Communication is key in society – it’s essential for the well-being of individuals, as well as the wheels of industry – to make connections and move business forward. However, in recent years, thanks to the pandemic, communication has taken a hit, and relationships of all kinds have struggled to survive. Nevertheless, there is still time to bridge that gap and open-wide our channels of communication.
In business
When it comes to business, communication is crucial, and even more so, when your business encompasses remote and hybrid workers. It can be a headache getting your colleagues to converse with one another and work together as a team, when they are tens or hundreds of miles apart, let alone if they are in different time zones.
Even if all of your workers are under one roof, you still have to make sure that they’re aware of the importance of effective communication, as it underpins the overall success of a business. A lack of positive social interaction, can create conflict, mistrust and low morale, not to mention, low productivity.
Purchasing online
In recent years, there has been a major shift in the way the public shops, moving away from purchasing in retail shops, to using stores on the internet. This means that there has also been a switch in the way that customers and online business owners, have had to communicate. Of course, when you are not face-to-face with your customers, you have to work that much harder to try and establish lasting relationships.
However, you can achieve this by keeping in contact with your customers while their orders are being processed and despatched, asking your clients for feedback at the end of transactions, and following up on purchases, a few days later. Ring, text or email them, to confirm delivery and to make sure that they are happy with the products and quality of service they have received.
Within healthcare
Communication is especially important within the healthcare industry, whether you are providing care or assisting in a caring environment. Without communication, you are unlikely to know what your patients need or how you can help them.
This has been a sticking point for medical professionals in recent times (during the pandemic), with patients not being allowed to visit their surgeries in person, or, when the restrictions eased, missing their appointments because they were too afraid to attend. Now, we’re getting back to normal, but there will always be patients who miss their appointments, for whatever reason. One of the ways you can help to avoid this, is by reminding them when their appointments are due. Here are the three best ways to help patients remember their appointments.
Keeping in touch
For many people, social interaction has been a real struggle over the past couple of years. Friends and families were forced to stay apart, to avoid spreading the virus, and many people had to work from home for the first time in their lives. This unnatural physical separation caused a rise in mental illnesses, such as depression and anxiety. Human beings are social creatures – we need to be near one another. One can only imagine, how much more mental anguish there would have been, where it not for modern technology… Whether by phone, texts, emails, social media, or video calls, we found a way to stay in touch.
Places of worship
For the faithful, their place of worship, is the main social hub of their life and the center of their community, but this too was curtailed by Covid 19, with many of the congregation too worried about their health to attend in person, let alone all the other events that are generally organized around religious calendars.
However, there’s been a way to get around this – with a live streaming facility – so that congregations could feel a part of services, without feeling cut off from the rest of their community.
To wrap things up
We should never underestimate the importance of communication in any aspect of life, whether it’s work, healthcare, personal relationships, or simply shopping. Connecting with others, keeps us emotionally well-balanced; we feel better about ourselves, less stressed, and more supported.
Alone, we can get by to a certain extent. But by coming together, we can communicate our thoughts and feelings, which lets us express ourselves, and that’s important for our mental health. The whole world opens up when we reach out and interact with others. Communication really is the key.
