The Decline of Office Face-to-Face
Office workers’ preference for email and phone over face-to-face communication is undermining their confidence in dealing with people, a poll suggests.
The poll of 600 commissioned by officebroker.com found that 68 percent preferred to deal with colleagues via email or telephone, even if they shared the same workplace. Keeping disance to avoid awlward questions, being trapped into taking more work and having a written record of communication were cited as reasons.
And more than half (52%) said that, because of their reliance on email, Skype and the phone, they had become less confident dealing with people face-to-face.
However, a third (32%) said they prefered direct conversations to solve problems and dilemmas.
The vast majority (97%) thought it was important to “put a face to an email address” because it helped forge long-term working relationships
Said an officebrker.com spokesperson, “Technological advances have revolutionised the speed at which we are able to communicate and the amount of information we are able to share in a short period, which can only be viewed as a good thing for employees and employers alike.”
“However, what our survey has revealed is that many workers have become so comfortable sending emails all day, they have lost the ability to communicate as effectively in person and, as such, avoid doing so where possible.”
“Being asked awkward questions or being cornered into taking on new tasks were two of the main reasons cited as to why many workers preferred to keep their distance from colleagues and clients, using email as a barrier to these issues. Many viewed the phone as a compromise as they were able to keep their distance from the person they were speaking to but could openly discuss issues and let the conversation flow where required.”
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