Welcome to my blog! On this site, you will find a summary of my findings on a recent study I conducted regarding media of communication preferences in business.
In recent years, new forms of communication technologies have offered an increase in the available options for co-workers to communicate. While face-to-face (F2F) communication used to be the primary mode of communication, new forms of communication, including email, IM, and video chat, have undermined the popularity of F2F conversation in the workplace. Many companies today are preferring the new communication technologies as opposed to F2F communication because of the benefits they see with virtual teams. Notably, the allure of having the best workforce from all over the world work for a company, and the flexibility of work hours offered by the ability to communicate with others in a way that does not require each individual to be physically there have fostered a positive attitude towards communication technologies. Representatives from large corporations, such as Intel’s Andrew S. Grove, have advocated communication technologies as the future of business communication.
Combating the positive reviews for digital communication, some researchers maintain that a successful corporation must still contain a F2F component. Brian Amble, a researcher studying British organizations, found that the most effective method for engaging employees was through team meetings and focus groups as opposed to email or other remote forms of communication. Studies have also found that F2F communication offers greater comprehension and encourages participation.
My study concerning communication media and business was motivated by the controversial research that exists in this topic. Rather than debating which communication strategy is most effective or beneficial, I sought to find which type of communication is most preferable. Also, since existing research on communication in business concerns media preferences in the workplace, I wanted to take a different spin on the issue through researching communication preferences while entering a workplace and during the interview process. Since communication media range in terms of engagement, with some technologies requiring both users to be online at the same time (like video chatting and phone calling) and other technologies allow for users to be separated by time (email), I chose to narrow down the media I studied. Ranging from least to most engaged forms of media, I studied email, phone conversation, and face to face communication.
Specifically, I generated the following research question to study: Between in person communication, phone conversation, and email, which media of communication is more appealing to prospective employees and employers for use during the interview and hiring process ? Why, if any, is there a difference between preferences between employers and potential employees?
I hope that my research adds to the growing pool of knowledge on how communication media are impacting businesses. Thank you for reading!