It’s so easy to do – to hide behind technology. The internet has made many otherwise ‘good’ people into master sneaks.
“Email? What email? Sorry I didn’t respond but whatever you sent must have gotten ‘lost’ in cyberspace…”
“You actually expected an immediate response from me? LOL! Have you SEEN my inbox?! I am trying to wade through 100s of messages a day and can barely keep up. In fact, I’ve given up; I have no prayer of getting to the bottom of the pile, where your message probably is…”
“I love email – it’s so fast. Please email me as the best way to get through to me. Phones are so old-school. I rarely use them anymore in favor of EMAIL” (sadly fast does not equal effective)
Then there’s the purposeful voicemail message – the one left intentional at a time when the person isn’t around to answer, so as not to be tied up wasting a bunch of time on niceities when just the quick response is wanted.
And call screening has been around since answering machines were invented. Maybe a phone conversation is your best channel of communication, but you’re just not going to be able to get through.
So how do you address these and other cloister issues and get people to come out from hiding behind technology?
The reality is that it’s not going to happen all the time. And we need to embrace the reality. Technology is here to stay, and with the good you get the bad.
But the other reality is that you don’t want everyone to come out from hiding – just “your” people, the special few percentage of the population, or maybe just one in the case of email, that you want to grab and hold their attention to your message.
And you do that by knowing them so well that your message speaks to them at their core.
This core usually involves a problem that they need solved. And you’re the best one to help them solve it, right? Integrity and belief in yourself counts.
Get their attention on the problem, help them solve it and you won’t be ignored.
We all have problems; we are all seeking solutions. Be the clearest voice (not the most obnoxious) to get through all the online noise.
Sounds easy, and it isn’t that hard. If you need more support on this how specifically to do this, let me know.
Next time the topic is: inaccurate assumptions we make online without bothering to check them out, which can lead to dire consequences. “Oh, I just assumed…”
Comments? Have a hiding behind technology example of your own?
