Business Communication

Business communication needs to become interpersonal again. No matter how we believe our human forms came into existence, we were built to need personal contact and function best with face-to-face communication. As children, we desired comfort from touch, a hug from our mothers. As teenagers, we held hands with our boyfriend or girlfriend. As adults in the workforce, we still need to feel that connection and comfort with our families and the people we work with. As Susan RoAne (2008), owner of a speaking, consulting, and coaching business, discusses one way we feel this connection is through getting to know and building trust by communicating in-person. Through this interpersonal interaction, we not only feel more comfortable around the people we collaborate with, but can better share thoughts and understand what those people are saying verbally and on paper (p. 60). Do you trust someone you have never met in person? Most people say no, because there is no connection with you and the person until you meet.

It is important for employees to feel a connection in their job and feel what they do matters to the business and fellow co-workers. Employees feel a connection when participating in regular face-to-face interactions with co-workers. Connections are important in business because as David Ryback (2010), an internationally acclaimed speaker and consultant, states: "Business cannot exist in the absence of people relationships, the stronger the relationships, the more potential for success in the business." (Ryback Cathcart, &ump; Nour 2010, p.19). The strength of relationships with co-workers correlates with the connection employees have in their job. When a connection is made, confidence follows. With confidence, employees do their best and most effective work. Through knowing and trusting their co-workers and finding the purpose in the business as a whole, every employee contributes greater successes, whether for business growth, increase in profit, better relationships with customers, etc.

For the greatest success of the business, employees need interpersonal communication to connect with their co-workers. A leadership expert, John C. Maxwell (2010) says: "Connecting goes beyond words." (p. 41). Physically being in the same room, verbally speaking thoughts, engaging in eye contact, and being able to see nonverbal responses are all important and add to a person's understanding of the message being communicated and feeling a connection. Overall, communicating face-to-face is more natural for employees. An employee knows who is hearing what they are saying and seeing their nonverbal gestures. The employee can either get immediate feedback whether or not the person understands or agrees or disagrees. The communication does not have to be formatted as it does on paper. An employee should still present themselves professionally, but communicating face-to-face is a process, instead of format.

Through in-person communication, employees will be able to not only build needed connections, but relationships and trust with co-workers in the business. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is like a staircase, a person needs to satisfy the lower stairs to easily reach and fulfill the higher staircases. If you refer to Figure 1 on page 9, social needs, feeling connections with people around you, are needed to fulfill the staircase above it: the greatest confidence, achievement, and creativity ("Communication Theory" 2010, para. 2). We work and understand best when meeting face-to-face with co-workers because we need that connection with employees, not with the communication technologies. Social needs cannot come from the communication technologies, fulfillment comes from the people. We need to build the relationships with co-workers to earn trust to best work together.

Figure 1: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Balancing Act

For supervisors to encourage employee connections, the business needs to decide when it is appropriate to communicate face-to-face. The author of the text book, Mary Guffey (2010) writes: "One-dimensional communication technologies cannot replace the richness or effectiveness of face-to-face communication" (p. 308). Face-to-face communication is appropriate when employees are in the same building, need opinions, or courses of action. Especially when the co-worker is not familiar, in-person communication will be more beneficial and effective for employees than through communication technology. If an employee is asking for records, it is more appropriate for both employees to use a communication technology, such as email.

In effect, a business also needs to decide when it is appropriate to use each type of communication technologies, also called channels (email, fax, phone, etc.) to communicate with co-workers. Some of these channels, instant messaging and videoconferencing, are instantaneous, and other channels are still fast and easy, like email and fax, but offer no immediate feedback. Most channels have the ability to communicate over long distances quickly and to have permanent records of the correspondence. For those who have worked in the business for a few years, you understand how important it is to use the best channel. Every business defines what channel to use differently and some do not even define when to use any. I think it is important that businesses define what channels to use for specific purposes clearly and as said before, this should include face-to-face communication.

Dependence on Technology

To assess whether or not your business has a dependence on technology, the following are example of what I consider to be dependence on technology or a lack of connection