Things have changed a little. A while ago my son Sam was telling me about a new video game in which the character you play is an escaped, mutant lab experiment. Whatever happened to just having some larger dot with a mouth moving through a maze eating smaller dots?
Do not ask me how (I’m not sure there is a satisfying explanation), but Sam’s comment got me thinking about the different ways in which we are now able to communicate with each other. It was not all that long ago when communication was pretty straight forward. There were other options, but the primary choices were send a letter, pick up the phone, or meet face to face. Along the way the fax was invented and ‘revolutionized’ the workplace. You did not have to wait for a letter with a signature on it to get somewhere, it could happen ‘instantly’.
Today we have significantly more options available to us. We can still send a letter, but it is more likely that we would send an email, with an attachment if necessary. And even then, we have many options to choose from. Most of us have more than one email account that we could use, along with Facebook, LinkedIn, or any number of other social networking sites we may be a part of. Along those lines, we can also send a text or use some kind of instant messaging. And while we still meet face to face, we can now do that through Skype, video conferencing, or even face time through our phones, which most of us now have with us all the time.
I think having all of these options is great – they can make doing our jobs and life so much easier. But I have noticed a couple of things that are worth considering. First, I think the expectation around the speed of our communication has increased. With so many options available, and with so many of them being ‘instant’, it is easy to expect a response sooner than one may be available. And second, despite having so many options, almost every group I work with at some point mentions that good communication is still a pressing challenge. It seems to be an issue that never goes away and requires our constant attention.
There are a number of things that could be said about all of this, but I would like to suggest at this point that perhaps there is room for some reflection on the choice of which form of communication is most appropriate in a given situation. For quick details texting is great, but it does not work well for more involved dialogue. And email is an effective way to have an ongoing discussion or sending documents back and forth. But when it comes to those more difficult conversations; the ones that may be emotionally charged or where we are trying to pick up the pieces after things have gone sideways, it is hard to replace a good old fashioned, face to face meeting. Picking up the phone, or using Skype, video conferencing, or face time can be a step in the right direction in these situations, but I think even they are not always sufficient. Sometimes you just need to be in the same room, sitting across from someone to really ‘hear’ what they are saying. I wonder how many conversations that ended up particularly difficult or stressful could have been avoided if a personal, face to face conversation had happened earlier in the process. And how many times have things gotten out of hand because we were not able to quickly clarify some point or comment? Granted, being in the same room at the same time is not a guarantee that good communication will happen, but I do think if we are really trying to listen and understand, we have a better chance of getting there in a more personal context.
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Things Have Changed A Little
Do not ask me how (I’m not sure there is a satisfying explanation), but Sam’s comment got me thinking about the different ways in which we are now able to communicate with each other. It was not all that long ago when communication was pretty straight forward. There were other options, but the primary choices were send a letter, pick up the phone, or meet face to face. Along the way the fax was invented and ‘revolutionized’ the workplace. You did not have to wait for a letter with a signature on it to get somewhere, it could happen ‘instantly’.
Today we have significantly more options available to us. We can still send a letter, but it is more likely that we would send an email, with an attachment if necessary. And even then, we have many options to choose from. Most of us have more than one email account that we could use, along with Facebook, LinkedIn, or any number of other social networking sites we may be a part of. Along those lines, we can also send a text or use some kind of instant messaging. And while we still meet face to face, we can now do that through Skype, video conferencing, or even face time through our phones, which most of us now have with us all the time.
I think having all of these options is great – they can make doing our jobs and life so much easier. But I have noticed a couple of things that are worth considering. First, I think the expectation around the speed of our communication has increased. With so many options available, and with so many of them being ‘instant’, it is easy to expect a response sooner than one may be available. And second, despite having so many options, almost every group I work with at some point mentions that good communication is still a pressing challenge. It seems to be an issue that never goes away and requires our constant attention.
There are a number of things that could be said about all of this, but I would like to suggest at this point that perhaps there is room for some reflection on the choice of which form of communication is most appropriate in a given situation. For quick details texting is great, but it does not work well for more involved dialogue. And email is an effective way to have an ongoing discussion or sending documents back and forth. But when it comes to those more difficult conversations; the ones that may be emotionally charged or where we are trying to pick up the pieces after things have gone sideways, it is hard to replace a good old fashioned, face to face meeting. Picking up the phone, or using Skype, video conferencing, or face time can be a step in the right direction in these situations, but I think even they are not always sufficient. Sometimes you just need to be in the same room, sitting across from someone to really ‘hear’ what they are saying. I wonder how many conversations that ended up particularly difficult or stressful could have been avoided if a personal, face to face conversation had happened earlier in the process. And how many times have things gotten out of hand because we were not able to quickly clarify some point or comment? Granted, being in the same room at the same time is not a guarantee that good communication will happen, but I do think if we are really trying to listen and understand, we have a better chance of getting there in a more personal context.
This entry was posted on Monday, February 25th, 2013 at 2:31 pm and is filed under Comments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.