Discussion Topics For Effective Communication When Working From Home

When the pandemic Covid 19 broke out all over the world, working from home has become more popular than ever. Working from home limits the opportunities for individuals to have face-to-face conversations, and interact with each other in person. This requires the human resources department and board of directors to create several different ways to make connections and engagements.

In this blog, we would like to present eight popular discussion topics for effective communication. You and your organization can use them to help keep connections interesting, meant, and durable when working from home.

Discussion Topics For Effective Communication

No one can deny the importance of communication in today’s developing world. With any organization, communication builds trust, provides clarity, and helps employees keep updated with all exact information. Besides that, this creates better relationships, promotes team building leads to improved engagement, and increases productivity

Because of its outstanding benefits, almost all companies strive to build communication as effectively as possible. Making online conversations is a great way to help everyone get more understanding of each other, and keep everything moving forward on mutual goals. So what topic can they talk about?

Here are the top eight popular topics for improving communication when working from home.

1. Work

When working from home, it requires people to keep themselves accountable to ensure their efficiency and productivity. To make yourself motivated and inspired, you can ask your colleagues for some information about their current status of work. You can get more understanding about them and may get some valuable takeaways for you.

Some of the questions you can ask:

• What project do they do?
• What things are they excited about?
• How long have you worked in this role?
• What do you enjoy most about your job?
• How did you get into this work?

Focus on what you'd like to learn about others and things you want to talk about, this makes conversations feel more fun and easier to share than ever. However, you need to control your mood well because some employees are not satisfied with their work. Negative interactions may impact the overall thinking and emotions of your team.

2. Sports

People seem to care for your physical and mental health in recent times. A work-life balance is one of the most crucial goals that many employees want to achieve. So sports is another interesting topic that you can talk about when conducting conversations between employees.

In sports topics, you can discuss with others. Talk about your favorite sports, favorite foreign or local teams, sporting events, tournaments or championships, and sports legends. Many sports are soccer, volleyball, hockey, swimming, running, and golf. If anyone has the same favorite as you, you can create a team to play together. You will have the motivation to improve your health and become better.

Besides that, keep track of annual sports championships, such as the FIFA World Cup, EURO, Olympics, Tour de France, or any you are interested in. Keep updated and you always have something to discuss with others.

3. Family

Family is a common topic to start a great conversation. People are likely to ask you about your family. Some questions are being asked:

• How many people are in your family?
• Do you have any brothers or sisters?
• How long have you been with your partner?
• Where does your family live?

Questions need to be simple, basic, and not much private. So the interviewees can easily give you information and feel comfortable. Everyone can better understand each other, improve their communication skills, and learn something about a person in a short time.

One of the important notes is to avoid asking questions about potentially sensitive topics. So make sure that the topic you will talk about is safe for your conversation.

4. Food

Food is an endless passion for many people. This may be a great topic to make discussion exalted. You also have more knowledge, experience, and tips to have more interesting experiences. By discussing, you can know recommendations for their favorite local restaurants, their favorite dish, or some delicious recipes and tips if they are handmade cook professionals.

Some examples you can ask include:

• How is your eating routine daily?
• Have you tried any new restaurants lately?
• Do you usually cook at home?
• Do you have any ideas for good work lunches?

With anyone who has the same favorite food as you, you can suggest discovering more and more foods together. It's an ideal way to make connections while enjoying your passion. Let's focus on positive topics and avoid complaining about foods you dislike because these foods may be great for others.

5. Travel

Besides working hard to earn more money, people tend to enjoy their life more than before. Make work-life balance, interesting, and healthier. So if you have vacations or adventures around the world, you are ready to share your experiences with others, and vice versa.

You can ask some questions below:

• How many countries did you visit?
• How often do you travel?
• What are your favorite travel spots?
• In the nearest time, what place do you want to travel to?

Each person has different experiences traveling in different areas. So talking with them is a good opportunity that helps you get more knowledge in your pocket. Their recommendations will make your next travels perfect and joyful. Because most people like to help and will be happy to share their experiences, let's take this advantage.

6. Hobbies

Almost all people like to talk about their hobbies. Because no matter what your hobby is, it’s always respected. So at this time, they can easily share without worrying. People like reading books, singing, traveling, listening to music, interacting with other people, discovering something new, learning, etc.

You can get more information by asking questions:

• What are your hobbies?
• What do you usually do in your free time?
• To achieve your expectations, what did you do?
• What things make you happy and excited?

If you don't have any hobbies, it's not a problem. You need to consider trying something new. When you find yourself excited, this may be your hobby. Through communication, someone around you is likely to be interested in your hobby. Or even they have similar concerns with you. You will have information to discuss and get a chance to meet others who have the same hobby.

7. Hometown

Although working in a company, each employee can come from different areas and countries. Especially working from home, allows employees to work remotely from anywhere in the world. So another topic that helps you open your conversation easily is hometown.

Some questions related to this topic that you can ask in the conversation are:

• Where were you born?
• How is where you grew up different from where you live now?
• Why did you leave your hometown?

Each person has a different story when talking about their hometown. Behind every story, you always can have something interesting. This may be their childhood, memorable celebrations, or their friends when they were young. No matter if this is fun or sad, it makes their memories as ever. Even something makes them smile and feel proud when repeating. You know people who might be from the same place as you and develop your conversation and begin forming a connection quickly.

8. The newest trend

The world always changes rapidly day by day. Every moment passes, a new trend can appear and will affect a part or even all of the world in different ways. Trends come from several different industries, and fields from anywhere at all times. It may come from technology, economics, education, healthcare, or entertainment. It also can come from the US, France, Australia, Brazil, or Vietnam.

You ask to know something new:

• What is new in social media?
• What is the newest trend currently? When did this trend appear?
• Do you usually update information about technology trends? Is there anything new?

To know the newest trends requires everyone to keep updated. A conversation helps everyone have the essential understanding to keep up with the market. This may include something interesting that attracts more people to take part.

Conclusion

We have shared ten discussion topics for effective communication when employees work from home. You can use it to make conversation easier and more interesting. By asking open-ended questions, everyone can improve their listening skill, have great conversations with others, and then make strong connections in the long run. Note that make sure to stay positive, and avoid complaining or discussing pessimistic topics. Let's start your conversations and try with some topics that you want to use.