Restoring the human touch in business – Part I
by Susan
Tuesday, 04 January 2011
Category Business
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Susan
Susan Bender started selling to the natural gas industry in 1980. In 1990 she f
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As I reflected on the passing of 2010 and the birth of the New Year, the thought of planting new seeds for my company’s future came to mind. The past reveals the only thing for certain about the future is change. There have been some extraordinary changes over the years which have impacted the way we live and the way we do business. But as I thought about these technological advances I realized that there are some drawbacks to their use and perhaps it was time to restore the human touch in business.
When considering the communication advances over the last 21 years, since Linc Energy Systems began, I struggle to remember what it was like conducting business before these advances. Over the years we’ve seen the use of cell phones grow from being the exception to the rule to the norm, and our smartphones would make visionaries like Gene Rodenberry, the creator of Star Trek, marvel. With the internet and email, faxing and in some cases snail mail seems to have become passé. With the introduction of web 2.0 we saw the beginning of social media, blogging, micro-blogging, video sharing, video messaging, networking and a host of other applications designed to make the World Wide Web more interactive.
I don’t have to expand on the pros of some of these advances. I have witnessed firsthand how our new website, our blogs, twitter and Facebook has dynamically changed the way we do business. It is no surprise that these advances make us more efficient, speedy and offer more convenient ways to communicate with our customers. People are becoming increasingly innovative with how to use some of these applications. Consider how Delta Airlines used Twitter in crisis communications during the east coast blizzard over the holidays.
My son recently received a Christmas gift, an iPad, and I marveled at the breakthrough which will impact both personal lives and businesses. But as I watched him, increasingly obsessed with this new gift I pondered the words of Confucius, “If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of ten years, plant trees; if in terms of 100 years, teach the people.” I wondered if these technological advances were about planting seeds, trees or teaching people. I’ve come to realize it depends on how we incorporate the changes into our lives and businesses. As we become more reliant on advances I have witnessed some significant drawbacks.
Drawbacks to technological advances
Weakens written, oral and interpersonal skills
It is no secret that as people become more and more reliant on new technology some skills weaken. When changing the way we communicate our written and verbal communication skills wane. In fact, only recently I had to explain to my son that RUT was a groove not an abbreviation for “are you there” in text and twitter dialog. And while we were amused by the Cingular commercial for My BFF Jill which mocked text dialog, it should be no surprise that communication skills weaken with excessive texting or micro-blogging.
What happened to the days when teenagers competed with their siblings for the phone? While my son has his own cell phone, he rarely uses it to talk on. One day I suggested he call someone to expedite a situation and he said, “Mom, we don’t call, we text.” How can we develop oral communication skills when there’s a pattern that speaking to people on the phone is declining?
I’ve also noticed an inclination for people to become a bit lazy. If everything we need is at our keyboard, when do we personally meet with coworkers, customers and friends to exercise some interpersonal skills? Then of course, there’s the theory that the technological advances promote laziness which fuel the nationwide obesity issue, and the younger generation won’t outlive their parents.
Addictive and subject to stalking, unethical
You don’t have to look hard to find situations where people have been hurt by excessive use of these new communication methods. Let’s face it anyone with compulsive personalities can easily get sucked into the never ending world of Facebook and Twitter. Then of course there’s always the issue of cyberstalking which has become a real issue over the last decade.
Additionally, is it right if employees surf the web for personal use during company time on company equipment?
Eliminates the human touch from consideration
When was the last time you found yourself in trouble because you misinterpreted the tone of an email or text message? It took me some time to realize that there is no tone in email, micro-blogging or text communications. When we remove our humanity from communications we open ourselves to misunderstandings and disagreement.
I recently lost an order to a competitor. When I inquired about it, I felt as though the missing piece or the real reason my competition won, was the human factor. We simply didn’t communicate with our customer by being there in person to hear their concerns and to keep the operation running smoothly even with anticipated bumps along the road. I will not let this happen again.
Additionally, while I see the advantages of automated responses for efficiency, where is the human touch? We whip out emails before picking up a phone, we choose to Skype rather than personally meeting with clients.
There are incredible things we’ve been able to accomplish with communication advances, but with misuse, there are drawbacks. In "Restoring the human touch in business - Part II," (to be published soon)I suggest we need a proper balance between using technology and employing good old-fashioned customer service.
Tags: communications, web 2.0, cyberstalking
