[TID-BITS] : COMMUNICATION
Since this class is part of the “Communication” department, I decided to use this last journal to reflect on communication. Because communication is a big part of relationship building and management, and relationships are very important for me in maintaining and growing my business (not to mention non-professionally), understanding the ways I communicate or could communicate better or differently, will be advantageous.
The following “brain dump” is ways to communicate. Some are one to one, some are one to none, some are one to many, other many to many. The unifying factors is that all involve the presentation and ingestion or exchange of information, that being the fundamental requirement of communication
In doing this exercise I realized a couple things. First, that not only are there a lot of ways I communicate, or at the very least send messages, there are equally as many people, things, places and ideas that I “interact” with. Also interesting is the question of “what” can communicate? In marketing, we talk about an ad or a campaign communicating, or a brand through its symbol or logo, the way people talk about it, or even more abstract, in the way it makes us feel. If the core requirement is the exchange or absorption of information, then objects, ideas and places can communicate too. What does this mean for communication? How can I communicate better by forgetting everything I know about communication, starting to use other “things” to communicate rather than what’s convenient or expected?
Above all, the question I should be concerned with is how can I use my understanding of communication and all the ways that information can be sent and received to better receive communication coming in to ME. This might be the biggest, most important insight of all…
communication is just as much about pushing information out as it is receiving, understanding, synthesizing and integrating information received…
Verbally
- Face to face (meeting, dinner/coffee, walk, shopping, strangers, family/friends)
– Discussion, argument, teaching, speaking, presenting, group discussion, selling/retail
– Lacking because I work from home; good for direct feedback - Call on phone / voicemail (meetings, long distance)
- Skype call / Facetime (visual + verbal helps eliminate misunderstanding by showing body language)
Online
- Posts on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) (pushed out to many; occasionally interactive but mostly not
- Website (“pushed out” by me and “ingested” by my readers)
- Project management systems (Basecamp)
- Contact / other forms (come in one mode (through form), response in another form (email)
Hand-written
- Note/card (valuable for when a “personal touch” is needed – thank you to a client, personal note to family or friend, birthday/holiday card)
- Post-it note (common way for me to communicate with myself)
- Contracts (could be latent – referenced or used in future – or possibly never)
Typed
- Email (sent from phone, computer and iPad)
- Text (more familiar / non-professional)
- Messenger (Skype, Facebook chat, Slack, G-Chat, WhatsApp) (used for both personal and professional communication)
- Documents, notes (Evernote, send to clients with notes)
Non-verbally
- Body language (eye, posture, presence)
- Lack of message when one is expected (sends message)
- Hands/hand gestures (sign-language)