I discussed the effectiveness and the personal touch that face-to-face communication brings to the table. There is more to it than meets the eye.
Humans are emotional creatures. If wavelengths match, we tend to be the best of friends, or conflicts arise out of every word uttered, eye contact, tone of voice, and other nonverbal aspects. Conflicts tend to grow on us, as the distance between the other person/people widens. The preferred method to resolve conflicts between the warring factions is to bring them across the table and put out everything that is there hidden in the subconscious. We employ these tactics whenever our subordinates have problems with other employees and vendors. We simply bring them to a meeting room and ask them to open up and then work over the differences. The results are simply amazing, as a number of conflicts are resolved and the effectiveness of our teams is better than ever before. We have tried the same formula over a telephone and it is all smoke and no fire.
When major decisions are to be taken in organizations, these meetings are mostly held in a face-to-face fashion. Yes, any conflicts coming out of the decision-making process can be quelled, but there is a higher stake in reaching consensus, and this is best achieved through physical proximity between leaders in the organization. In most cases, leaders head off to an offsite center, where they are farther away from office distractions, and interact at close proximity to come out with critical decisions that will be crucial for the company's future. It further connects the involved individuals and bonds them together for the betterment of the company they serve. Likewise, the employees that are undergoing this training can come together for a face-to-face brainstorming session to come out with team goals, discuss unrelenting issues, and sort out conflicts.
It is a fact in the IT world that collocated teams perform better compared to those spread across locations. The reason is the same as I stated earlier—personal relationships, bonds, and friendships are built when fellow employees see each other on a day-to-day basis. In an IT environment where work happens in the virtual world, let true dialog ride on face-to-face communication. It is OK to schedule meetings on e-mails and get a quick query sorted out over chat or telephone, but when an honest and truthful conversation like an appraisal meeting is needed, there is no substitute to sitting across from each other and talking it out. I have seen people who take the easy way out through e-mails, where they have all the time in the world to draft and redraft a dozen times. The outcome of this communication may not be from the heart but will certainly be affiliated to the e-mail and company etiquette. If true and honest dialog is what you seek, get the person to sit across the table from you and what follows is the antidote for the issues plaguing the team and the company.
Action Point
Exercise (for readers to attempt at the end of this topic followed by a group discussion):
- In your organization, how do employees prefer to engage each other? Do you think the choice of communication medium apt for the situations you have listed?
- From your work experience, come out with the positive experiences that face-to-face meetings have brought forth. Would you have achieved the same results if the same meeting was held over a telephone or instant messaging?
- Sit together as a team. List out all your meetings. Categorize the meetings as routine, priority, and discretional. Then, map it to the medium you want to employ—face-to-face or telephonic.
- Have you experienced a situation where you received an e-mail but a face-to-face communication would have meant so much better?