I’ve had a few technology challenges this week, more specifically getting help with systems that won’t talk to each other. The frustration isn’t just with the systems, rather the lack of access to a real human being for a support conversation. We’ve all been there.
Contrast this with a late delivery and several redirects to a tracking portal with little information and an unchanging message day by day. Again, systems not talking to each other. The parcel was lost, likewise the communication that advised this. Resolution was achieved in minutes. One phone call. One conversation.
The experience has left me reflecting on the changing nature of communication more broadly…
Sure, we can ‘converse’ by text, WhatsApp, chatbot, email. Technological advances have made these channels the ‘go to’ for communication for many of us, in business and life.
For transactional exchanges of information, confirmation of details and the like, they’re perfectly suited.
When they’re used for something deeper – to achieve genuine connection with others and/or a subject that allows meaning to be made and ensures right action follows, they are inadequate.
As leaders we know that communication is the lifeblood of organisational life. Done well it builds relationship, engagement, connection, trust and better outcomes, Done poorly results in the exact opposite.
We may not always have time for the conversation that’s needed. We may think a quick email or text or whatever will suffice. And at times it will. The danger is that we get comfortable with the practice. It becomes our default mode, irrespective of context.
If this feels familiar, and uncomfortably so, perhaps it is time to rethink and re-energise our practice around communication – how, what, with whom. Imagine what we might discover.