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Face-To-Face Communications At All Time Low

26/09/2009

By Claire West

Face-to-face communications at all time low, research finds:

"Business needs to embrace what's best, not easiest"

The use of technology is dramatically reducing the amount of time people spend speaking face-to-face in the office, according to a recent study.    

Based on 1,000 responses, research conducted on behalf of communications provider Lumison found 68 per cent of respondents said they have less face-to-face interaction in the office than they did five years ago.   Only 15 per cent said that wasn't the case.    

However, this doesn't mean technology is making us antisocial, argued Aydin Kurt-Elli, CEO of Lumison, just more effective.   

"A lot of face-to-face communication has probably always been unnecessary," said Kurt-Elli. "Walking to a different floor, or another part of the office, or even a different office to hold a conversation is often not practical."   

"I would always argue in favour of using the best form of communication for any situation or scenario, whether that is instant messaging, email, phone, SMS or indeed face-to-face conversation." 

And the research did find that some occasions still call for face-to-face conversation over any other form.    Asked how they would break bad news in the workplace, 95 per cent of respondents said they would do it face-to-face. Just two per cent opted for either a phone call or email and just one per cent said they would send a SMS text message. 

"Business conversations must balance everything from workplace efficiency to employee emotions. That means if you need to share facts or a lot of detail it may be appropriate to put something in an email. If speed is of the essence instant messaging might be best. However, where feelings need to be considered face-to-face will invariably be best," said Kurt-Elli.   

"There's a lot of choice out there as to how we communicate. The most important thing is to understand these things all complement one another. The more effective people are at work the more time they have to work on relationships that really matter to them, whether at work or at home. Likewise, a lot of technology is making us more mobile, increasing the number and nature of people we come into contact with."

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