Overcoming Barriers To Digital Communication During Service Delivery

Communication is the process of transmitting information and common understanding from one person to another. Since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the way we work, digital communication has become an inevitable need in the workplace. Modern businesses transformed to digital communication to address customer concerns in real time via live chat platforms. In a live chat, customers can ask questions about service-related information via online-based synchronous media and a human service representative will respond accordingly.

Although it is an effective tool for boosting productivity in the workplace and increasing social interaction with customers, there are some barriers that cause miscommunication between the live chat representatives and customers in a diverse workplace like Dubai. The lack of nonverbal communication, the absence of emotional content, and the misinterpretation of words could lead to disappointment, ambiguity, and misunderstanding.

On the other hand, the live chat representative could have difficulties identifying the customers’ culture through chat. Intercultural communication is the study and practice of communication across cultural contexts. Although it is necessary to understand cultural differences to communicate effectively in a diverse workplace, it is difficult to identify the customer’s culture during the chat conversation.

Communication as a system is not to be understood on a simple model of action and reaction. There is complexity involved in this system. Many factors could contribute to the complexity of communication, such as the lack of nonverbal cues between the customer and the representative, and the misinterpretation of words. Watzlawick and Beavin confirm that our communication involves digital and analogic modalities. Digital communication is one in which arbitrary signs are manipulated according to the logical syntax of the language. In other words, it is what the person says and what their words actually mean.

On the other hand, analogical communication refers to nonverbal cues, such as voice, facial expressions, gestures, and cadence of speech. In live chat conversation, neither the customer nor the representative is able to observe the body language or hear the tone of voice of the other person to know their intention. This could lead to customer frustration and cause serious communication issues.

Phutela states that it is impossible to communicate without sending nonverbal cues. It plays a significant role in all forms of communication. Using it allows us to understand and determine attitudes that cannot be expressed in words. Therefore, nonverbal communication reduces the possibility of problems occurring during service delivery and has a significant impact on customer satisfaction. Although the lack of nonverbal communication could lead to misunderstanding, Krohn noted that emoticons and emojis could be used in the absence of nonverbal cues in order to convey emotions.

The lack of emotional content could lead to misunderstandings between the online chat representative and the customer. Compared to face-to-face interactions, online interactions can appear artificial and present challenges regarding the expression of emotional content such as empathy and assurance. McLean states that live chat constitutes an effective service recovery tool. It requires straightforward answers to identify the issue in a timely manner. In addition, customers must be aware of the purpose of live chat conversation to customize their message.

Identifying each customer’s culture is not possible through live chat. This could prevent the customer care representative from selecting the proper writing style that matches each culture. In terms of online messaging, low-context cultures use it for quick communication. High-context cultures tend to focus on longer forms of communication rather than simple and short answers. Although Myer’s model has achieved great success in the modern workplace, it is not likely to be effective when a customer care representative in a diverse environment tries to apply it to live chat conversation.

Miscommunication is a failure to make information or your ideas and feelings clear to somebody or to understand what somebody says to you. This definition confirms that miscommunication is a two-way street. It can be caused by the representative or the customer while using the live chat platform. To maintain good communication in live chat, it is important to consider the ladder of inference model to stop making false assumptions and conclusions that may lead to complaints. Asking open-ended questions will assist participants of different cultures in understanding the real meaning of the message.

As a conclusion, although many advances have been made to facilitate digital communication in a diverse workplace, there are still some barriers that prevent its success. Customers could experience difficulties such as the inability to type quickly or other problems related to the use of assistive technologies. To manage digital communication effectively, customers need to familiarize themselves with technology to enhance their interaction skills and improve their ability to understand difficult concepts.