Technology continues to evolve the way we communicate and interact with each other, both in the business place and our personal lives. In my job I have numerous business relationships with people that I have never met face to face. Technology has made that possible and it has greatly increased the efficiency of the work we do.
However, the risk is that strong relationships that can be built by working closely together may never get firmly established. It is important to build those relationships in an Internet era by balancing the forms of communication you use.
E-mail can be an efficient and important mode of communication and provides an excellent means of transmitting business information. It does not, however, provide a very good means of exchanging personal information; or providing an avenue for humor, nuance or other non-direct means of communication, which have historically been part of building relationships.
The telephone provides a somewhat better means of personal communication in that it allows for the exchange of personal information, dialogue and humor that just does not come across on e-mail. The ability to add inflection to your voice and clarify comments real time enhances the ability to build relationships.
Neither of the above is any real substitute for in-person exchanges. These in-person experiences help to build on a relationship because it puts a face to the name or voice, and body language now plays a role in the communication process.
Even though many of my clients and business contacts are primarily Internet based, I jump on any opportunity to meet with them in a live setting. This often involves making special trips to deal with issues that could be done remotely precisely to introduce the .in-person. variable into the relationship. I view the additional cost as money well spent to have a fully rounded relationship with my business associates.
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