Be Conscious of Technology Barriers
Here’s my take on the challenges of technology. Many people in their 20′s or even 30′s don’t hesitate to use email, text messaging, and instant messaging as a primary means of communication. Those that have grown up with this technology use it as the main vehicle for communication. The use of technology is often the quickest, most convenient and efficient way of communicating. However, it’s important to consider the fact that the effectiveness of technology driven communication is called into question in two major ways. First, there is a definite technology barrier based on the level of familiarity between different generations. Those in their 20′s and even 30′s grew up with a lot of this technology at their fingertips. Many people 40 and over are willing and able to use these channels of communication, but there are also many others that are quite averse to using these technologies as a primary means of communication. It is important to remember that there may be generational gaps in your work environment where more senior members of the company prefer face to face conversation or at least a telephone conversation. Secondly, when we use email, text messaging, and instant messaging, we are favoring a quick, convenient, instant communication, but we must consider that we are sacrificing some primary elements of communication. Effective communicators understand that the actual words that are spoken only amount to about 10% of what we are communicating. The other 90% of our communication comes from our tone, voice inflection and emphasis, body language, gestures, and posture; these are all components of communication that are completely lost in an email or instant message. Ultimately, technology can be a facilitator of communication or a barrier to communication. We must be fully conscious about how we leverage technology as a communication resource and understand how that vehicle of communication is being received by the other person. Think back to the last time you received an email where there may have been a misunderstanding that could have been avoided with a phone call or face to face visit. We must be conscious that emails, text messages, and instant messages come with an inherent price: misunderstandings. If we are aware of these potential pitfalls, we can be more effective in our electronic communication.
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