WAN2TLK

I've been trying to come up with a topic to blog about for some time now, and it hasn't been easy. Unlike most of my colleagues, I'm not involved in developing or designing for WebGUI, which seems to be the focus of everyone else's blog entries. However, I do spend a fair amount of time trolling the discussion forums on webgui.org, and reading bug, RFE and support posts. I also lurk on IRC because it makes me feel like part of the gang. Over the past couple of years I've noticed phrases such as, “...let me rephrase that... I must have misunderstood... I'm not sure what you mean... you must be interpreting me wrong... that's not what I intended to say...,” scattered amongst our common lines of communication. There seems to be a bit of frustration out there.

If you have ever talked to me for more than twenty seconds, you probably came to the swift, and correct, conclusion that I am not a techno geek. I'm a nerd, definitely, but technology isn't really my thing. So excuse me if my opinion on this matter isn't popular. Here's the thing: I think society's trend towards replacing face to face communication with electronic and online communication is a mistake. More specifically, I think businesses and educational institutions are relying upon it too much. We use discussion forums to discuss our ideas, without having to actually talk to each other. We IM each other when we need to ask a quick question, which often leads to more time trying to clarify our question. Why is it that we send an email to colleagues who might be sitting twenty feet away from us, instead of just speaking directly to them? Yes, technology has provided us a means of easy and efficient communication, but is it really intended to replace face to face interaction?

Conduct a simple web search for business communication and you'll find over 80 million results for courses (many, ironically, online), books, professional journals, college degrees, and associations devoted to business communication. Communication is obviously considered important to business success. At the same time, look around you and you'll see people preoccupied with their cell phones – Blackberries and iPhones for the power users - their little fingers frantically punching those tiny little buttons in an effort to send out their message as quickly as possible. What I always wonder is if the message is so important that it can't wait, and since they're holding a telephone in their hands, why don't they just dial a phone number (much shorter and easier) and talk to the other person?

Plain Black is an online business. We telecommute, and my colleagues are scattered across the country. Broaden the view to WebGUI, and that community spans the globe. The ability to communicate over the web is essential to our livelihood. Thirty years ago a business structure such as ours wouldn't have survived; today, we're alive and kicking. Our staff relies on a number of things to keep our lines of communication open: forums, IRC, email, IM, and Skype for those times when we really miss the sound of each other's voice.

For the most part, this works very well, but there are times when the lines of communication become horribly broken. Humans aren't designed to rely on autonomous communication. Forums, for example, create a tree-like structure of “discussion.” You may have an interactive response to something posted to the thread by a previous user, but your response is an individual, stand alone, response. Back when I was sitting in an in-service at my old school, I read an article, by a man named Mathew Thomas, discussing the efficacy of discussion forums in universities. After using an online forum as a major source of discussion in a course, the majority of participating students said it was a worthwhile component of their studies, but only half said they enjoyed it and would use it again. Only 14% of the participants said they found it better than face to face discussion. One of the problems students pointed out was the lack of a cohesive structure. They felt that the discussion was too disjointed, and that the lack of immediate interaction detracted from the effectiveness of the responses they received. For a simple question and answer scenario, a forum is fine. What about when you really want to discuss something? Is a list of comments, or at best a few paragraphs, made by individual “users” really the best form of discourse for a real, interactive, open discussion of ideas? Apply this to a business environment, where colleagues come together to problem solve and brainstorm. Done electronically, there is no free flowing discussion. Each types their individual thought and clicks submit so others can read it, then waits for the next person's response. Put those same people in a comfy room with some caffeinated beverages, and the ideas pick up momentum, start to flow organically and soon build upon one another. Much more pleasant, and much more effective.

Then there is the question of tone. We listen to the inflection in others' voices, and we gauge part of our response based on the emotions we hear. This is completely lacking in online communication. I can't tell you how many times – in email, in forums, on IRC – that I see people trying to clarify what they said because the intent of their previous statement didn't come through. Sometimes, people are even offended when the person on the other end was just trying to use a little sarcasm in an attempt at humor. There is a whole range of human emotion expressed in the spoken word that is lost when briefly written and posted online.

The other piece of the puzzle is body language. A study at UCLA indicated that up to 93% of communication occurs non-verbally. Another study went a step further and stated that communication is made up 7 percent by the words used, 38 percent by voice quality, and 55 percent by nonverbal communication. So, those of you relying solely upon online communication are, in a way, leaving up to 93% of your intended meaning open to interpretation. Is it any wonder that so many forum topics end up completely off course, or in an argument, or just sitting in limbo awaiting clarification?

Recently, Plain Black had its annual staff meeting, and personally I really love these events. It's one of the few times each year that we all get together in the same room and talk. The creativity and energy in the room during these meetings is great, and it always leaves me wishing for a little more. Plain Black also hosts the annual WebGUI Users Conference, which, again, is a favorite of all of us because we get to meet some of you, face to face. Online and/or electronic communication has its place, I understand. It's convenient, it saves money, it's efficient, it's globally accessible and in many cases (such as our online community) a necessity... I know, I like it, and I use it (Hello. My name is Kristi, and I am a Facebook addict). I understand that our society has changed and that we are global now and that electronic communication is a great way to work past physical distance. That's great. I'm not saying it needs to go away. I'm just questioning the trend to replace personal interaction with words that pop up on a screen, and I am wondering when electronic and online modes of communication became more desirable than face to face interaction, or at the very least a phone call. Is it because it's easier not to talk to each other? Is it the anonymity that is so attractive? Or is it merely a matter of time and money?

If communication is so important to the livelihood of a successful business, why are we increasingly reliant on a form of communication that is only 7% of the equation?