The more we advance in the paradigm of always being connected, in any form and anywhere, the more impersonal the way we communicate with each other becomes.
When was the last time you phoned someone other than a relative or a close friend to wish him or her a happy birthday?
Today, such a simple gesture seems prehistoric. The new reality is a tweet, a Facebook post, a simple message through any of the clients we have for that purpose, or if we want to be very effusive, all of the above. When did we reach the end of sale of a call or a visit?
I have to make something clear: It has nothing to do with my age. It’s very clear to me that going against the new forms of communication leaves us out of all circles; but what we can really decide is when to do so. And it’s not something minor, especially when there are certain results that depend on it.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of communicating this way?
- We gain immediacy, generating comfort in many cases.
- We gain knowing that the other one has received our message, and that he or she has read our messages, or not.
- We gain believing that we quickly got rid of a problem, understanding that we may have fulfilled our job leaving the responsibility on the other side of the court. But is this really so?
We lose something as valuable as the communication quality, valuable interactions with our partner, eye contact and understanding body language, which is vital for certain types of communications, such as the ones we encourage at Intraway to become trusted advisors.
How many times have you asked about the status of a particular task and the answer was: “x days ago (where x is greater than 10) I sent you an email.” How useful is that? I have never heard of a law that releases you from a responsibility just by sending an email. It’s the duty of each of us to find the answer we need and not just being satisfied with a written message that means it’s the other person’s turn.
Let’s understand that it takes two to tango. Seek that contact or that answer; it cannot be other than profitable for both of you. I assure you that you will receive the best response from other people if you seek it. And this goes far beyond a strictly working level. Talk to people! Asking something to someone other than Google is also possible and it brings immense and immediate benefits.
I’ll give you a real example, which I experienced myself. Months ago I received a text message, luckily a wrong number, saying, “I’m pregnant.” Just that. Nothing else. Now please take a few minutes to think about the person who was supposed to receive the message. Was it good news? Was it bad news? Surely the person who sent the message needed to express at that moment this novelty, but was this really the right way? Of course not. Not even a phone call would have been the right way.
The purpose of this post is not to make a campaign to discredit the new forms of communication, since we need them to carry out our daily tasks. This post tries to raise awareness of their proper use in the right areas and under the appropriate conditions.
Today we have, for instance, restaurants offering discounts for customers who leave their cell phones “parked” in a space designed for that purpose to help us plug in to those we are sharing a meal with.
To sum up, there is nothing better than a paradox, given that I am writing today so that you can read it in a blog. If you like it, hit like or recommend it to someone. Precisely for that reason, whether you like it or not, look for me and let me know in person. I would really appreciate that.
