This week’s question relates to how you are connecting with the people who are closest and most important to you: your family, friends, colleagues and – yes – your customers. In this era of technological hype in which text messaging, email, Twitter, and Facebook seem to take precedence over a face to face conversation or even a phone call, I’m wondering how effective these connections really are for maintaining and nurturing your most important personal and professional relationships.
New York Times columnist Bob Herbert reflected on this issue in a recent column titled “Tweet Less, Kiss More.” Herbert described an engagement party that a friend attended. “She said it was lovely: a delicious lunch and plenty of Champagne toasts. But all the guests had their cellphones on the luncheon tables and had text-messaged their way through the entire event. Enough already with this hyperactive behavior, this techno-tyranny and nonstop freneticism. We need to slow down and take a deep breath.”
Later in the column, Herbert goes on to say “I’m not opposed to the remarkable technological advances of the past several years. I don’t want to go back to typewriters and carbon paper and yellowing clips from the newspaper morgue. I just think that we should treat technology like any other tool. We should control it, bending it to our human purposes. Let’s put down at least some of these gadgets and spend a little time just being ourselves.”
With Bob Herbert’s column as inspiration, I would like to learn about the most important personal and professional connections in your life. How are they going? Are today’s remarkable tools enhancing your connection or placing greater distance between you and those most important to you? In short, what are you doing to connect more effectively?
Sunday, July 18, 2010
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As the cliché goes, “It’s different horses for different courses”. Factors that influence the communication strategy, inter alia, include, the message, timing - how soon and over what period; costs; the audience and locality – where the message has to be delivered.
ReplyDeleteIn our office, communication with individuals is 99% face to face, with some e-mailing at times. Personally, manage by walking around(MBWA)is promoted. It is spontaneous, instantaneous, decisions get made and it builds confidence and trust. Any business or relationship survives on trust, it is therefore vital that an environment of trust be promoted at all times and I believe that taking out the “written part” of communications greatly enhances trust . However, if this “verbal trust” breaks down, matters are confirmed in writing. You will soon establish the most appropriate means of communication with your various members of staff. Keep track of the “verbal agreements” by making your own diary entries.
Again, Face to face meetings are held when more than one person is involved. Teleconferencing depends on who is involved and what matter is being discussed; never underestimate the value reading body language.
Bulk messaging is mostly done by e-mail, with limited use of SMS’s and in rare cases printed media – the latter, however, again greatly depends on what message is communicated with whom and where as well as costs.
With our customers communication is done through:
One on one discussions – this is limited but typically occurs when we target a certain market. For example Truckers on the issue of health, we would then do a sample survey;
Independent market surveys – sampling but again one on one;
Radio advertisements;
Phone in discussions;
Printed media - but this is limited;
Our website; (always be current)
SMS’s to registered users;
Our dedicated Route Services Centre whom our customers can call via a 24/7 help line;
Our Route Help Centre where we inform our customers on accommodation and attractions along the route and
We also deploy electronic variable message signs communicating various messages to our customers on weather conditions, field fires, construction activities, our help number and general road safety messages.
So, as a company we do not Twitter and Facebook; nothing beats one on one communication and that also goes for the family, face to face or a telephone call.
Neglect face to face communication at your peril.
Regards,
Neil Tolmie
Chief Executive Officer
N3 Toll Concession
www.n3tc.co.za
What a great question.
ReplyDeleteSecretary LaHood is quite right to be tackling the safety aspects of this. Distracted driving is dangerous, selfish and should be strictly regulated.
Another aspect of this is just bad manners. If you are attending a talk (especially one in an intimate setting) turn the technology off or at least don't look at it (take my word for it when you speak you can see every single person doing it). If you can't help yourself, don't go.
Otherwise, the question to me boils down to "for what?" Social media tools are great starting points for getting the word out about what you and your organization are doing and great for understanding what others and their organizations are doing. They also help me stay connected with my avocations, which otherwise get less attention than my profession and the immediate demands of my personal life and family.
Social media, however, should be just the start of understanding. In that sense, they increase the size of my in-box, generate more information that I have to triage, but do help expand the range of material I see and potentially my understanding. If the new understanding is not worth the trade-off of more information and triage, then I typically remove myself from a list or stop using that technology. I hope others do it with me too.
Let's remember what tweets, texting, and other forms of technological talking provide: just a short message often with the absence of context. These type of communications and today's incessant talkshow blather contribute to a trend where people today confuse commentary and marketing with analysis and understanding.
To build upon our analysis and understanding of ourselves and our work we have to commit time to it. I find my board memberships, lunches, phone calls, and client work keep me engaged and require that I stay current. In turn, the qualitatively rich information generated and my review of it lead to understanding and informed analysis.
So I agree with Neil that face to face communication is best especially if augmented by time to reflect, study and analyze what you have heard.
Steve Van Beek
President/CEO
Eno Transportation Foundation
svanbeek@enotrans.com
Nothing beats being in-person. I know if i want to talk to my Dad i need to get in the car and drive two hours to his house. Face to face is the only way to go in his opinion. He does not own a computer or a cell phone. Even if i call him it will be 30 seconds or less and usually only to schedule when i will come over to his house again. Personal or emotional issues need face to face.
ReplyDeleteE-mail has been a great tool to send quick messages to many people at same time, but can be abused (a good rule of thumb is to pick up the phone if emails become a conversation). For work related information or document sharing, well then email works. For jobs that are 24/7 such as operating a toll highway, having a blackberry which keeps you in touch with staff 24/7 is critical but that needs to be managed and controlled to only what is critical and important.
Texting to my son or wife with my status at work or finding out when someone might be home is less intrusive then a phone call so is a matter of convenience but not necessity. If you can't be on the phone (driving, in class or meeting) then you probably should not be texting. Nothing replaces the family dinner as a good way to connect with family members.
As for Facebook, i have an account. I set it up at the encouragement of an old college friend. I have reconnected with long lost friends for college and high school. I check it every couple weks if i am lucky (recently only twice in several months) for new friends and new family photos. Many of my "friends" have buried it with games, trivial daily on-goings, and other useless information making it increasingly less attractive to me.
That is my opinion at the moment and i am open to changing as new things come along.
The reason e-mail and texting work so well is that the message recipient is not required to be present or connected. In reality, it is the absence of connection that makes it work. In the old days if you called someone on the rotary dial phone and they didn’t answer, you would have to remember (buffer) the information until you could speak later. We no longer need to remember anything. We buffer our message in the electronic ether and it waits for the recipient to read it. This really works in business and adds to organizational efficiency. You send, send, send – and trust that the messages will be effective. Most of the time, they are effective. If you work in a national organization across the three hours of time zones, you can extend your messages beyond traditional work hours for the convenience of others. E-mail has become pervasive because the practical human need to disconnect always trumps the conscious decision to engage in a communication, and e-mail and texting allows that to happen gracefully. E-mail is not communication between two people. It is electronic messaging, and there is a difference.
ReplyDeleteGiven that the sender does not expect an immediate response, there really is no justification to read e-mail or texts while driving. To do so is to gamble with personal safety and the lives of others for no good reason. Texting while driving ranks up there with driving under the influence. With DUI, a driver is driving with an impaired capability. With texting, a driver is driving without the mind or eyes on the driving task- certainly an impaired capability. Punishments should be similar. As a society, we no longer tolerate DUI. Unfortunately, as a society we are less judgmental when a distracted driver takes a life- there is a collective sigh and feeling that the poor driver is somehow a victim of our societal pressure to be connected. The results are the same as DUI, so why is the cause more acceptable? The problem of DUI enforcement was enhanced by technology, specifically on site testing of the driver’s blood alcohol level. Distracted driving is currently harder to enforce, although on the horizon it will become more enforceable with technology that will match handheld activity to “black-box” electronic forensics in the vehicle.
As for courtesy, the compulsive communicator community feeds on itself. I’m guessing at the engagement party mentioned in the Bob Herbert column, the party turned into a communicative cold war of MAD (Mutually Assured Distraction), because engaging the handheld was contagious. It started with one guest seeing another guest do it, and thinking “hey, my e-mails are no less important than yours.” More and more screens light up, and soon the whole room is checking messages. If the couple makes it to the altar, perhaps they will hear the celebrant say “tweet now, or forever hold your peace,” and wait anxiously for their handhelds to vibrate.
As for family and friends; connect, don’t message. You and they deserve the one on one human interaction that enriches the soul. Your mobile device can wait- waiting is what it does best.
Dan Baxter
Chief Engineer, CH2M Hill
Over the last few months I have become keenly aware of how important it is to communicate with friends in a time of loss. The many e-mails I have received from around the world have most assuredly been a comfort and I am thankful that that tool exists for communication.
ReplyDeleteWhen I travel however I am able to "get a hug" and share feelings much more completely with the same friends. There is no substitute for person-to-person communications when it comes to communication between friends.
In business, I find e-mail access, voice over the Internet phone service, online financial services and Internet research capabilities as absolutely essential. Without these capabilities it would be difficult to serve clients located in other countries, some which are halfway around the world. They are great tools that they are indeed just tools as the columnist notes and though they allow us to be extraordinarily efficient we should not allow ourselves to be curtailed from "stopping to smell the roses" nor to spend time with our friends and family. These close personal communications with family and friends are the essence of living.
Hal Worrall
Transportation Innovations, Inc.
As a follow up- take a look at the USA Today article from todays headllines "Safety-driven software aims to block texting while driving" http://www.usatoday.com/tech/wireless/2010-07-21-1Atexting21_ST_N.htm
ReplyDeleteDan Baxter
Chief Engineer
CH2M Hill
We know tweets, blogs, texting and Facebook posts are all great ways to communicate and obtain feedback from people active in the social media network. Social media has its place in the marketing mix and can help you manage mass communication and clarify policies and answer common questions, but don’t rely on it to solve problems, especially customer complaints. Resolve those directly before they become issues in the blogosphere.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to customer outreach and communications, the best way to handle a complaint, clear up a misconception or answer a question is in-person or over the phone, or at an outreach event via a friendly, knowledgeable representative. The human connection creates a lasting impression in the customer’s mind and shows your organization cares about its customers. Once a customer feels they have been given the opportunity to have that valuable interaction with a real person, they will pass that along via word of mouth (or tweet), and will more often than not become a fan.
Daniel Sparling
Senior Account Manager
Frank Wilson & Associates
Great topic! If you know me, you know it's one that is near and dear to my heart. I agree that some people take social media to the extreme and that it's not always used for "good". But, I'd like to present the other side.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, with social media, it's important to remember that it helps create moments that are completely unique and allow others to attend, listen and participate virtually.
Steve Van Beek mentioned that he can see every member of the audience who is texting and I admit, I text while listening. It's my way of taking notes. But the interesting thing about Tweeting is that hundreds of people have access to those notes. While they don't receive the same benefits as sitting in the audience and absorbing the entire message, maybe one tweet in the string causes them to pause, to think, to research, to ask a question. If that's the case, haven't I done Steve a favor by spreading his message?
But it's not just about sending a message. Social media IS about connecting. No, it's not face-to-face. But the very concept of social media doesn't work if it's all about you. Just like personal relationships, you have to have back-and-forth, open communication.
When someone asks a question, you respond. When they announce good news, you celebrate. When they're having a bad day, you commiserate.
I agree with Hal that those hugs are far better for the soul than any tweet can provide. However, for those who can't travel to see friends, colleagues or family, those daily tweets, texts and emails ARE our hugs and pats on the back. Through social media, we are able to connect with people who we may never meet but who we have a whole lot more in common with than our neighbors, coworkers or our children's friends' parents.
Isn't it entirely possible, that guests at the engagement party mentioned in Bob Herbert's column were tweeting "Look how happy Mike and Sara are together" and posting photos and videos to Facebook so their friends who now live in California can feel like they are participating too?
Social media allows participation when you can't be physically present. (The hard part of this is making sure that you are actually present in mind and spirit when you are physically present.)
As for where social media fits into our professional world, I would like to stress one item from Neil Tolmie's list of communication strategy factors: where the message should be delivered. "Consider the audience’s locality" – not just their physical location but also their technological presence. Are they on Facebook, Twitter or other social networking sites? And are they talking about YOU or other transportation issues on these sites?
Consider how your audience/customers want to be communicated with. Personalization of communication methods and messages is everywhere today. The audience demands it and we are not exempt from this expectation just because we aren't comfortable with it, haven't done it before, don't have time for it or any other reason you can think of.
For my personal use of social media, if I had so many friends on Twitter or Facebook that their cell phones were taking up table space at my engagement party, I think I would have made the announcement on Twitter and saved the cost of the party to pay for the honeymoon!
This summer, I have foregone Twitter (if you don't believe me, check out how few Tweets I've posted www.twitter.com/rbellcreative) to laugh and yell at my family members across the pool. I've even left my cell phone at home once or twice! I've chosen to be as physically, spiritually and mindfully present as possible. But, I also know that my in-laws who live in Florida and my parents who live 200 miles away are only able to be present for those days at the pool through Facebook.
Rachel Bell
Communications Specialist
Kansas Turnpike Authority
A terrific topic! I have been sitting here for a few days pondering how to weigh in on this topic. Our organization has embraced social media as a marketing tool for our bridge systems and regional tourist attraction, Boldt Castle. What started out as an experiment to see how effective our messaging and branding would be with the demographic of people who are predisposed to frequently use social media, in other words people younger than me, has turned out to be a terrific way to bring awareness to the human experiences of our organization. In particular this has been effective at Boldt Castle with the use of posting human interest photos such as grade school class trips, maintenance staff assisting customers, sunsets and sunrises, on going project updates and even the birth of 9 duckings in a flower bed have increased our fan base beyond our expectations. The overwhelming positive comments posted have not only empowered our employees it has created a large number of visitations to the tourist attraction to experience what they have seen and heard on social media. It has truly taken on a life of its own and has actually made our organization more accessible and more human. From a business prospective it has been a great success.
ReplyDeleteFrom a personal perspective face to face human contact will always be the preferred method to communicate but there is a role for technology and social media such as to keep tabs on my kids scattered around the county. Smart phones allow me to use GPS and Google Earth to see exactly where they are. Network television asks the question before the late evening news “Do you know where your kids are?” I can say yes! See they are right there! I am not sure the kids like it, but it is reassuring as a parent.
For me I wonder if I am feeling like my great grandparents when the automobile was first introduced in the age of horse and buggy. They probably saw the advantages and potential of the automobile to make life easier but the horse was a living breathing part of the family which may not be as efficient or make life easier, but you can feel the heartbeat, warmth and hug and love of a horse and still get the job done. Face to face communication still gets the job done.
Rob Horr
Thousand Islands Bridge Authority
People close to me know that, although I'm not at the top of the list of techno-knowledgeable, I AM email queen. I learned years ago that although email is the quickest and easiest way to communicate at work and personally, you cannot beat the personal touch. Face-to-face, the hug, the smile. Being in communications, I've looked at blogs and social media as "I must wear garlic around my neck and who has time to deal with the horrid comments and....". Finally I was introduced to a method on Facebook where we can post agency news, events, reminders without allowing the public to post their opinions. Ok, I can work with that. Baby steps maybe. I just subscribed to a text plan; my nieces said "OMG we never thought we'd see this day!" Yeah, whatev... I'll use all the tools I'm surrounded by to help and provide better customer service to our customers, keep in touch with friends and family, and still take the time to share a smile.
ReplyDelete