Having a Voice in a Virtual World
Communication ... thirty years ago, when you wanted to talk with someone in your
office, you simply walked down the hall and an interchange of information took place.
It hardly occurred to anyone to pick up the phone just to talk to your coworker next
door and it certainly didn't occur to anyone to type out a message and mail it off to
them.
Now, with the efficiency of information technology, communicating through email
has not only become the easiest way to communicate, but it has become the preferred
way. We would much rather type out a message than pick up the phone to talk to
someone or, heaven forbid, walk down the hall to talk face-to-face. But what do you
do if your coworker or colleague is not next door or down the hall, but instead lives
in the next state or across the globe? The two best ways to effectively communicate
virtually are by email and by phone.
And as long as a topic of conversation is easy and agreeable, communicating through
either of these mediums can be very good plus be effective. But how do you handle a
conversation with someone when the topic is uncomfortable, unpleasant or disagreeable?
In a virtual world, it can be disastrous if you are not careful about how you approach a disagreeable conversation. Your natural tendency would be to take the easy way out and email the other person so as to keep the emotion out of the conversation. It allows you to state the facts and stay on task with your points. Another reason to communicate by email is that it keeps a written record of the conversation. It safeguards against both parties miscommunicating ... or so you think it does.
The other risk of communicating by email is that it also removes the ability to understand the other person's intention. Communicating is about so much more than the facts or the instructions that we share in a bi-directional manner. It is also about conveying feelings and intentions. It is a dialogue that takes place in a back and forth manner. And when a conversation is difficult or disagreeable, the best and only way to effectively communicate with another person is to talk face-to-face or, at the very least, over the phone. Nothing takes the place of good old-fashioned dialogue that allows two people to hash out differences and share perspectives than when done voice-to-voice.
This has happened to me in the past and, while I also defaulted to typing out my grievances in an email, there's only so much that can be effectively communicated through an email before I am forced to do what is right and talk through my differences in person. It will feel risky, but you'll like the results.
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this language with it: Virtually With You is a virtual assistance business delivering the highest quality professional administrative support services available in today's market. Karen Schatz, the founder of www.VirtuallyWithYou.com, is an administrative professional with 27 years experience in all aspects of office administration and management including web maintenance, email campaigning, desktop publishing, communications, IT and eCommerce development. Most recently, Karen has completed the Professional Virtual Author’s Assistant training and the Social Media Marketing training programs.
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