What words cannot say (2/3)

Suddenly, the world before me was much more complex than what I was used to seeing. Suddenly, I saw the world as it was: full of subtleties. It was actually much more detailed than the world I had seen before: ordinary trees had become incredibly beautiful objects, with all their fine little branches and the delicate texture of their bark, dotted with cracks. In short, my glasses gave me a whole new perspective on the world.

The richness of communication between human beings

That is exactly what happened when I began to observe human communication in greater detail. It was as though, before changing my perspective, I saw communication as a simple exchange of words. But over the past year, through our research into human communication, I acquired a new pair of glasses. And when I put them on, communication became more than words. It became a message made up not only of words, but also of non-verbal signs such as a half-smile, an empathetic attitude, an aggressive tone of voice, an expressive hand movement or a hunched back keeping its distance.

And science shows us that 93% of the messages a person conveys consist of what they do not say. (source).

Researchers have also shown that regardless of the language spoken or how quickly it is delivered, the amount of information transmitted verbally is always around 39 bits per second (source). This suggests that the human brain may have a limited capacity to integrate and produce information when it is conveyed verbally.

We can therefore imagine that this limit is overcome when communication is enriched with a non-verbal dimension. And that is what we have been doing entirely naturally ever since we learned to speak.

Verbal and non-verbal communication therefore complement one another strongly, making it easier for human beings to establish a relationship of trust and attentive listening between participants. All of this makes face-to-face conversation the most natural and information-rich form of communication there is.

Face-to-face communication

If we were to classify the different means of communication by their degree of information richness, face-to-face communication would be very rich, while fax, paper letters and email could be considered fairly poor.

In face-to-face communication, it is easier for people to express mutual empathy. And according to a study we have already discussed in a previous article, that empathy is positively correlated with a work team's effectiveness.

Forms of communication considered poor in non-verbal information, on the other hand, are less conducive to developing a bond of trust between two people who do not know each other well.

Text-based communication

However, although text-based communication such as fax may be considered less natural, it remains a preferred method in professional settings, including healthcare. And mainly for practical reasons:

• it provides better traceability
• it can easily be asynchronous and spontaneous, and take place remotely (see our latest article on the subject)
• it is easier to interpret objectively.

Face-to-face communication, by comparison, seems much less practical:

• In a professional setting, it is much harder to keep a record of what was exchanged.
• It often requires advance planning and is limited by the geographical locations of the two people who want to communicate (teleconferencing services can, however, remove this geographical limitation).
• According to some researchers, the non-verbal cues present in face-to-face communication could work against certain professionals who are unaware of the impact of non-verbal communication and its interpretation on the dynamics of their relationships. (Doucet, Buchanan, Cole, & McCoy, 2012).

The solution?

The current COVID-19 situation and isolation measures are making us realize how deeply human beings need face-to-face encounters, with all their richness. But also how useful technology can be in maintaining a connection among us all. Paradoxically, I have never seen such a strong sense of community and solidarity, even as everyone is more isolated than ever. This situation clearly shows us the full potential of new technologies to be both functional and human.

Yet the perfect solution does not seem to exist. Our last article mentioned instant messaging as an interesting solution for sustaining conversations. But although it has many advantages, it is still an information-"poor" form of communication.

The Facebooks and Apples of this world have, however, managed to make instant messaging more "human" by adding emotion: message reactions, GIFs, emojis, photos, voice and video recordings. Unsurprisingly, this type of communication has been adopted on a massive scale and is now an integral part of how we communicate.

Still, it should be noted that this more "human" communication through instant messaging works mainly between people who know each other very well or already share a bond of trust.

So we can ask ourselves: in a healthcare setting, where people may barely know each other yet still need to form functional, effective teams around patients, what would the solution be? We explore that question in our next article!