Avaya Innovations magazine, Issue 2, 2013
Five Types of Business Communicators—and Their Issues
Everyone in the office has idiosyncrasies. Luckily, Unified Communications can help you deal.
It’s the Golden Age of Communication. That’s what the experts and their scholarly articles say. Basically, it means that we’re all talking a lot, via the bewildering number of ways available to us.
Fortunately, Unified Communications is simplifying the whole affair by integrating various communication methods and devices. UC lets you, say, retrieve your office voicemail messages via email or cell phone, and respond via text or video call.
Most importantly, UC solves the challenges brought on the diversity of communication styles in your workforce. Recognize anyone?
- The Stalker
In the five minutes it takes you to get from one meeting to the next, a Stalker will email, text and leave you a voice message about the same thing. Often breathless from anxiety and speed walking, Stalkers are starched and pressed in their appearance, with every hair in place. This type takes their work—and their own project schedules—very seriously, and doesn’t understand that they’re wasting your time. Stalkers claim they do what they do because they just want to make sure you get the message. But we all know the real reason has more to do with somebody’s inner control freak.UC puts stalkers on the same page, literally. When you can see all your messages—voicemail, email and text—in one place, it’s easy to delete or ignore the duplicates. Take that, Stalkers!
- The Hermit
You may not know the Hermits in your office, but you definitely have some. They’re working from home. Or in an empty conference room. Or storage closet. With the lights off. As creative types, Hermits have the idea that if they never talk to anyone, they’ll get a lot more done. It can be true, but then again, what are they doing? Does anyone know?Hermits dress for casual Friday every day of the week. Their mobile phone ringers are down so low they can’t hear them. They’re often “unavailable” on chat during business hours with no explanation. UC can be the perfect solution for these folks because when they do decide to check in, you know you’ll reach them wherever they happen to be. New awareness-enabled UC solutions (due out soon) assemble all the pieces of your last conversation with a Hermit, helping you quickly recall the details no matter how much time has passed.
- The Golfer
Like the Hermit, Golfers can hardly ever be found at the office. Unlike the Hermit, it’s because this type opts instead to do business in the great, manicured outdoors. Typically in sales, Golfers have been wearing those Bluetooth earpieces 24/7 since the very first one hit the market. They’re not talking to themselves—or to you, so pipe down already. They’re doing a deal on the green, talking, checking inventory, and texting outside counsel on contract negotiation details from their iPhone. Simultaneously.As Golfer’s lines are always busy, it’s difficult to get a hold of them. Thankfully, UC helps this type keep up with all of their messages by bringing everything together in one place.
- The Globetrotter
Globetrotters are always an It’s just hardly ever the same one. It’s tough to get them in a meeting, because you just never know which time zone they’ll be in for the hour in question. In fact, where do they live? And when do they sleep?You can spot Globetrotters by their dark-colored, no-wrinkle slacks and skirts, which they buy at specialized travel boutiques. They live by their smartphones, keeping plane schedules, car rentals, hotel confirmations, directions, restaurant recommendations, and international business etiquette tips organized in various apps. Life is fast-paced and complicated, you see, and their time is limited. But so is yours. So next time, why not video chat? Seeing facial expressions as the two of you converse delivers the nonverbal nuance that email doesn’t (and lets you see how nice their hotel room is). You’ll reach a decision or get buy-in faster than you ever expected.
- The Numerologist
All seven square inches of a Numerologist’s business card is full of contact options: office phone, mobile phone, satellite phone, office fax, voice mail, email, web site, LinkedIn profile and Twitter handle. Reaching out to a Numerologist can give even a Stalker pause. Where to begin?Deriving comfort from redundancy, Numerologists have every cell phone they’ve ever owned in a drawer. They dress in layers. They keep a couple of extra pairs of shoes under the desk. Just in case. Numerologists spend a lot of time checking all their various accounts for fear they may have missed a call or message. It’s a real fear, because they probably have. With UC, Numerologists can simplify their contact identity to a single name or number, so there’s no more confusion. No more worry. Ah, doesn’t that feel better?