Face-to-face communication clearly sets the mood, tone and meaning of the commun
ID: 373692 • Letter: F
Question
Face-to-face communication clearly sets the mood, tone and meaning of the communication as not only the receiver of the communication be able to listen to the voice of the sender but he/she can also look at the facial expressions, body language etc. which helps in understanding the exact context of the message and the requirement that follows it.
Email communications provide a way of communication for people sitting in different locations. It can include clearly the intended requirements and the action items on the individual but it doesn't set any mood or tone of the message and thus there is every possibility that it can be mis-construed. The receiver might either ignore the message or might respond in an unpleasant manner. Hence, while writing a communication message, it is important to set the right tone by starting with 'Greetings' and ensuring the message sets a requiesting rather than demanding tone through the sentences.
Explanation / Answer
-----------------------------------Hi, I need some assistance with a response. Please write a 2-3 sentence reply to the following student response:
"Virtual conflict can arise easily because the written word (email, text) does not come with tone, volume or inflection. It's difficult to know the mood of the communication by reading the words without the benefit of face to face cues (facial expressions, tone of voice, body language). You might end up replying to a communication with humor, when they other person was being quite serious and somber. You might take offense at something you read in an email or text and the other person meant absolutely no offense whatsoever. Human contact is still an art, unfortunately a dying art in the world of cyber communication. Many people lack social skills having spent their lives in front of a smart phone of computer.
A virtual conflict I experienced was making a request from a team member at work and getting a reply that did not address that request. Remaining calm and restating the request very clearly is the best response, I've found. Assuming the other person had just skimmed over my email and didn't take the time to actually read it, I just gave her another chance to reply with an appropriate response. We all get busy and she was probably otherwise engaged in other duties, there wasn't a reason to be upset about it. Time and time again, I find that if that initial exchange would have happened face to face, a follow-up of the exact same request wouldn't have been likely."
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