It is very likely that, more than once, you’ve found yourself talking to someone who did nothing but look at their mobile phone or paid more attention to their tablet than to you. You may have also attended meetings during which people answered emails or surfed the web. Don’t you believe it is necessary to put technology on hold every once in a while? Read on to discover how to improve your communication skills.
For communication to be truly effective we must avoid distractions. We have already given you ten tips on how to be productive every minute of the day, but putting them into practice is not as easy as it may sound. Therefore, the best way to avoid unnecessary distractions is to disable technology, not only when going to work, but also when going to just talk.
In other words; less technology and more attention. By turning off your devices you show respect to the people you’re going to interact with and, no less important, you will be much more productive. Why?
When you meet someone and you eliminate potential distractions, the meeting becomes something much more personal and decision making is favored. Besides, since you all will be more focused on objectives, meetings will be shorter and more effective. It is true that we live in a world with more and more technology and we are constantly receiving information, notifications, emails, notices, etc. It’s not about going back to archaic meetings without tools to enhance productivity, but about paying more attention to people than to devices. Put yourself in the place of the person who is speaking and not being listened to… that’s uncomfortable, right? The solution is easy: switch off the phone, turn the tablet down, mute notifications. Close the laptop.
You can apply this simple tip in many moments:
- With people: just when you are talking to people, anytime. Show respect and turn off your devices, keep eye contact.
- In meetings: mute your phone and participate. You’ll help make decisions and not waste time or unnecessarily lengthen the meeting.
- Talking on the phone: if you are going to have an important conversation on the phone, don’t get distracted doing other things or checking on your laptop. Focus on the conversation. Learn some tricks to make a phone call more productive.
- At home: your friends, your family, your partner… they will surely want to talk with you, but they won’t like you to be with your laptop or looking at your phone screen all the time.
And you? Do you let technology interfere with your communication? What do you do to avoid being interrupted?
