Thinking about meeting productivity in the workplace, you likely consider a variety of factors. And an important one is how much time gets actually spent in meetings. What you might not consider is that audio conferencing could be the missing piece of the puzzle.
Since 2021 is reaching its glorious end in a couple of days, now it’s the perfect time for a wrap-up. Almost two years in, COVID-19 continues to affect how we work, live, and play. Lots of people around the globe are following strict social distancing rules or even are under lockdown, while many are still experiencing pandemic fatigue. As a society, we continue to challenge the modern workplace and come together to create healthier and safer social environments.
Emails and chat messages are quick and easy communication options. Yet, we’re in a remote and socially isolated work scenario going on for far too long now. Let’s not overlook the impact of hearing your colleague’s voice on the other end of a phone call! Do it for your productivity and to create stronger bonds with your team.
If you look on social networks, it may seem like video, chat and email have replaced telephony for good. There’s an entire war going on about who does communication better. Hashtags after hashtags, studies and researches, everybody has an opinion. But when it comes to productivity, the traditional voice calls may be just what you need.
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When speaker Ryan Jenkins was approached by an audience member saying that his Millennial workforce was much more comfortable with texting compared to phone calls, he took it as further evidence that this was indeed the case and identified five reasons why this might be.
To his credit, Jenkins dots the “i” with some of his observations. Chief among them is the presumptuous nature of the practice, which implies that you drop everything to pick up the phone, without any fair warning as to what the caller has to say and how it will affect your workflow, or for how long. But that’s where I draw the line regarding the negative side of voice calls. Characterizations like time consuming, distracting, superfluous, and ineffective are the product of a subjective analysis, even though none of these are false either
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Not too long ago, when we called someone we used to keep our fingers crossed for them to be close by to pick up the phone. When cell phones hit the mainstream, reaching someone became easier, but calling them wasn’t cheap. So although people were more certain to hear each other, they didn’t do so considerably more often.
Then came the smartphone which forever changed the playground. Communication took on even more forms. Instant messaging was added to the mix, along with email on the go and video chatting. Today, voice calls are a lot cheaper, but according to numbers dished out by Nielsen, the traditional “hello” has neither increased, nor decreased in usage
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Making sure you sound good over the phone is critical to building a good rapport with your clients. Whether you’re converting a lead into a buying customer or troubleshooting a technical issue, there are many techniques you can use to get the person on the other end of the line to really like you. Here are some of them.