In the past decade, we have seen a change in the levels of communications. For most people, it now consumes a full 24-hour day. First it was the phone, then email, and when that became a little too much work, we moved quickly to texting.
Not a bad way for a brief interaction, but then we moved onto something called Facebook, and Twitter, and Instagram, and LinkedIn. Plus, I know there are tons of other social media communications going on.
Just so much technology. Not officially recognized as a drug, it nonetheless is fostering rudeness and a lack of respect. Just look at the car beside you at a traffic light or as you are driving on the Highway of Ding Addiction.
What I see coming resulting from this is really a lack of communication, not an improvement of communication. We have forgotten how to “talk” to each other; how to build relationships both personal and business. We have forgotten that real business interaction is from the development of relationships and recognition of body language. Not constantly being “non” productive at business interactions due to our attention to emails and texts.
I find it quite disrespectful and honestly quite rude when you are trying to communicate with someone who is too busy reading emails or the latest post on Facebook. It happens all the time in meetings when someone is delivering a presentation and half of the people have their head down, too busy reading or replying to another conversation and ignoring the request to turn off their phone. Maybe the meeting has no value or you have no interest in whatever is going on, but I am sure something can be learned…How rude! What kind of drug is this?
You call for a meeting with your boss and you need 10 minutes of undivided attention to respond to something that is important to you, possibly requested by him, and likely quite beneficial to the company. But as you sit in front of him in his office, the drug of the “ding” signifying that a new email or text has arrived about the latest weight loss product pulls your boss’s eyes away from you as he seeks his ding fix. He thinks that you won’t notice the millisecond his attention is diverted…but you do. You leave the meeting mad with your belly in knots, and more importantly, you leave with the IDC attitude…”I Don’t Care” - the birth of complacency
Our job is to solve problems and use communication technologies as a tool, not an excuse! Break the bad habit of technology addiction and start having respectful communications - all the things you demand from your children, don’t text me, CALL Me! How do you feel when your new date, whom you have taken to an expensive restaurant, breaks eye contact to read Facebook….not so good. It’s time to practice communication. It’s not a bad option with a great ROI.
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