Telephone communication

The use of the telephone seems simple enough, right?  It normally is simple when talking to friends or family.  Why then can it sometimes pose difficulties in ensuring that accurate and appropriate communication takes place?

When speaking face to face with someone, even if you don’t know him or her well, you are in a better position to determine if you understand each other. In person, you have available to you many of the cues that help you communicate (verbal, paraverbal, and non-verbal). On the phone you are missing several important elements that facilitate the communication process. For example, you cannot see the other person’s facial expressions, establish eye-contact, determine if they are fidgeting, is in the middle of something else that is important, or is attentively taking notes. Also, it is harder to engage in the active listening process and convey to the other person that you are engaged in active listening. Using the telephone is actually quite complex in the absence of this helpful, if not critical, information.

Still we use the phone all the time; it is indispensable in academia and the larger workplace. What is important to understand while talking to someone by phone is that information is missing and therefore assumptions can be misleading. This means extra vigilance is required to ensure that accurate communication is taking place. 

The following are useful guidelines for effective telephone communication: