“Representative!”: Is technology diminishing our in-person communication skills?
By Pamela J. Gallagher
If you’ve ever had a flight delayed or cancelled, then you have likely had the experience of being surrounded by frustrated travelers yelling at a machine through their phones, ‘Representative! Representative!” I suppose this is an understandable response—I’ve certainly done it on a few occasions! After all, it’s a frustrating situation, and the pre-recorded messages are only robots, not real people. But I have a growing conviction that the way we communicate to and through technology is impacting our ability to talk to each other in real life.
Doing good work in service of an organization’s mission requires interacting with different personalities, ideas, and opinions. However, with the increasing number of functions technology performs or mediates in the workplace, the amount of in-person communication required to accomplish that mission has decreased. We are more connected and reachable than ever thanks to technology, yet our face-to-face communication skills have taken a hit that I believe is impacting our ability to navigate conflict well and solve problems together in general, both in-person and via technology.
When people communicate primarily with search engines and chatbots to do their work, or rely heavily on technology for communication with other people, navigating real-world, face-to-face difficulties is a distinct challenge. In-person problem-solving requires skills that digital communication does not, such as reading social and facial cues, reciprocity, listening, and moderating your tone of voice, all of which, when done well, can build trust within a team. This trust built over time is essential in times of conflict or decision-making when a team has to “make a withdrawal from that account,” so to speak, in order to move forward.
Technology can be a helpful tool for communication, but it is also an all-too-convenient safety mechanism in a world that is often fast-paced, stressful, and overwhelming. For people experiencing information overload, burnout, or social anxiety, choosing the easiest or least stressful way to navigate the overwhelm, even if it means sacrificing deeper problem-solving skills, is a worthwhile trade.
As leaders responsible for meeting goals and quotas and also managing the people on our teams with respect, it can be challenging to do either of these well if we lead people whose in-person communication skills have atrophied or are seen as irrelevant. Here are a few strategies I have found helpful in reclaiming the ability to navigate challenges face-to-face:
Use discernment before incorporating a new technology. Technology can increase efficiencies and help you meet your goals, but just because it’s flashy or widely used, doesn’t mean it’s the right fit for your team dynamic. Before selecting a new technology that your entire team will use, consider how it might impact the amount and quality of in-person communication your team has with one another.
Go without electronic support whenever possible. I get it—sometimes everyone needs to be able to access info on multiple browser tabs to be able to have a productive conversation. But having screen-free meetings or even meetings with just one shared screen used only at appropriate times can foster more independent thinking, especially when seeking solutions. With Google, AI, and social media, endless possible answers come instantly at the touch of a button, but our teams miss out on the mind-expanding work of thinking critically and working through problems collaboratively. We’re not doing them or our organizations any favors by preventing them from developing into highly-capable thinkers and leaders.
Schedule the face-to-face meeting. You’ve probably heard people complain about “meetings that could have been an email.” I’ve been in a few of those! But we should not take that saying too far. In-person communication is essential for healthy teams and builds skills that communication with or through technology—as handy and efficient as it is in many situations—simply cannot.
Encourage your teams to seek out ‘real’ discussion groups. The opportunity to bounce ideas off fellow humans can be invaluable. The ability to exchange ideas with others in real-time fosters creativity and strengthens problem-solving by exposing individuals to diverse perspectives and insights. These dynamic conversations can lead to innovative solutions that technology alone cannot generate.
Furthermore, conflict navigation skills improve in in-person settings. Online, if there’s an argument, people can just block the offender or avoid the issue. But we don’t always get to choose the terms and location of conflict. Sometimes, disagreements arise in-person and play out in real time. There’s no opportunity to slowly consider an email response when the person you are in conflict with is right in front of you in conversation. You must already have interpersonal skills to call upon in the moment to reach a solution while keeping relationships in-tact.
While AI and digital communication tools have their place, human interaction fuels deeper reasoning, adaptability, and the ability to think beyond predefined patterns. We need both in order to thrive in today’s workplace.