I went to see a specialist about a sporting injury to my knee this week and he had to analyse an MRI scan as a part of the consultation. This is not anything like looking at two or three X-rays – there were 30 different views to consider, only one of which eventually turned out to be particularly relevant.
This is the challenge of being a professional these days – you have requests for advice and sources of information coming at you from all directions. If you need to research anything there will be a myriad resources available online at your fingertips from Google, including blogs and vlogs on all manner of subjects, to professional databases. Before the Internet – anybody remember that? – the main source of knowledge was professional practitioners’ books which of necessity could only be updated every year or so, but were at least professionally validated.
And that is the challenge now, sifting through the many sources of information available to find reliable and verifiable material. The pace of change is also unlikely to slow down with mores sophisticated search engines available and AI promising to revolutionise things again.
Business communication has also moved on from the days when letters and occasionally telexes were overtaken by fax machines and then email. I saw this apposite quote about the latest kid on the block, IM Instant messaging improves communication in the workplace. It is more efficient than email because it allows messages to appear immediately, saving time. Through instant messaging, workers can remain in constant contact with one another in case problems arise that require assistance.
However as this article suggests there is a “dark side” to instant messaging:
A huge problem with instant messaging in the workplace is that it can easily lead to miscommunications. Much like its predecessor, electronic mail, instant messaging presents an easy way to communicate the wrong message in very short spans of time merely by hitting the “send” button.
Here also is a good blog Top Ten Communication Problems in the Workplace which cites amongst other issues Lack of Standards, Mixing Work and Personal Communications and Misinterpretations and Assumptions.
I personally think it is about choosing the right medium for the required communication. IM is good for constant and quick contact whereas a face to face meeting is really essential for appraisals and sensitive of difficult personnel issues. This article sets out the most important dos and don’ts of instant messaging in a business environment.
As James Thurber the American cartoonist, author and journalist commented Precision of communication is important, more important than ever, in our era of hair trigger balances, when a false or misunderstood word may create as much disaster as a sudden thoughtless act.
And this issue is not a new one – Pythagoras sagely said Be silent, or say something better than silence whilst Charles Dickens advised Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another person to be brave and true.
This is the challenge of being a professional these days – you have requests for advice and sources of information coming at you from all directions. If you need to research anything there will be a myriad resources available online at your fingertips from Google, including blogs and vlogs on all manner of subjects, to professional databases. Before the Internet – anybody remember that? – the main source of knowledge was professional practitioners’ books which of necessity could only be updated every year or so, but were at least professionally validated.
And that is the challenge now, sifting through the many sources of information available to find reliable and verifiable material. The pace of change is also unlikely to slow down with mores sophisticated search engines available and AI promising to revolutionise things again.
Business communication has also moved on from the days when letters and occasionally telexes were overtaken by fax machines and then email. I saw this apposite quote about the latest kid on the block, IM Instant messaging improves communication in the workplace. It is more efficient than email because it allows messages to appear immediately, saving time. Through instant messaging, workers can remain in constant contact with one another in case problems arise that require assistance.
However as this article suggests there is a “dark side” to instant messaging:
A huge problem with instant messaging in the workplace is that it can easily lead to miscommunications. Much like its predecessor, electronic mail, instant messaging presents an easy way to communicate the wrong message in very short spans of time merely by hitting the “send” button.
Here also is a good blog Top Ten Communication Problems in the Workplace which cites amongst other issues Lack of Standards, Mixing Work and Personal Communications and Misinterpretations and Assumptions.
I personally think it is about choosing the right medium for the required communication. IM is good for constant and quick contact whereas a face to face meeting is really essential for appraisals and sensitive of difficult personnel issues. This article sets out the most important dos and don’ts of instant messaging in a business environment.
As James Thurber the American cartoonist, author and journalist commented Precision of communication is important, more important than ever, in our era of hair trigger balances, when a false or misunderstood word may create as much disaster as a sudden thoughtless act.
And this issue is not a new one – Pythagoras sagely said Be silent, or say something better than silence whilst Charles Dickens advised Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another person to be brave and true.
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