In a world now overrun by email, facebook, twitter and SMS-ing, is there any real need to actually “talk” to anyone? So often, instead of picking up the phone or actually walking over to our colleague’s desk we instead send them an email. I know I’ve done this many a time myself. And instead of calling someone we send a text message. What are we so afraid of? Is it fear of not knowing what to say when faced with an actual conversation? Are we really that time poor that we prefer to send an email than to have a conversation? Or is it just pure laziness?
We all know that so much can be miscommunicated through emails and SMS. How many times have you been accused of “shouting” at someone when you’ve accidentally used the capital letters in an SMS? I know I have!
Miscommunication is less likely to occur if we engage all the senses i.e. visual, verbal and vocal. Through email and SMS you cannot portray the visual or vocal cues which enhance your message, which means a simple request may be interpreted as an order, and a joke may be interpreted as a snide comment. Face-to-face communication enables us to read the other person’s reaction and modify our message accordingly thus reducing the risk that our message will be interpreted incorrectly.
So, I say put away your mobile phone, step away from the computer, look someone in the eye, smile and have a conversation. Who know’s it might actually result in less clutter in your inbox!