How to Communicate With People Without Ever Meeting Them in Person
October 15, 2010 in Guest,Learning Technologies
This a guest post by Courtney Bishop. Courtney is a lover of all things creative, she likes to write and has an obsession with crossword puzzles. She recently started blogging and you can follow her on Twitter @cbishopBG.
You don’t have to have an official face-to-face meet-and-greet or get to know the people you’re talking to in order to have effective communication. As the world grows smaller and more businesses are going global, making changes in traditional ways of doing business has become necessary for many small and not so small businesses. These types of communications can also be applied to any situation where face-to-face interaction is the norm: such as the classroom.
Throughout it all, effective communication and the ability to coordinate on the go are critical for building business, encouraging teamwork, and collaborating on projects (school or otherwise) with people throughout the company, class, across the city, or even around the world. It’s not always possible to have those up close and personal meetings that are most effective but there are a few surprisingly effective options available.
What can you do to bridge the distance and still get your point across?
Email Communication
Today people exchange email the way phone numbers were exchanged in the not so distant past. In fact, a growing number of people today prefer communication via email rather than phone calls.
Emails are easily forwarded, can be shared among a large group, and provide written backup so that important information isn’t lost in the shuffle.
There is a bit of a downside to communication via email that should be considered. Sending emails to a large group of people can easily become cumbersome and unruly. It can even become difficult to keep up with exactly what’s being said and who is getting the message.
The major downside of email is that it isn’t instant communication. Different time zones, business hours, holidays, and down time for employees across the country and around the world make email a little difficult to rely on when quick communication is necessary.
Interactive Calendars
Whether using the calendar for the purpose of coordinating meeting times, in a global business this isn’t as simple of a proposition as one would like to believe, of for setting goals, establishing deadlines, and sharing vital, time sensitive information, interactive calendars that allow members to post public information as needed can prove incredibly useful. For online learning, interactive calendars are especially important.
There are quite a few great calendars available. Your greatest hardship may very well be deciding which one offers the features your business needs most. Most educational atmospheres offer standard versions of calendars on the institution’s website.
Conference Calls
Today’s businesses need something a little more impressive, and effective, than three-way calling to really compete on a global scale. There are quite a few reasons to consider conference calling. These are some of the best:
Free conference calling software makes it affordable to coordinate with business partners from around the world.
When everyone is on the line at once, it’s easier to make important points and ensure that everyone is on the same page for the project, business goals, and important upcoming deadlines.
Conference calls are a more affordable option than comparable video conferencing services without sacrificing much in the way of service or security.
It is not impossible to have effective communication with people around the world you have never met. The challenges of communicating over distances can be easily met with email, conference calls, interactive online calendars and other great tools that can be accessed easily online.
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