Category: Communication Technologies

Thus long we have been talking about modern communication means. These means however could push people to miss their social interactions – they would be working through their system all the while! Their social needs thus could be unmet – this would mean absence of the small talks; they would try to get to the point of discussion right away.

Managers could increase their effectiveness in communication by making note these simple pointers:

1. Strive for completeness in your message
2. Build in opportunities for feedback
3. Do not assume you will get an immediate response
4. Ask yourself if the communication is really necessary
5. “Disconnect” yourself from the technology at regular intervals
6. Provide opportunities for social interaction at work.

With this byte, we complete our discussion on Work Place Communication.

The new technology also enables the mangers get into multiple activities simultaneously – today’s managers can simultaneously make a phone call, reply to emails or even work on memos. These kinds of activities are called polyphasic activities. These activities allow the manager to multi-task; however the advantages are only to a certain extent. The diversion of attention across the various tasks/activities could quickly end up reducing effectiveness. We have discussed in depth about some cues into multi-tasking in the article here.

It could eventually turn out that constantly focusing on multiple tasks could become a habit, and this would make it psychologically difficult for an individual to let go of work.

Modern technology provides speed in execution and this makes people less patient with face-to-face communication too. Extrapolated, the inherent nature of a quick communication using modern technology could build up expectation of higher speed in other forms of communication! It is important to keep a good balance and understand that one might not like to be pressed to make choices just because there is a communication system available.

As mentioned in the last byte, it is clear that the modern communication means break the implication of hierarchy etc. In a group interaction settings too – this acts as an equalizer for the participants. The charismatic or higher status members have equal power as that of another member with a less power/authority. So it is possible that better decisions might emerge out of these discussion where everyone is on an equal footing, however it has also been found that computer-mediated groups take longer to decide, i.e. reach consensus compared to the face-to-face interactions.

The ease of access to information at the click of a button also has another implication to the decision maker (let’s call a manager). This could just create a potential overload of information! The manager would now need to be more selective about the information accessed through these technologies!

Another issue that arises through the use of this technology is the danger of intruding into the personal lives – managers can no longer get away from their offices unlike in the past – through modern technology they are more accessible to their coworkers, subordinates of bosses. The pleasure of an 8 to 5 job is not present any more!

Most of the technologies we discussed over the last couple of bytes form part of Information Communication Technology (ICT). ICT refers to the various technologies such as electronic mail, voice mail, teleconference, and wireless access which are used for impersonal communication. These technologies provide faster, more immediate access to information that any earlier technology. This instant exchange makes the concept of schedule and office hours irrelevant in the modern world – these considerations are less relevant if not completely irrelevant. Thus these technologies have an important influence on the behavior of people using these technologies.

It is given that almost all forms of computer-mediated communication are impersonal in nature – the sender interacts with the machine (not a human being) and the receiver also interacts with the machine (not the human sender). As discussed earlier – flaming is definitely an issue in these cases. The tact, grace, etc are all lost and there is no element of interpersonal communication that would prevent the managers from being blunter when using ICT!

The nonverbal cues that one relies to decipher a message is absent in the new technologies – gesturing, touching, facial expressions, eye contact are all missing so the emotional elements of message gets difficult to assess. Through Video Conferencing and the use of smilies in these communication means to certain extent this reduces – but there are still a lot of gaps present!

It would be interesting to note, that the cues to the positions of power also disappears in the use of emails!