The Human Side of Communication in the Digital Age

Jocelyn Bérard M.Ps. MBAInternational Vice President

Leadership and Business Solutions

THE HUMAN SIDE OF COMMUNICATION IN THE DIGITAL AGE

@GKJocelynBerard 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 2023-04-12 Page 2

Jocelyn Bérard

VP of International Leadership and Business Solutions at Global Knowledge Canada

Recognized expert and speaker in the areas of business management and human resources

An Industrial Psychologist and specialist in talent management especially related to leadership development, succession management and selection best practices


The Human Side of Communicationin the Digital Age

Digital Age: What are we talking about?

Consequences: Positive and negative

What should we do about it?

Q&A


Global Knowledge: Who We Are and What We Do

InformationTechnology

Enterprise Architecture and Business Processes

Leadershipand Business

Solutions


Assume critical roles

Develop competencies and build capacity and confidence

Achieve organizational objectives

Accelerating Leadership Development provides a proven model to develop employees and leaders to:


You cannot not communicate…


Some Stats…


Some Stats on Communication

Adapted from 2014 IT Skills & Salary Report: A Comprehensive Survey from Global Knowledge & Windows IT Pro


Digital Disruption… SMAC!


What is Digital Business?

Digital business is an organization that leverages digital technology (SMAC) as a competitive advantage

in its internal and external operations.

Today and tomorrow, the Internet of things…


Connectivity / Transparency / Autheticity

“The growing transparency of our world dictates that we both listen and speak with clarity.”

Mug and Tweet, Rich Simmonds

“Drawn by the illusion of companionship without the demands of intimacy, we confuse postings and online sharing with authentic communication.”

Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other,

Sherry Turkle


What is New?


More Than a Change, a Metamorphosis

Tools and fire

Agriculture and society

Energy and engine

Digital metamorphosis…

What is common to all significant societal metamorphosis: Creation of knowledge Energy and technology Information processing Communication


What’s the Impact on IT and Organizations?


What’s the Impact on Us as Human Beings?


The Multitasking Conundrum and Continuous Partial Attention

Multitasking Our daily chore! Is it good or bad? Increase productivity

Watch out if you Are high energy Have a high need for actions Are ambitious Have low interpersonal

sensitivity

Continuous Partial Attention“To pay continuous partial attention is to pay partial attention CONTINUOUSLY.”

Linda Stone


Communication… What are We Talking About?

It’s a two-way process of reaching mutual understanding, in which participants not only exchange (encode-decode) information, news, ideas, and feelings, but they also create and share meaning.

In general, communication is a means of connecting people or places.

BusinessDictionary.com


We are Still Human with the Same Fundamental Needs

Feeling valued

Being respected

Being listened to

Caring and being cared for

Connecting with others

Belonging

So what should we do about it?

Remember Maslow…


Practical Recommendation: Live Communication

Take your hands off the keyboard and call or meet face-to-face.


Practical Recommendation: Listen

You have two ears, two eyes, and one mouth… your communication should reflect the same proportion!

Watch out if you are Extroverted High on sociability High on ambition / need for success


Influential Communication

Convince your partner to go to your favourite holiday spot. You have 90 seconds!


Asking Good Questions

Open questions invite others to say what is on their mind. Open questions are curious. Use who, what, where, when, why, or how or phrases such as “Tell

me more about...”

Closed questions invite others to clarify or confirm detail. They ask for a specific answer, sometimes just one word: “yes” or “no.” For example: “Do you?” or “Can you?” or “Would you like to...?”


What Do Good Listeners Do?

1. Value the communication

2. Assume responsibility for the communication

3. Listen with an open mind

4. Encourage the other person to speak

5. Focus on the speaker

6. Avoid interrupting the speaker

7. Ask for clarification

8. Take notes

9. Give the other person time

10.Confirm your understanding


Practical Recommendation: Determine the Intent

We always talk about the content of a communication or the media (how it will be delivered)

Before you work on the content, determine the intent of the communication


The Communication Factors

Factor Definition % of Meaning

Verbal The words you say %

Para-Verbal How you sound %

Non-Verbal What you look like %


The Communication Factors

Factor Definition % of Meaning

Verbal The words you say 7%

Para-Verbal How you sound 38%

Non-Verbal What you look like 55%


Let’s See…

See the impact on the meaning of the sentence:

Paul must be the leader of this project.




What does that mean for non-live and face-to-face communication?


Practical Recommendation: KUBA Your Communication

Know What the facts are

Understand Why, or the rationale

Believe Advantages or the benefits

Act Actions, next steps


Practical Recommendation: Mind Your Words

Avoid wishy-washy and hesitant words: Hopefully, I hope, sort of, kinda, a little

Use powerful words like: We will, we are confident, I confirm, an important statement,

remarkable, improvement, etc.

The power of three

Use transition words: Let me start by, first, second, in addition, finally, etc.

The knowledge curse: Technical words, mega-concepts, and acronyms


Practical Recommendation: Managing Email à la Google

1. Respond quickly.

2. When writing an email, every word matters, and useless prose doesn’t. Be crisp in your delivery.

3. Clean out your inbox constantly.

4. Handle email in LIFO order (Last In First Out). Sometimes the older stuff gets taken care of by someone else.

5. Remember, you’re a router.

6. When you use the BCC (blind copy) feature, ask yourself why.

7. Don’t yell.

8. Make it easy to follow up on requests.

9. Help your future self search, forward a message to yourself with a few keywords that describe its content.

From How Google Works, by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg


Parting Words

Remember, even in the digital age, there is a human side to ALL communication.


For Your Consideration

Q&A

Invest in your career… Attend a communication course in a city

near you Other Global Knowledge courses

@GKJocelynBerard

Send us your questions or suggestions

For more information: www.globalknowledge.ca or .com

Thank You!

THE HUMAN SIDE OF COMMUNICATION IN THE DIGITAL AGE

[email protected]

@GKJocelynBerard

http://globalknowledgeblog.com/author/jberard/

linkedin.com/in/jocelynberard

416 964 8688 X2323

The Human Side of Communication in the Digital Age

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