Is Digital Transparency Good for Business?
In a recent Monday morning business meeting, my client begins discussing my private life - complete with visual aid.
It seems the digital landscape is evolving so rapidly that a shift has occurred. I remember experimenting with chat rooms in junior high (hey, if that’s the most mischievous thing a group of bored teenagers was doing, my parents probably consider themselves lucky!). I lived out in the boonies, so didn’t have internet access at the time, but my best friend did. We’d have slumber parties at her house and venture online for entertainment once in a while. It was all innocent fun, but we’d create false persona’s to mess with other chatters. And I have a feeling we weren’t the only ones.
I’m willing to bet those types of shenanigans still occur today, but how often? Does your Linked In profile or Facebook page paint an accurate picture of the real you? Probably. And why is that? One word: transparency.
Rather than using the web as a place to escape and hide, people are using social media as a place to build and strengthen relationships – personal and otherwise.
Our professional and personal lives are colliding more now than ever before. It’s not uncommon for me to conduct a business meeting and get back to my desk only to see an invite via Linked In or FB from the person I just met.
The shift seems to be a realization that in the end, the ‘at work’ self and the ‘at play’ self make up the whole human. You can choose the degree of transparency, but allowing the two to overlap can actually lead to a greater understanding of your colleagues and customers, just as it can for your friends and relatives.
The more people understand each other, the more they usually trust each other. Does trust matter in the business world? Absolutely.