Our ability to communicate has never been greater, you can get in touch with almost anyone, anywhere, at any time of the day or night. Mobile phones and email allow anybody to be in constant contact with whomsoever they wish, but is it effective communication?
Take this weekend, I have arranged to meet my brother at 11.30 on Saturday using email from work. He has cancelled using reply on Friday evening but of course I have not got the message and so end up annoyed with him for not turning up.
Email is a good form of communication but should not be relied upon for important messages as you cannot be certain the recipient has received the message. I know you can ask for delivery and read receipts but there is no substitute for making a call or using text to make certain.
Equally email messages can be misinterpreted so easily. Culprits may be poor literacy, text speak , ambiguous language or omission, whatever the reason many companies are now urging (if not banning) staff from using internal email to communicate and encouraging face to face or telephone contact.
Mobile phones have become indispensible, just look at the number of athletes in the Olympic opening ceremony taking pictures during the procession. I wonder if any of the photographs have any merit? The data feeds from the cycling were reportedly interrupted by the sheer volume of tweet traffic being generated – well that is the BBC’s excuse anyway.
If you have to endure a symphony of mobile phone conversations on your commute every day you only have to listen to the mundane and pointless drivel being said to understand that these devices are not the great panacea they are portrayed to be. Far from freeing individuals to work remotely yet stay in touch they have become the “big brother” of 2012 constantly monitoring every move and intruding on every part of our private lives. There is no peace except when they are turned off.
Yet people choose to be available to all and sundry even when they are on holiday, are they afraid of being left out, forgotten about or being out of touch? This must be increasing stress and anxiety at the very time they should be resting and recharging their batteries.
The message must be to use all forms of communication with caution and to be aware of the possible inadequacies of each. Make an effort to meet others face to face and ensure that an unambiguous message is conveyed.
