Business is People Connecting to Each Other

Business is about people. Reading the Women’s Wear Daily (www.wwd.com) article title “Tough Financial Times Call for Ingenuity” I was stopped by a quote from Doug Jaeger, innovation director for the creative agency Taxi Inc. (www.taxi.ca). His statement read “There is a real need for social interaction as people become more about computers and less about people.”

This struck me as yet another reminder, from a different perspective, that our connections with people are critically important today. Especially as we extend work around the world, linking with people whose approach to doing business differs from our own, the direct connections is essential. How can we do that? Sometimes it’s as simple as calling instead of sending an e-mail, reducing the opportunities for misunderstandings and allowing time for a real conversation instead of a curt message. Sometimes its taking time to share a meal or visit in person rather than by e-mail or phone. No matter how you do it, remember Linked In messages can be useful but aren’t as powerful as a direct connection one person to another.