Through virtual and in-person workshops around the globe, we have taught tens of thousands of people how to communicate effectively with data. This series captures some of the noteworthy questions we hear during those sessions—and our answers.

One of your lessons that I really appreciate is the importance of understanding our target audience, and thinking critically about the context of every communication we deliver. My company has just adopted a permanent work-from-home policy, and I’m wondering: how do we get to know our internal audience—management, peers on other teams, and so on—when everyone is working from home?

This question came from an attendee of our most recent public workshop. Her company is among the growing number of organizations adopting a permanent work-from-home policy, citing increased productivity, reduced facilities expense, and improved employee morale. While she was on board with the change, she also wondered if this lack of in-person interaction might become a challenge, when it came to building a true understanding of her audience’s needs and motivations.

Prior to joining the (distributed) team at SWD, I worked from home as a sales performance manager at Bank of America Merchant Services for five years. From personal experience, I can say confidently that this challenge isn’t as daunting as one might think.

Here are the three ways I’ve had the most success getting to know an audience that isn’t physically co-located with you. In this case, I’m defining “audience” as the primary person you are communicating data to in an organizational setting:

1. If you’re a level or two removed from them, get to know their direct reports (or peers if an individual contributor).
Aside from strengthening your connections within the organization, getting to know new people closer to your intended audience gives you a way to find out helpful information, like what level of detail they like to see, what motivating factors they may have, and more. It also provides you with an advocate on their team. You can accomplish this by seeking out common ground—shared projects, mutual connections (LinkedIn helps with this!), or similar interests. Including these areas of common interest in your introductory emails, or in subsequent conversations, can be a simple but effective way to break the ice and establish rapport with your remote colleagues.

2. Find ways to be included in meetings with them. Shared experiences create bonds, even when those experiences might be a bit mundane.
Even if you aren’t presenting, your presence in the meeting signals an interest in the topic area, and your name and face become more familiar to your audiences. Additionally, being an active listener during the meeting means you’ll gain insight into their thought processes and pick up helpful context that will make your communications more impactful when you do share data with them. Virtual meetings are often easier to join than in-person meetings, so use this to your advantage!

3. Don’t be shy—ask for feedback!
Whenever the opportunity presents itself, ask your audience directly for their reaction to, and assessment of, your deliverables. Stress to them your reason for asking: to ensure that future communications are more valuable to your audience. Finally, of course, you’ll need to make sure you then execute on that feedback in future communications.

While it might seem like a tall order to get to know someone when you’re not co-located, it can be done if you’re willing to put yourself in situations where your audience is more visible to you. Creating those opportunities virtually requires you to be more direct about what you want in terms of access, information and feedback.

Are there other ways that I haven’t listed here? Leave a comment with your thoughts!

Once you build an understanding of your audience, practice tailoring communications with these related community exercises: