Communication

I had a conference call today. As usual, my colleagues talked over each other and interrupt each other. So, I was thinking why this sort of meeting is more difficult than face-to-face meeting in business settings.

In a web-based meeting, you better have some kind of technique to inject your opinion in the on-going conversation. Otherwise, you don’t get heard. Even if you have a great idea, when you map out it at the wrong time, it will easily be dismissed. In other words, timing is everything.

Another factor is probably time management. In my opinion, any meeting should not drag on, but today’s meeting run long. When the ending time was approaching, I was thinking that this meeting should be over any minutes now, but it wasn’t. Unlike Zoom meeting, if you have a meeting physically, you can use eye contact as a sign to let people know that it is time to wrap up.

These points remind me that human being’s communication is based on a complex process. There are so many components that we can use in order to express opinions, at the same time, to digest given messages from others. I do think that we must be smarter than ever before since the pandemic seems to last long.