The state of communication in our society
It was a little more than three hundred years ago when the only way of communicating with each other was face to face or with elaborate hand writing. In the late 1600’s the United States Post Office was created and now people could mail letters to each other, even though it would take a long time to get to each other. Fast forward to today, and you can surely see the benefits of our communications advancement with the emergence of the internet and mobile technology and this will only continue to grow. There are good benefits as well as problems that come from this advancement, but whether we like it or not, we all must learn to use the new technologies well if we want to keep up and communicate with others.
Factors that altered the way we communicate
In the past, we all actually just talked with each other. Even growing up, you played physical games most of which were outside with your friends. There were no video games, computers etc. that capitalized everyone’s time and attention day in and day out. The kids played organized team sports and this caused parent involvement, participation and of course communication. The family then was engaged in community activities, took care of our schools, there was parents associations, team mothers, most of the community was in communication with each other on one or more projects. We spent actual face to face time with each other. Business was done at lunch meetings and we flew or drove to meet our clients in person. In this way we felt we really knew each other and could maintain our business relationship.
Obviously, the introduction of the new technologies, including; cell phones, the ability to text, social media outlets such as Facebook, LinkedIn and twitter has altered the way we communicate with each other greatly as well as the speed in which that communication takes place.
Have these modern factors really improved communication?
One of the key purposes of the technology is to improve upon and make easier the actions people are already doing. In the case of communication, the technology should facilitate the ability of people to have high quality and effective communication far and wide. A very key element to the success of this technology is the user of it as the user is ultimately responsible for how the technology gets utilized.
In the last fifty years, we have gone from communities whose children are outside playing, interacting and communicating with each other (building real relationships) and their parents interacting with other parents through their children’s organized sports and school programs and associations (building real relationships with each other) to the kids playing their video games and only interacting through a computer on their social media programs.
An additional problem the technology has brought upon us is the ability to use it anywhere. I am sure you have all experienced meeting someone for the first time, only to have them be immersed in their cell phone, talking, texting or emailing on it. This exasperates the problem because of the constant interruptions making it all but impossible to have a real communication with each other. Even the face time that we supposedly have is not really quality face time because it is a continually distracted face time.
In the end, there really is no substitute for real live communication between two or more people. However, if the user of the technology controls his use of it well, he can reap the benefits of it without causing or allowing interruptions and/or distractions to enter into his conversations making the one he’s in that much more effective.
Business Communication is continually interrupted
Now take the business environment we are in, which includes the fact that most companies are overburdened and understaffed with most of the staff they do have now handling far more work beyond their capacity thus putting them and the company constantly behind. Adding to this burden is the fact that depending on the level of work, these executives, staff and especially salespeople are receiving communications every few minutes or in some cases, every few seconds!
All of the mobile devices from our emerging technology have added to the constant pull for our attention. When cell phones first came out, everyone seemed to turn them off during meetings, seminars or when attending some type of event. Over time, that policy of turning them off, has relaxed a bit. Most people went from off, to silent and now to “vibrate”.
Can you imagine how much activity and distraction would be occurring if in a large meeting with your boss and colleagues, all attendees had their cell phone ringer volumes up high, including the bells and whistles for their incoming text messages, emails, social media alerts etc. Suddenly everyone would be “checked out” of the meeting they were in and would now have their attention on all the incoming communications from their cell phone!
Our lives are so continually distracted by the latest technology of communication that it has completely defeated the intended purpose of improving communication!
Setting a standard for effective communication
Modern Technology can be a fantastic way to communicate faster and more efficiently with the right standards and rules in place. The key is to create a culture within your group or company where the cell phone does not rule over everything else, including the fact that each communication, meeting, event, seminar etc. is given importance and fully completed without distractions. Many companies are now not even allowing employees to have their cell phones on or even on them during work hours, hoping the distractions will be less and production will go up. The following are suggestions of basic rules to follow to change your company culture and bring about more effective communication, resulting in more to your bottom line:

1. Policy for all company meetings should include but not be limited to the following:
   A. A firmly set start and end time for the meeting.
   B. Start the meeting on time and end the meeting on time.
   C. No Cell phones on during the meeting. Literally everyone should turn them all the way off or leave them at their desks or in their purses. For the meeting time it needs to be distraction free so that your message has a better chance to be understood.
2. Policy for all client meetings should include but not be limited to the following:
   A. Set an exact appointment for the meeting.
   B. Be on time for the meeting.
   C. No cell phone during the meeting.
   D. The client is the #1 priority in all such meetings and your client should feel that and know that to be true without experiencing any interruptions from mobile or other devices.
3. Have an internal program to continuously improve and maintain the communication skills of your team:
   A. This includes the management team and their ability to manage the staff.
   B. This includes the sales team and their ability to effectively communicate to clients resulting in more sales.
   C. This includes your entire staff resulting in a team that has good communication and understanding between each other.
   D. For examples, take a look at “Core Ability Sales Training” which has a focus on “Communication” and a continuous improvement system.

Here are some potential benefits and results you can experience by implementing the above changes to your company culture:

1. Meetings are shorter but more effective.
2. Your staff is in better communication with you and each other.
3. You have more of a team, understanding where they are actually going with better coordination.
4. Overall staff performance improves.
5. Clients are impressed with the care and attention you provide for them, distraction free.
6. Your company could become known for your ability to communicate resulting in many new leads and client referrals for you to take advantage of.

Summary
Implement a system where you put importance on each one of your communications, whether it is a conversation over the phone, in person, a meeting, a seminar, event etc. by not allowing any distraction or disruption to occur during each of your communications. Insist on this with others as well and get it being used within your entire organization for more effective communication and overall productivity.
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