Page 39 - my SUCCESS! my CHOICE

Deepak Gupta my SUCCESS! my CHOICE
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“Very interesting,” murmured Dan. “I never thought of this; no wonder I had got into some

misunderstandings with my Indian Section Manager, Ramesh Parekh. Can face-to-face

communication prevent these misunderstandings Ron?”

“They are unconnected Dan. But face-to-face can help in certain situations. For example,

nonverbals (signs/gestures) came to our rescue whenever we relocated to a non-English-speaking

country.”

“I guess you would have used emails far more than verbal communication as their written English

capability is much better. Right Ron?” Dan asked.

“Not really. Allow me to answer this more broadly. Communication is a two-way process and is

not finished till the process is complete. For Example, if you have to inform me of something very

urgent and need my quick decision, would you send me an email or would you want to call or meet

me face-to-face?”

“I would prefer to meet face-to-face because then the communication is more effective and

instantaneous. Calling you would also be an option because although the communication may not be

as effective, it is still instantaneous. Email will be my last choice because I will never know if and when

you have seen my email.” Replied Dan.

“Very well said Dan. Email is the least effective communication. People often assume that they

have ‘communicated’ by just sending an email. This is a common fallacy as we cannot know when and

whether that email will be read fully and understood correctly. ‘Sending’ of email is only first half of

the communication and is premature to assume that communication has happened!”