Face-to-face, better

2008/08/04 Arakistain Aizpiri, Lorea - Elhuyar Zientziaren Komunikazioa

• Giza zientziak

For many, the bad environment between colleagues is responsible for tensions and labor concerns.

Archive

And this is demonstrated by the trend of recent years. That everyone sits in front of your computer and the exchange of information you need is increasingly done by email or at most by phone. This dynamic is not exclusive to workers. Business managers also give less and less importance to the location of people. One person could be in Bilbao, another in Lisbon and another in his home. A Cambridge MIT Media Lab research does not seem to be a bad idea to avoid discussions, but it does influence the outcome of the work.

Egin kontuak: there are now more types of work based on information, and in some jobs the information we handle has also increased. Therefore, the use and distribution of information has become a basic pillar for the functioning of workers and companies. Aware of their importance, they have analyzed the influence of the transmission of information in one way or another on the outcome of the work.

The
research was carried out in a company of 37 workers for 25 working days. To carry out the research, the most difficult thing was to measure face-to-face communication. How to measure those contacts that are not registered? They could do it by survey but not. A sociometric device, a kind of sheet metal, has been used, which operators have carried over. This device has measured the behaviors of each worker: he was seated or erect, content during the conversation, boring... he was, with whom he joined... In order not to violate privacy, they have not recorded the content of the interviews. They have also taken into account the work they were doing. Complexity and result of work.

It increases the productivity of employees who resolve their concerns personally. (Maier Tapia)

Higher cost benefit

After the analysis of the data, the researchers have stated that the face-to-face relationships generated in the work are more effective than the electronic ones, and that the productivity of personnel who resolve their concerns personally is greater. Especially in complex tasks.

Why in complexes? Getting out of place, going to someone and locking him has a cost, especially in time. In small accounts the cost can be higher than profitability. But not in difficult jobs. Despite the costs, it is more cost-effective to discuss things with peers than to do it by messages. They explain that personal interaction is necessary to transmit all knowledge. Therefore, talking in working hours is not harmful to work, as long as it is related to the task and is done between one task and another and not between them. According to the study, the productivity of workers in place and in silence was lower than that of those who maintained relationships.

According to the study, the productivity of workers who were in place and in silence was lower.

Related information

I agree, therefore, that talking to peers in difficult tasks is good, but for this it is necessary to have a good relationship between peers. And as we have seen, there are many who are not satisfied with their peers. All those who have said that they are their companions guilty of their problems, will not like this conclusion and, before this investigation, will prefer to lower their heads and keep looking at the screen before helping the neighbor. We will catch them in some corridor saying that the investigation is absurd.

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