In these days a lot is changing our lives and fond habits; but what will be forgotten soon and what will stay longer? And what do we want? Here I am sharing my observations, discussions and thoughts with you, dear reader – Lets’ discuss our future – the day after!
It seems that mankind is celebrating a new fundamental achievement. Zoom is the modern Johannes Gutenberg, who started the printing revolution in the 15th century. A survey of Brandtrust shows that Corona has stimulated the digitalisation much more than any “digital officer” ever could have dreamed of. Skype, Teams and Zoom are well-accepted tools now and it seems that nobody has a problem with it. For how long?
Shortly after 9/11, I had to organise video conferencing with our colleagues in the US. The equipment and several ISDN lines cost a fortune, but it worked and had paid off in a short period. Two years later it was no more than a dust collector, management was travelling as always, and this has not changed up to know. Especially executives claim that their conversations are too important and complex, to be held via Skype. Is it arrogance, do they like to collect bonus miles or is there truth in it?
To make one thing clear: I am an active user and like to see my clients, my colleagues and also my friends and fellows from Rotary Club online, but something is missing.
I recently asked Dr Peter Schütz (NLP Zenrum Vienna) what he thought about it. “It is helpful and better than nothing, existing clients can be supported, but it would be very difficult to build up a trustful relationship with new people. Trust is the foundation for Psychotherapy, Coaching and also for Sales and Business”.It is the chemistry between people. This chemistry happens by interpreting body language and micro-movements subconsciously and also sending signals without being aware of it. This gives you the whole picture.
People in HR told me something similar, it is simply more difficult to communicate and get behind the facade especially in an application interview. I witnessed a discussion on TV where some experts were discussing the current issue via video conference. It seemed that they had not seen each other before and were therefore not able to build any form of rapport. There was no response to each other – it was a line of monologues and no questions answered – very tedious to watch.
A digital expert explained to me how a video meeting has to be set up professionally. “There is a strong moderator, a clear accepted agenda, the people know each other and their roles and they are prepared.” Great, this is the land of milk and honey for a business leader, a mail would do it in this perfect world as well.
There is a deeper need for humans to socialise, to align with each other to exchange feelings and also feel the presence of each other. Yesterday, during my first visit to a DIY store, I experienced so many friendly short chats between customers, smiling despite masks – it seems the people have missed each other…
I do. Do you?
