Communicate both online and offline

“We live in an online world”

So we are told, but I don’t feel it is that simple. Sometimes it is key to communicate offline (ie face to face!). The trick is to establish a balance, using both and at the right time and in the right order.

Today some thoughts from research, from my own experience, and from Seth.

The “7%-38%-55% Rule”

The graphic above is referred to often as the “7%-38%-55% Rule”, as developed by Dr Mehrabian of UCLA.

To summarise, what it refers to is that when your communication is not aligned (ie to the listener it does not “feel” fully congruent), the weighting of what you communicate comes in the following proportions:

• 7% from your words
• 38% from your tone of voice
• 55% from your non-verbal communication (body language etc)

Consider that for a moment.

Only 7% of what you communicate may come from your words. This has massive implications for you in both communicating your message and in listening to others.

Balancing online and offline communication

So, when working with clients around their leadership, communication is critical, so I encourage using a combination of online and offline communications.

Email is not enough, newsletters are not enough, online “town hall” meetings are not enough. Online is not enough.

It is so much more powerful to meet people in person so that you can both fully listen to them (and pick up on their communication beyond their words).

This is also why, in the “How I Work” section of the #BeMoreYou page on this site that helps people see if I may be the right sounding board to support them, I note:

“Every client engagement is different, though common elements include an introductory intensive session of typically at least a half day, followed by a commitment to calls or meetings at least twice each month for a minimum of six months.

I work with clients around the world utilizing a blend of face to face meetings and call/video platforms. For remote clients our initial intensive will typically be face to face to establish a strong platform, then we will ideally meet in person at least once or twice a year.”

I arrived at this model for client communication over time. Though I have not done an academic study around this, my own thoughts around approach and level of effectiveness of various communication mediums for working as a coach or sounding board include :

• Face to face
  • Optimum, highest level of effectiveness, as you can read 100% of their communication and they can also 100% tune in to what you ask them and tell them. This is the “totally offline” option, even better if you can go for a long walk away from any smartphones, emails etc!
  • The next few options are in decreasing levels of that “offline” feel of full presence.
• Video calls
  • In my experience, if you have established a relationship and understanding with someone via an in-depth person to person meeting, a video call can be up to 80% or more as effective as face to face.
  • That is why, as I note above, I will always offer to invest the time to travel to new clients to spend extensive time with them to establish the relationship and context for our work together.
  • Related to this, I would say that if face to face relationship has not first been established, efficacy of video calls for coaching will drop well under 80% of the value of a face to face meeting, often more like 60% or below
• Phone calls
  • So much is lost without video contact, particularly when a coach asks a question that has the client sit quietly with it for some time. Few things more disruptive than silence on a phone call when neither party is totally sure if the call has dropped during the silence!
  • I’d say that phone calls are, at best, 50% as effective as a face to face meeting.
  • I do also note that so many corporate IT departments bar people from using video. I won’t get into this, only to note that I strongly encourage my clients to do a workaround on this, even if it is as simple as using their personal phone and data to dial into a video link I send them.
• Email / text
  • On rare occasions, I have had to support a client via email or text (typically when they have IT / tech issues). It is very difficult indeed and I will only do this with a strongly established relationship.

I hope that sharing my thoughts from my own extensive experience of communicating internationally with clients may have some value in you considering how you choose to balance online and offline (face to face!) communication.

In closing, some pithy and concise words from a recent post from the master, Seth Godin:

The appropriate medium

We spend all day communicating, and we’ve invented a myriad of ways to do it. You can buy a stamp, press a button, rent a room or use a microphone. Choose wisely.

Don’t send an email when you should pick up the phone instead.

Don’t send a text when an email makes more sense.

Don’t have a meeting when a memo is more likely to get the point across.

Don’t give a speech when a blog post would reach more people with more impact.

And don’t write it down when it’s better said live…