of clarity instead of brevity with your teammates : l Am I clear enough about what I need ? Always take a moment to provide the necessary background required for the recipient . l Did I include the right people in the email ? Is it clear why this message is meaningful to this person or group of people ? It ’ s easy to be so brief that others don ’ t understand why they need to respond . l Am I intentional about when and what I expect in response ? Make sure you are giving your team an appropriate and precise time when you expect an email back .

One of my favorite ways to avoid brevity creating confusion is to create clear acronyms for your team . For example , NNTR on emails means “ No Need to Respond ,” 4H in subject lines means I need this in four hours , and 2D means I need it in two days . Even if it takes you a few extra minutes , spend the time communicating with the intention of being ultra-clear .

Pulse : How can connectional intelligence and innovation help with talent acquisition and retention in the current challenging employment atmosphere ? D : Connectional intelligence gives us the opportunity to acquire talent sitting anywhere in the world . It allows us to retain top performers no matter the distance .

Interesting examples are GitHub and StackOverflow . Both were originally designed as places to share coding , but after attracting so many users , they evolved into leading job platforms in which engaged users could be invited to apply for jobs by companies like Apple and Google . GitHub also has a rating system that allows the community to star work they think is useful , offering a peer-topeer recommendation system of quality candidates .

Here are a few recommendations on how to use connectional intelligence to help with acquisition and retention : l Build a “ community engagement ” plan to better connect with potential hires . Sites like Quora , GitHub and StackOverflow don ’ t just offer jobs to the next generation — they actually build relationships with them and create a community . Your company is better able to learn what skills they already possess and their needs and wants in a new job . How do you start ? Designate current employees to answer questions on Quora , serving as “ detectives ” to find subject matter experts in areas critical to your business needs . l Host a challenge for the next generation of talent to help you solve real business issues . Problem solving networks like InnoCentive do a great job of this . InnoCentive crowdsources innovation solutions from smart solvers all across the planet , creating an

JANUARY 2023 ⁿ PULSE 15