At the heart of a business is its relationships—between coworkers, clients, and customers. To be effective, you need to get along with others and communicate clearly. Is there any communication method that’s more effective than the telephone?
We’d like to make the case that there isn’t.
EVOLVING COMMUNICATION
For decades there were three ways to communicate in the workplace: write a letter, meet in person, or talk on the phone. While each of these required time (a huge resource), they also kept the participants relatively engaged with each other.
Email was the first to change all that. Suddenly people could bypass a lengthy conversation and distill their message into a pointed, direct dispatch that was transmitted practically instantaneously. It was a great alternative because it meant less time being distracted (how often did those quick questions turn into longer conversations … and lost time?), and information could be archived for future reference.
However, it also means having to manage an overwhelming amount of information that needs daily sifting and responding to. Also, messages inevitably get buried and lost in your always growing inbox.
Even more challenging is how easy it is to misinterpret messages altogether. We’ve all been on both ends of that, and it can affect our relationships.
BALANCING DISTRACTIONS
To work in a modern-day workspace is to be surrounded by dings, beeps, and trills. Our phones and computers vibrate with messages from email, Slack, texts, Teams, or whatever else our organization uses.
In a fit of “Let me just take care of this real quickly,” we set aside what we were focused on to shoot a quick reply. But while we may think we are good at multitasking, most of us are horrible at it. Constantly shifting between tasks eats up our productivity. In fact, the American Psychological Association claims this could take up to 40% of someone’s productive time.
With the evolution of being in touch 24/7, it’s become hard to keep work at bay. Communications sift into our personal time. While it feels super convenient to check in, it also takes us away from our time to recharge.
THE POWER OF THE PHONE
C-360 employees aren’t afraid of communication technologies, and we rely on it to do our jobs. We use Trello to track projects, texting to get someone’s attention, and Teams to videoconference with each other and clients. And of course, we use email—a lot. But we also use a heavy dose of phone calls.
While we don’t specialize in any one industry, we do specialize in a kind of client that is interested in long-term, mutually beneficial relationships. We seek out organizations where relationships can be real and trust can be built. Picking up the phone to work out the details on a project … and maybe share some personal tidbits that personalize the relationship … is a cornerstone of those relationships.
