Face-to-Face Time

Are you a face-to-face type of person, or would you rather carry out your communication electronically?

A recent HBR report highlights a survey of 328 companies globally by Towers Watson revealing that 78% of companies have increased their electronic communication with employees over the past two years, and many are planning to use more social media in the coming year. But 73% of employers still think staff meetings are best for informing workers about changes in business performance, and 58% still prefer face-to-face meetings when it comes to talking about pay.

It seems that face-to-face meetings are getting increasingly scarce. Our experience of working with thousands of managers in a variety of industries over the past 25 years reveals that over 50% feel uncomfortable in any face-to-face meeting and a good 30% actually feel fear at the thought of having to do so.

2010 and we have social media sitting alongside traditional team briefing. Both methods are frequently abused and fail to achieve desired results for their users. We are asked to facilitate executive team meetings because boards find the face-to-face a challenge.

With real-time face-to-face skills so lacking the situation is likely to get worse. This means more miscommunication, more wrong assumptions, more frustration and more misinterpretation.

There is a way to make sure communication hits the mark. Make sure you don’t suffer as a result of inappropriate communication – you can learn to be comfortable and effective at face-to-face – it’s a skill like any other, and all it takes is a little dedication and practise.

David Molden, FCIPD.
Quadrant 1 International