Age Lessons Blog

Having trouble with employees who just don’t seem to get the point during a conversation? It could be that they’re literally cueless, rendering them clueless. Thanks to instant communication completely reliant on electronic devices, a whole generation has grown up virtually blind to the non-verbal cues that deliver 93% of message content and impact [Mehrabian].

With the written word their dominant form of communication via text, blog, IM, email or other media, Millennials lack what is called silent fluency, the ability to detect and interpret facial expressions and tone of voice. As a result, they often miss the cue and miss the point of what is being said, or left unsaid.

One major contributing factor: Gen Yers are too busy checking iPhones to pay attention to a live speaker, schooled by years of interconnectivity to continuously surf for updates to the detriment of  live activity.

What’s needed is a corporate etiquette and communications tutorial to get everyone on the same page, literally, and to fight the “continuous partial attention” syndrome that has disrupted the workplace.

Tags: communication, corporate life, email, etiquette, Gen Y, iPones, messages, Millennials, texting, training, tutorial

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