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Tuesday, 02 Dec 2008
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Does
Communication Technology Interfere With Communication?
by
Helen Wilkie
Yes, the gadgets we use to stay in touch with each
other are becoming increasingly sophisticated, but the cost
is not only financial...
"You have reached The Acme Company automated switchboard.
You now have three choices...
"If you know the extension number of the person you wish
to reach, please dial it now. If you wish our employee directory,
press 1..." and on and on ad infinitum.
Sound familiar? If my fellow Scot, Alexander Graham Bell, had
known this was going to happen, he might have thought twice
about inventing the telephone in the first place.
Like many other innovations since then, the telephone was invented
as a way of improving communication. The same is true of e-mail,
voicemail, teleconferencing, even the Internet itself. But do
they truly help us connect with one another more effectively?
As part of my research for a new book, I am currently interviewing
CEOs of a variety of organizations. Recently, the president
of a major technology company told me she was perturbed to note
people who sat beside each other, separated only by a room divider,
communicating with each other by e-mail instead of in person.
Happy to find a senior executive who shared my concern over
these trends, I asked her why that worried her. She had two
reasons.
First, while e-mail can be a quick and efficient way of transferring
information, it does not convincingly convey a person's tone
or feelings. Simply stating facts in the often terse e-mail
style can lead to misunderstanding and ill feelings. Second,
using e-mail instead of walking around a corner for a quick
personal conversation is a step down a slippery slope to the
point where we can avoid any interpersonal relationships on
the job at all—a somewhat Orwellian prospect.
A number of business acquaintances have noticed that when they
arrive at the office in the morning, they typically have a line-up
of voicemail messages awaiting their attention, many of which
were obviously left after office hours the night before.
It seems clear to me that many of these callers choose to call
outside office hours for one reason—they don't want to
reach a live human being. They want to leave their side of the
"communication" without have to contend with the other
person's response.
Add to this the growing use of "Call Display", that
fiendish invention of the telephone companies that announces
the caller's name before the call is answered, and the telephone
becomes a barbed wire fence we can erect to keep anyone from
communicating with us in person at all. Now that's progress
for you, Mr. Bell!
There's no denying the value of setting up a teleconference
to let people in farflung locations hold a meeting, thus avoiding
high travel costs. However, I see the practice spreading so
that very soon, face-to-face meetings will be the exception.
That's a pity, because there are some situations in which a
face-to-face, across-the-table discussion is the only way to
settle issues with no room for misunderstanding or later dispute.
Certainly, ineffective meetings waste a great deal of time
and money, but teleconferences are not, by definition, any better
run than the traditional meeting. The problem here is the people,
not the vehicle.
Recent surveys show that young people in high school are more
and more likely to be overweight and unfit, due to the amount
of time they spend in the front of their computers, playing
videogames and surfing the Net.
I believe physical deterioration is only part of the problem.
I foresee a generation of people whose social skills are non-existent,
and who will be hard pressed to become part of any kind of project
team or functional group in business.
Even worse, what kind of family relationships will we be looking
at in the future? Will someone invent some diabolical instrument
for "communication" over the dinner table, where we
each have our own keypad to ask, "Pass the salt, please?"
We need to keep a close eye on where communication technology
is taking us.
Helen Wilkie is a professional speaker and author, specializing
in communication that improves the bottom line. She can be reached
at 416-966-5023 or hwilkie@mhwcom.com.
Visit her websites at http://www.mhwcom.com
and http://www.HiddenProfitCenter.com.
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