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Why In-Person Interaction Remains Critical In The Age Of Remote Work

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Why In-Person Interaction Remains Critical In The Age Of Remote Work

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Not long after the COVID-19 pandemic forced a shift to remote work, the internet security research firm Twingate conducted a national survey to find out what workers missed most about going to the office.

Heading the list: “Social connections,” followed closely by “human contact in general.”

Those answers aren’t surprising to Phil Kelley Jr. (www.philkelleyjr.com), author of Presence and Profitability: Understanding the Value of Authentic Communications in the Age of Hyper-Connectivity.

“Interactions with other people are essential to human beings and those interactions significantly affect our state of mind,” says Kelley, who is also president and CEO of Salem One, a company that specializes in direct marketing, packaging, printing and logistics. “We were built to interact, to socialize, to gather and sort ourselves into social groups.”

Kelley understands the need and advantages of flexible remote-work schedules. He just worries that if remote work isn’t handled correctly – and if trends continue such as hot-desking policies where no one is assigned a permanent workspace at the office – the big loser will be corporate culture. And when culture suffers, so does the entire enterprise.

“It’s well established that a great organizational culture – one where people feel engaged, connected, purposeful – helps achieve financial success,” Kelley says. “This is because the attitudes of the people in an organization ultimately reach and affect customers. To put it simply, satisfied employees tend to foster satisfied customers.”

Developing A True Connection

That’s why it’s important to promote the development of authentic connections and good relationships within a company, he says.

“Unfortunately, building and maintaining good internal relationships gets more difficult when those relationships are mediated by technology via email, texts, phone calls or video calls,” Kelley says.

While some communication is better than none, what’s ultimately important is making a true connection, he says. For that purpose, a phone call is better than an email, a video chat is better than a phone call, and in-person is best of all.

“If working from home is done in such a way that eliminates employee interaction, then you will lower the quality of your culture,” Kelley says. “That will in turn lower employee satisfaction and increase turnover.”

He says it all goes back to a saying popularized by writer and management consultant Peter Drucker: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Kelley says, “because strategy is about abstract ideas and culture is about the connection between human beings. The more business people are attuned to the human need for making connections, the more successful they will be, because the need for connection is one of the most basic human needs.”

Making An Appearance

In that regard, Kelley recommends that ambitious employees make appearances at the office as much as possible, even if they routinely work remotely.

“If you are the sort of person who wants to advance, wants to sit in that big corner office, or even if you simply want the next promotion or raise, it is always best to take the path of highest relational value,” Kelley says. “Go into the office if given the choice of doing that or working from home. Go in person to that group meeting if they will let you in the door.”

He also suggests businesses make the effort to connect their brand to community-focused initiatives. That enhances corporate culture while helping the company connect in a different way with the customers it serves.

“Having your employees working alongside impassioned community volunteers and leaders for the betterment of all should be on the top of every brand promotion list,” Kelley says. “Engage your company with industry trade organizations, civic and church projects, charities, educational events, and so on. These kinds of activities are communication-value multipliers.

“Relationships are so important to people that any company that makes a real connection with a customer can win that customer’s loyalty for life.”

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Phil Kelley Jr. (www.philkelleyjr.com) is the author of Presence and Profitability: Understanding the Value of Authentic Communications in the Age of Hyper-Connectivity. He also is president and CEO of Salem One, which specializes in direct marketing, packaging, printing and logistics. Kelley holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in industrial and systems engineering from Georgia Tech as well as an MBA from Clemson University. He has served on the boards of directors of multiple nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Kelley has been an active voice in the print industry, refocusing industry success definitions within the rapidly developing world of corporate communications. 

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5 Ways To Strengthen Your Business Relationships And Grow Your Company

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Another record year for entrepreneurship could be in store for 2022. But how many of these new business owners end up succeeding will depend on more than the quality of the products and services they offer.

Creating and nurturing customer relationships allow businesses to offer a more personalized and enticing customer experience, which produces the buyer loyalty that is vital to a company’s long-term success, says James Webb (www.jamesharoldwebb.com), a successful entrepreneur in the medical and fitness sectors and author of A Country Boy’s Journey To Prosperity.

“Relationships are the greatest asset an entrepreneur has,” Webb says. “To retain customers, it requires a process that turns every touchpoint with a customer into an opportunity for communication, trust, and mutual growth.”

But Webb emphasizes that an entrepreneur’s success is also highly contingent upon the strength of other business relationships as well.

“Good relationships with employees bring new meaning to work, strong productivity and new ideas that carry the business forward,” Webb says. “Relationships with financial partners allow you to take risks. Mentors and colleagues can help you view strategy and processes through a different lens.

“The more you cultivate all of these business relationships, the more you, they, and your business can grow. But you can’t take them for granted. Relationships are gardens that need tending.”

Webb offers these tips to entrepreneurs on how to strengthen their relationships with customers and other business associates:

Invite customer feedback. Webb says to truly know where your company stands with customers and what you can do to improve and better meet their needs, you need to survey their thoughts about your products and services – ideally in person. “Most of the time unsatisfied customers don’t approach you with a detailed list of things they’d like for you to improve on,” Webb says. “They just leave for one of your competitors. So set aside time to get their feedback and show them you care.”

Make your customer feel valued through the entire experience. “Consider the customer experience from start to finish,” Webb says. “Find opportunities to go the extra mile and make shopping with your company enjoyable. Positive words will spread like wildfire about your business, especially on social media, and remember, negative words can spread, too. Make customers feel they’re a part of something special by making them feel special.” A key part to the customer experience equation, Webb notes, is providing good website content that gives them insight and a quick path to solutions.

Encourage a sense of ownership among your employees. Webb says giving employees a voice in major decisions, more responsibility and allowing them to own stock are ways to create a sense of ownership and strong ties between your employees and your business. “Inspiring your employees to love your business as much as you do will strengthen your company’s foundation,” Webb says. “Your business will be that much more likely to survive setbacks and grow.”

Be generous with compliments. “Employees know you can’t give them a raise every time they do a good job, but recognizing them when they do good work makes them feel appreciated and goes a long way toward making them want to stay at your company,” Webb says.

Value your vendors. People who service your company regularly are a big part of the infrastructure that keeps your company rolling. “Treat them like honorary employees,” Webb says. “Everyone from your suppliers to your web designer is an important part of your extended team, and nurturing these relationships with nice gestures and consistent communication will just make your company stronger from the ground up.”

“It’s critical to be humble enough to understand that you need great relationships to succeed as an entrepreneur,” Webb says. “I’ve seen talented people fail because they thought they could do it alone.”

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James Harold Webb (www.jamesharoldwebb.com) is the author of Redneck Resilience: A Country Boy’s Journey To Prosperity. His career in radiology saw him rise from a technologist to becoming a leader in the industry as the entrepreneur of several companies focused on outpatient medical imaging, pain management and laboratory services. In 2014, Webb turned his attention to the fitness sector and developed, owned and oversaw the management of 33 Orangetheory Fitness® franchises throughout North Texas. They were all sold to a private equity group in 2019. He currently owns the franchise rights for Dallas, Austin and Houston for BeBalanced Centers, a homeopathic hormone weight-loss franchise. His team has three stores open with plans for another 15 to 20 over the next four years.

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3 Ways To Build A Community That Leads To Business Success

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In the business world, making new connections and interacting with people — commonly known as networking — is essential in achieving and sustaining success.
But Ngan Nguyen (www.nganhnguyen.com), an intelligent leadership coach and author of Self-Defined Success: You Have Everything It Takes, says taking the next step beyond networking is where some people stumble. She calls that next step “community-building” and it can only happen with consistent relationship-building.
“Networking means little if strong relationships aren’t built for the long haul, sustained, and other connections don’t spawn from those relationships,” Nguyen says. “Being open and available for when opportunities come is what positions us to move forward. But you really can’t do so if you haven’t done enough relationship-building in order to build the community you need around you.
“Weaving a wide net of connection is the essence of community-building, which provides a solid foundation of true support to help you keep moving forward in business. It’s taught to a degree in networking, but building a community requires much more than honing that perfectly scripted pitch, going to countless networking events, talking to as many people as you can and handing out your card. What is required is the ability to build, foster, and hold relationships.”
Nguyen offers these ways to build relationships and a community of support around you:
Believe in the value of you. “Inwardly and outwardly, be clear about who you are and what you offer as a person,” Nguyen says. “Fully believe in the value of you, before your product. When you embody the confidence of your message, clients will clearly see your value and be more likely to buy.”
Seek to give, not to pitch. “Giving to others genuinely creates goodwill, and as you show you care for others, you build a rapport and they naturally are drawn to you,” Nguyen says. “Scrap the elevator pitch. Be real and someone people want to know. People will refer people they like, people who had an impact on them with their kindness. It’s much more effective than the salesperson at a networking event circling the room and handing out cards.”
Be in the right place, right time. Nguyen says one needs to trust their intuition to find the right networking places where long-term relationships can spawn. “You hone your intuition so it guides you to the right place, where you can be in the perfect opportunity that will skyrocket your success,” Nguyen says. “People do business with people they know, like, and trust. To find an environment that fosters this, seek out events that are more likely to attract a culture of giving and fun so it is more likely to build friendships. Then, business can happen naturally and organically.”
“The miracles and best things in our lives are often influenced by other people,” Nguyen says. “To build influence and a community of people who support you and constantly send you referrals requires relationships that keep growing, and much of that depends on what you put into it and how sincere you are.”
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Ngan Nguyen (www.nganhnguyen.com) is the author of Self-Defined Success: You Have Everything It Takes, and the founder/CEO of Cintamani Group, an executive coaching and consulting firm. Nguyen coaches on leadership and empowers entrepreneurs as an intuitive strategist. She is partnering with Secret Knock and WeWork to bring a major networking event to Boston on Dec. 11 for entrepreneurs and business leaders.
With over a decade of business strategy experience as an advisor to Fortune 100 companies, Nguyen is also a certified master-level intelligent leadership executive coach with John Mattone and was an analyst for McKinsey & Company. Nguyen graduated with a double honors degree in biochemistry-biophysics and bioengineering from Oregon State University and completed a research fellowship at MIT in nanotechnology.