Can You Hear Me?

THE LACK OF EMOTION

CAN YOU MAKE ME CARE?

Have you ever put a conference call on mute while talking to a colleague at your desk or while doing the dishes or checking Facebook? Then why do you keep booking hour-long conference calls and expecting people to stay focused the whole time? When we can’t see each other, we can’t rely on unconscious cues to let us know when the group is drifting and everyone needs a break. Virtual communication requires us to make an extra effort to be connected in human ways to our colleagues and to think through when and how we’re reaching people—is this email arriving right before my colleague is sitting down to dinner?—because ...