Human contact is very important. Sitting down, having a face to face conversation encourages us to be civil to others, patient, and empathetic. It also allows us to work on our social skills and this is particularly important for those who tend to be shy or lack social skills.

A question I recently stumbled across sparked my interest. In trying to be more efficient, are we avoiding human contact? Of course my answer is a definite yes. More important though: What impact is this having on us? Human contact is obviously not the most efficient means of communication. When I talk about being more efficient, I’m referring to things such e-mails versus face to face conversations, remote assistance as opposed to being physically onsite, conference calls instead of traditional meetings, and automation for customer service.

Of course there are some major benefits to choosing efficiency over human contact. One of the biggest ones is cost. Companies and individuals can save a bundle by using advanced communication methods. For example, a company can save a lot of money (and time) by implementing an automation system for customer service calls instead of having each and every call answered by a staff member (come to think of it, is automation even customer service?). For individuals, money can be saved by communicating through e-mail instead of incurring phone and travel costs.

However, what are the downsides to choosing efficiency over human contact? Obviously using computer technology to communicate is faster. Does this in turn make us less patient as we start to expect other things to happen just as quickly? Sending an e-mail or making a quick phone call is more efficient than physically going to see someone. Has this in turn created faceless voices and e-mail addresses? Has it caused us to become less civil and ruder towards other people?

There are definitely many benefits in opting to use more efficient communication methods. However, I think it’s important to keep things in check. Create a balance between efficiency and human contact and whenever possible, put a face to that e-mail address or voice.