Have we become too dependent on email and instant messaging for communication at work? While these tools are very helpful and will always have a role in the workplace, face-to-face interaction is essential for the growth of companies, especially in content marketing teams focused on advancing their online strategies. In-person interactions allow for better understanding of personalities, building trust, and fostering accountability. Plus, creativity tends to flourish when collaboration is part of the company culture. Check out this creative video to see the benefits of offline communication and its impact on the workplace.
Transcript
Communication through e-mail and instant messaging services are common in the workplace. However, an over-reliance of these tools may also be troublesome due to their capacity to allow a quick response to messages. Sometimes, the meaning of these quick responses can be misinterpreted due to the lack of face to face context given. It is generally understood that only 7% of understood meaning in an interaction comes from words, which can showcase the lack of personality in online communications. Also, 38% of understood meaning is derived from vocal inflection, and 55% from the body and facial language given during the delivery of the message. With this understanding, let us look at the benefits of offline communication and how it can affect the workplace.
- Repeated personal interactions can build trust amongst co-workers and help to build an accommodating environment with informal, consistent and positive communication.
- Employees develop an understanding of how they “fit in” at a work, which can magnify their role responsibilities and increase job performance.
- The ability to evaluate and judge the competency, integrity and verbal skills of coworkers in-person, can ultimately show work ethics and help to dictate who might be reliable for achieving specific tasks.
- Added social support through face to face interactions with co-workers can create visibility with particular character traits and can encourage the formation strong team relationships resulting in high-job performance.
- Visually acknowledging the value of coworkers and their individual voices can increase the likelihood that they will contribute their thoughts on projects, increasing their effectiveness and overall job satisfaction.
- The respect for a level of knowledge and expertise seen in a coworker can be contagious when it is seen in-person. From this effect, knowledge is inherently transferred amongst employees, creating an informal but effective workplace training.
In the end, e-mails and instant messaging are efficient forms of communication and should not be de-valued. By occasionally interacting with co-workers in-person, you are connecting the specific personalities of those peers to the text on the screen and by building trust through face-to-face communications, enhancing the efficiency of quick computer messaging.