The importance of face-to-face contact

The theme of this week at work is "The Importance of Face-to-Face Contact."

No, it's not a declared theme, but it is the focus of our newsroom managers training over lunch Wednesday. You see, like most organizations, we have some people who would rather rely on messaging systems or email to let those they work with know what's going on.

I find myself slipping into this trap from time to time, and when I do, invariably I find that I am less confident that I have successfully communicated my intent or that what I intended the communicate is even being read. I also feel out of touch with what's going on around me when I see people talking with each other and I haven't checked in with them recently.

To prevent that from happening, I refocused myself on the reporters I supervise by having one-on-one conversations with each of them today about their week ahead and which stories are priorities. This should be a weekly occurrence, but over time I have let this important part of my supervisory role take a back seat to busywork.

Playing off yesterday's post about the impact of screens on our lives, I wonder how much we are losing out on the important human connections in our lives when we sit behind computer screens, text each other instead of making a call or post messages on Facebook instead of going to see a friend who lives in the same town. (In fact, one of our front-page stories today is about depression caused by Facebook!)

God calls all of us to love and care for one another in myriad ways. Can we do that through technology? Of course we can. A caring message on Facebook or sent by email means a lot to someone who is across the country and in need affirmation. But how much more might a handwritten note or a phone call mean to that person?

Or how about taking a friend to lunch, rather than sending an email or text? I would dare say that none of my strongest memories of favorite moments in my life involve something exchanged via screen.

So thanks for reading this blog post, but what are you waiting for? Get up, find another person and engage them in some quality face-time!