Social media and the speed at which information is delivered have changed the marketplace and the way we communicate with one another. Using social networking such as Facebook and Twitter to stay in touch with people is faster and easier than the traditional face-to-face meeting, which boosted your career more than you might have imagine because 90% of communication comes through nonverbal rapport building.
The quick social-network communication methods bypass the process of developing chemistry through face-to-face interaction. This phenomenon might explain why those new to the workplace can find carrying on a conversation and reading nonverbal cues challenging.
Knowing how to successfully communicate has little to do with a selected profession or field of interest and everything to do with the skill of building rapport. Texting, for example, is a convenient way of sending an instant message. A parent recently described watching his daughters texting one another while in the same room.
That story reminded me of a conversation I had with a manager who was shocked that a job candidate was typing his answers out rather than talking. When the manager asked why he was typing, the candidate said he was answering the questions.
These are not isolated incidents and send the message that instant communication is interfering with the skills that make us human, the face-to-face interactions that help us utilize all the levels of communication — verbal and nonverbal.
If you don’t learn the skill of reading nonverbal cues, your career opportunities could suffer because as social beings, we are not meant to stay isolated behind a screen of contacts.
The price you can pay for relying too heavily on instant communication is the lack of developing good relationship skills, which are the skills you need the most throughout your career.
A great way to expand your social networking is to turn your online contacts into face-to-face meetings.
Instant communication is a great tool, but be careful that it doesn’t become such a habit that you would rather text than meet someone in person.
What are your thoughts on instant communication? Is it hurting the skills you’ll need in the workplace?
