Overheard in a coffee shop last week:
“I have no time to even check my office voice mail and I follow-up on work email in the evenings. If you really need to reach me, text me.”
Understanding that we now have a generation upon us where social media is the norm, where might the future of social skills be going? It is hard to build trust through a text message or other forms of social media that allow us to ‘like’ something with no real connection to the cause or the comment. Are we losing the power of interpersonal communication? Or, is it now becoming a potential point of differentiation?
From a local restaurant manager:
“Most of the people who interview here just drop off an application and rarely even look me in the eye. When someone stops by, allows me get to know them through conversation and takes time to ask about how we operate our restaurant, it puts them in a class by themselves.”
The above stories point to the paradox we find ourselves in today. Many people prefer to remain at a distance using technology to communicate. Yet, trust is built by getting to know the person behind the texts. Perhaps a firm handshake, good eye contact and engaging conversation never goes out of style.
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