Are Non-verbal Cues all that important?

Last week the Wall Street Journal (www.wsj.com - Mark Bauerlein) had an article about Gen Y not being able to "read" each other. Which got me thinking "Is non-verbal communication" all that important? Is the sound of a person voice or the smile on their face needed? Nielsen Mobile reported late last year that teenagers on average sent and received 2,272 texts per month. A year earlier the National School Boards Association estimated that middle and high school students devoted an average of 9 hours a week to social networking and I am sure it is much higher now when you consider the explosion of WEB 2.0 technologies in the last year. Add email, blogging, IM, tweets, and other digital activities and you realize what a hurried, 24/7 communications system young people experience today. Most concerning is nearly all of this communication is in the form of written words only.

The L.A. Times reported last year that some companies had installed the "topless" meetings in which not only laptops but iPhones and other tools are banned to combat another issue we are seeing in business "continuous partial attention". With a device close by, attendees at workplace meetings simply can not keep their focus on the speaker or the subject matter. It's too easy to check email, stock quotes, Facebook and tweet. While this may seem harmless, to others in the room it is receives as a silent dismissal. It announces "I'm not interested" so these tools now must remain outside of meetings or be turned off. The article went on to say that older employees might well accept such a ban and understand the reason behind it but the younger staff may not understand it at all. Reading a text in the middle of a conversation isn't a lapse for them, it's what they do. It has, they assume, no nonverbal meaning to anyone else. It does of course, but how would they know it? We live in culture where young people are devoting hours every evening from age 10 (and getting younger every year) onward to messaging of one kind or another and are ever less likely to develop "silent fluency" that comes from face-to-face interaction. It is a skill that we must learn in actual social settings from people (often older) who adept in the idiom.

Now to play devils advocate and I certainly appreciate what line of business I am in, but is this going to be a problem? Do we need to see each other? Hear each other? Is there value anymore in face to face communication? Is it important for business relationships? What about cross cultural relations? What about personal relationships? How do we resolve one on one conflict? Do I go across the room and send you a heated text with an unhappy emoticon? Instead of hearing a loved ones voice at the end of a day, do I send a quick GN (good night, for those of you who do not know one this abbreviation) and a smiley face or maybe add a XO (kiss, hug) does this cut it as a personal relationship? Can true relationship grow in this written word only environment? Can these relationships withstand the test of time and life? What do you think?

Jodi Harrison
Vice President, Business Development and Affiliate Partners
Interactyx Limited

jodi.harrison@interactyx.com
www.interactyx.com