Mastering technology is important because
- We can’t see them – and they can’t see us
- Blackberry addiction
- The curse
In our globally-diverse working environments, we frequently work with people we’ve never met. Our interactions are devoid of the normal clues of body language and facial expression. The natural tone and inflection of our voices are limited by the frequency range limits of the phone system. All of this adds up to strip out a significant portion of the rich information available in face-to-face communication.
Since we can’t see our audience, we also can’t see what else they might be doing. Are they typing on their laptops? Are the thumbing their Blackberrys?
The curse of all this is that our companies and clients have spent significant amounts of money on this technology, and they expect us to use it! They expect us to succeed! This is the curse of technology!
Tips for mastering technology
Telephone
- Use pictures and webcams. They can help restore some of the contextual clues that are missing when we’re talking on the phone.
- Smile. Your voice changes when you smile. You can enhance the dynamic range of your voice when you mix facial expressions — as you normally would when sitting face-to-face.
- State your name when you talk. Voices are difficult to recognize. Do your audience a favor and say, “This is Brian in RTP. I wanted to ask…”
- Move the phone with care. Mute the phone before moving to avoid subjecting the people on the other end of the line to a bunch of static.
E-mails
- Assume everything you type will be made public. Some people forward the most unexpected things!
- Fit your use of slang, acronyms and shorthand (g2g, lol, etc.) to your audience. For someone you are exchanging messages with for the first time, go over the top with words. As you come to know them, you can shorten the messages by being less formal with shorthand.
- Re-read and use spell check. You can save yourself from embarrassment by re-reading before hitting send. Automatic spell check is one way to make sure you pause to re-read.
Instant Messages
- Everything for E-mails applies for instant messages. They also suffer from some of the same limitations.
- Check if this is a good time for the other person. Don’t assume that because they are online they are available. Be patient.
- End well. Don’t leave them hanging.
