Virtual contact is all very well....

Working "in the cloud" I have found, suits me very well.  Unlike many commentaries on working virtually, I am not left wanting by the lack of an office to visit regularly.  I find that I can focus better, respond more creatively to client requests and the peace and quiet gives me time to mull over my next blog.

However, I wouldn't go without the face-to-face and telephone meetings that I enjoy with my clients.  There's no substitute for human contact, particularly when working to establish the goals of an assignment or the finer details of a project.

The human side of communication pertaining to feelings and emotions is what is so easily lost when you are communicating remotely or asynchronously. Mehrabian's commonly cited work on the transmission of mean in spoken communication underlines this well (thank you to the handy BusinessBalls website for the details):

• 7% of message pertaining to feelings and attitudes is in the words that are spoken.
• 38% of message pertaining to feelings and attitudes is paralinguistic (the way that the words are said).
• 55% of message pertaining to feelings and attitudes is in facial expression.

Recently I've been working with two new clients and we're learning about one another quickly.  With all the different modes of communication available to us, I'm glad that we still rely on good old-fashioned conversation much of the time.