Friday, September 13, 2019

Direct Communication

By André van Heerden, Communications Director

Have you ever wanted to contact someone but couldn’t figure out the best way to do so? Should you call them? Home number? Work? Cell? Text? Skype call? Email? FaceTime? Or send them a message through Facebook or a multitude of other social media platforms?

Similarly, have you ever left a message for someone and they missed the message? Maybe they don’t check all of their different accounts all the time. How could they? It would be a full-time job!

Dr. Ari Sytner, an author and counsellor, notes that “while we like having choices, too many does not really help anyone … this chaotic world of communication options only discourages direct and meaningful contact.”

My parents are the least technologically connected people I know. They have never been connected to the Internet and neither of them have ever had any mobile device of any kind. They have one home phone number and it’s connected to a rotary phone. Yes, those still exist! My daughter had a friend over to my parents’ last year and asked to use their phone. When she tried to dial out she didn’t know how to use the rotary phone and tried pushing the numbers in the holes!

That said, I’ve never had a problem reaching my parents. They are often out with different groups and volunteering and visiting, but I just leave a message and they get back to me. I never worry about how to reach them—they have one number that they’ve had for over 30 years—or if they’re somehow going to miss my message. They have never missed one of my messages. It’s simple and it works.

So what’s the answer? Is there a particular mode of communication that’s better than all the others? I would suggest being very clear about the best way to reach you. If it’s through text, then let others know and reply to your texts. If it’s through social media, be sure to check it all the time. Be consistent.

As an example, Google is the world’s most popular website. It only has one option: what do you want to search? There are many other search engines and many of them offer much more than Google does—news, ads, preferred sites—but none are as successful as Google. As Neil Patel, author and marketing expert says, “Instead of helping customers make one decision and complete the most important action, viewers are asked to view everything at once and then decide what to do. It’s overwhelming.”

If you list out half a dozen ways for people to contact you, you’re making it confusing for others. You may not be able to carry a rotary phone around with you, but keep it simple for everyone and it will be easier for yourself as well.

Direct Communication

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