VirtualVocations

Communication

As in any office, communication is important; however, I would go so far as to say it is more important when you work from home or work for a virtual company. Depending on what type of work at home job you are in, you may never have met your boss, or spoken to him via the phone. Many rely solely on email for getting things done, or expressing their opinions about issues. I know how important it is to stay in the loop of the working world, but is this trend the best way to communicate? In Addition, does it nurture long lasting working relationships?

If you have a client whom you only communicate with via email, and you have never spoken to him or her over the phone, do you think your relationship is different from someone who speaks directly with his or her client? I have noticed this trend over the years. More and more people only want to communicate via email. Even if you want to schedule a call, many times the client would rather chat via IM or send emails back and forth, why? Have we really become that individualized of a society that calling someone on the phone seems now foreign to us? On the other hand, is it just easier?

I will be the first to admit that it is easier to write an email or even send a text message then getting on the phone, but does the ease of this action actually make more work for us in the end? I can send off an email in under a minute, and from sending these emails, I can have about twenty different conversations at one time. To that end, I am working more, doing more with my time, accessing more people but in a less personable manner. If I were on the phone with a client, we would have a conversation, a vocal back and forth. I would not be able to multitask, because my focus would be on the subject at hand, creating more of a personalized experience, which would lead to a long lasting relationship.

As I said earlier, communication is central to any successful business, and staying inline with the ways the world communes is important, but don’t let it dissuade you from using all forms of communication. Pick up the phone, and create relationships apart from your virtual ones, you might be better off in the long run.

Posted:Saturday, April 19, 2008