Interpersonal Communication In The Digital Age: Navigating Communication Challenges In A Virtual World

More and more of the workforce is remote. This has many advantages, but it also has important drawbacks, including the strength of the human connection we have with our colleagues. In this week’s episode, we’ll look at best practices to minimize this cost.

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Interpersonal Communication In The Digital Age: Navigating Communication Challenges In A Virtual World

Technology brings uncountable advantages and continues to transform the world in ways both planned and unplanned. The pace of change has been logarithmic, meaning that it not only impacts how we live but does faster. Think about it. Remember how life was before social media. How about cell phones? How about the internet?

Social media, in the way we now know it, is not even twenty years old in 2023. It's a precocious teenager. Widespread cell phone use is about the same. The two technologies are conjoined. The iPhone was first launched in 2007. At roughly 30 years old in 2023, the internet is now maturing into adulthood. These technologies have all served to transform the functions of society and how we relate and work together. They set the groundwork for what's to come.

There's another technological toddler hot on their heels in terms of planned and unplanned effects. This one could dwarf the predecessors we considered. It's AI. It's such a big topic. We will save that for another time. The ways all this is going to transform our society remain to be seen, but we are far enough into these effects to begin to see how things might shake out. Here are a few.

We are both more connected and more isolated. Wealth creation is becoming easier. The skills that make a person employable require rising cognitive ability. Enterprise is moving in the direction of customization to the individual level. The marketplace is becoming more hyper-competitive. The importance of agility and quick adaptations to changing circumstances is rising. There's a blurring of meaning in connecting with people versus connecting with AI. Democratization of means of production will continue. The capacities and incentives of governing bodies to control information and messaging will warp. There will be unprecedented capacities and challenges in such efforts.

We are both more connected and more isolated.

Let's look at how these dynamics have played out in the last few years. We may learn from a dramatic worldwide example. The lockdowns in response to the COVID pandemic created a tectonic shift in the way people view the workplace. Many discovered advantages in non-localized work. Companies sensed opportunities to reduce the overhead of a physical footprint. They expanded the pool of talent they could employ. It was no longer geographically limited. Employees enjoyed reclaiming their commuting time and expense. They saw big advantages in the flexibility in their lifestyles afforded by working from home office.

None of this would have been possible without the technologies we mentioned. In this case, it's video conferencing technology that allows us to connect productively, and it appears that the venerated 9:00 to 5:00 commuter office structure is no longer needed. Is that the case? Has technology reached a stage where we can enjoy a panacea of advantages without cost? Can we safely discount the drawbacks of enterprise-wide remote work? As our focus is on communication effectiveness, it will be this aspect of the technological tide that will occupy the remainder of this episode.

Those who have experience working remotely understand at least one major drawback. It's harder to feel connected to the group. It turns out the uncountable little interactions that happen when we are in the same place aren't mere distractions from work. They also contribute to relationships and culture. When we are reliant on teleconferencing, these are minimized. The effects on group dynamics are noticeable and are still being studied.

It's a dynamic with which managers and executives constantly wrestle. One remedy we can all employ is the quality of our video conferencing. Not all video calls are created equal. What are the things we should keep in mind when we interact via video conference to make sure we are as effective as possible? In participating in a presentation on a subsequent panel discussion at the 2022 PA TechCon, I did my best to answer that question. Here's what I shared with the attendees.

Team function is positively correlated with effective communication. Let's look at that assertion. Team function. That means we cooperate to meet or exceed the objectives required for organizational health. Effective communication. We could say it's a successful exchange of ideas and information. What is required to consistently manifest this coordinated effort?

Communication Challenges: Team function is positively correlated with effective communication.

It begins with the space between our ears. We can only transmit and receive to the degree allowed by the power of our perception and our abilities to articulate pertinent information that will empower our constituents, whether internal or external. How well we do that is limited by our cognition, which, let's face it, even for the brightest of us, is rather meager when compared to all there is to know. That's one reason AI is transformative, but even if we could all supercharge our brain power, we'd remain limited by time.

We all have numerous needs and desires. There's a fixed amount of time in every day. It's also helpful to think of effective communication a little bit more. Why? Doesn't it feel different when you are physically proximate with someone compared to on a video call? What's that about? Whatever's going on there? We can increase our facility when we consider communication as an exchange of energy. It's maximally effective when that energy produces constructive results and introduces a minimum amount of noise and extraneous distracting elements.

We might describe effective communication as open, flowing, and clear. Another way to think of that is to define its opposite. We can describe ineffective communication as closed, restricted, and murky. If you are with me on those assertions, it makes sense to connect improvement in team function to the systematic reduction of restrictions in communicative energy exchange.

These begin at the basic level, our senses. That X factor has something to do with our physical bodies and our proximity. That's one. Better to meet in person than not. Likewise, all observe the greater power of connecting via video call than a traditional phone call. Our ability to see each other's faces is, therefore, another.

The next is auditory. Talking on the phone carries more information through inflection and other parameters that convey meaning than words on a screen, even with emojis. These sensory elements form at least part of the tunnel. The shorthand code word will be used when we are describing the restriction of communication.

What other forces restrict effectiveness and communication? Part of the picture is comprised of the environmental conditions in which the exchange takes place. Conditions can distract us, reduce our focus, and thereby limit our abilities. These distractions are sometimes external. Sometimes, they are in our heads.

The most effective communication occurs when participants are fully present and engaged. It makes sense to limit as much a distraction as we practically can. These may include noise, technical glitches, or even looking at our phones during meetings. Often, it's the structure or lack thereof of the meeting itself and the shared expectations about the ensuing conversation. We can constructively adour focus. Let's call that being present.

The most effective communication occurs when participants are fully present and engaged.

We can as powerfully adjust our alignment. This is done with best practices in meeting etiquette. I won't provide here what we can all discover with a simple online search. Let's lump those factors together in one word, intentionality. What may not be as widely discussed is the, at times, delicate matter of who to include for which conversations, as in all our endeavors, virtue lies somewhere in between the extremes of excessiveness and neglect. In this case, we can clog conversations and bog down productivity by involving too many people. Conversely, we can underinform and miss out on significant contributions if we invite too few.

One of the ways we can deal with that dynamic is to discuss the discussion. Those who feel that they can benefit and or contribute may self-select. We also may cut conversations up into bite-size pieces. This brings another cost-benefit dynamic, but we already established that we won't reach perfect communication because of our inherent limits.

There's another dynamic that is worth considering when we communicate. In the space that is unclear or omitted, we humans tend to fill in the blanks. Do you suppose we do so with the best possible outcome in mind? No, we do not. We tend to project our worries into those voids. That's called the negativity bias. It wreaks havoc in email communication, especially when there's emotional content. We can widen the tunnel considerably if we keep that bias in mind. How might we accomplish that? We build the skill and habit of paying attention to what I call the texts.

The pretext is the agenda. What are we trying to accomplish with this communication? Why? How does it serve us? How does it serve the others? How does it move our shared mission forward? Context is the systemic fit for the particulars of the conversation. What does this conversation mean in the bigger picture? What are the ramifications of success? What if we somehow miss the mark?

The last is subtext. This is where the magic is. This is where we find truth, specifically the truth about what people are thinking and feeling. The subtext isn't the words we speak or write. It's the spirit behind the words. When things go wrong, it's because the spirit is wrong, not aligned, not focused, distracted, or subject to any of the vagaries of the human condition. The habit of paying attention to the texts minimizes the dangers we take on when we make assumptions. It is the path towards clarity. My father used to say, “Clear accounts. Make good friends.” I found he was onto something there.

Communication Challenges: The subtext isn't the words we speak or write. It's the spirit behind the words.

What I suggest to improve team function and help our communication effectiveness is the following. First, pay attention to the texts. Make it a goal to get to the point where it's an automatic habit for you. You will make yourself extremely valuable to any organization or group of constituents. Second, use that same discipline to widen the tunnel. When you participate in a professional discussion, do it with intent and focus.

This means you put away your phone. That means you have thought about that conversation in advance to a sufficient level so that you have a good idea about the stakes and dynamics in the conversation. When you are on a video call, you are focused on the person. You are looking at the camera, you are looking at them, and your camera is on.

Third, incorporate these and other communication skills in your professional development plan. If you don't have a written plan, make one. You will do yourself and the world the most service you possibly can in so doing. Video conference technology is improving, and we will continue to do so. Maybe we will experience the next stage where we are immersed in virtual reality, and it's hard to tell, virtual and real. Nevertheless, the quality of our communication and, by extension, the quality of our personal and professional relationships begins at the same place. The most valuable real estate of all is the space between our ears.

If we are to maximize our personal power, we need to respect that space as the treasure it is. Thinking about our conversations in advance and paying special attention to the texts, pretext context, and subtext is one of the best ways to do that. It's something we can all do with more skill and consistency. Let's go.