How many emails and text messages do you send/receive a day?
How many are sent to you that you didn’t receive, so you don’t
even know about them?
How are all of these electronic messages affecting you and
your relationships?
Just this week, I have heard half a dozen stories of how
this electronic form of communication has led to misunderstanding, frustration
and even damaged relationships.
It can be as simple as this – you send an email or text to
someone asking them an important question or requesting that they do something
for you. Then you wait patiently for a
reply. Depending on the urgency, within
hours, days or weeks, you become frustrated or disappointed that they haven’t
replied or acted. Eventually you might
pick up the phone or you might bump into them in person and you finally ask why
they didn’t reply to you, only to discover that they did not receive the
message at all! So your frustration, disappointment, anger or
even feelings of resentment are totally unfounded, all due to the failure of
technology, and dare I say it, the failure of our ability to communicate
effectively with one another.
We are all living in a fast-paced society where efficiency
and the effective use technology seem to be the Holy Grail. We are all trying to “get things done” and
dare I say even “document” all of our conversations via email or text message. However, in this pursuit of efficiency, I
believe we are losing the art of communication and the sacrificing the reward
of building genuine relationships with other human beings. And in my opinion this is the danger of
technology.
In a business environment these mishaps with electronic
communication can have disastrous consequences and damage relationships that
you have worked hard to nurture. My
advice, let’s get back to picking up the phone, or catching up face to face and
use electronic communication carefully.
Call us at Sothertons Gladstone on 49721300.
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