How Mobile Instant Messaging Changes Relationships in the Marketplace

The ubiquity of mobile instant messaging, that has made constant communication the norm, has given the 'absent other' a cognitive presence. As a result, the 'absent other' receives constant and conscious attention. 

(Wood, Kemp, and Plester, 2014)

Mobile instant messaging (MIM) is the preferred medium of communication for smartphone users. Just think about the last five times you used your smartphone, what did you use it for? Our phones are with us everywhere and communications via IM take place constantly and seamlessly along with other daily activities; while reading, watching TV, in a meeting, driving (shame on you), eating, in class, in line at the grocery store and you name it. The person or people we are chatting with might be a thousand kilometers away, but constant communication with them makes them feel present to us; while not physically present, they are cognitively present. Their cognitive presence means that we constantly think about and engage with them. They have our constant attention.

Imagine the impact this phenomenon has on human relationships. "Out of sight, out of mind"; this is no longer applicable. It is reasonable to extrapolate that face-to-face relationships are strengthened by mobile chat; and that virtual relationships may grow stronger at the expense of face-to-face relationships (of course, this assertion needs empirical research). There are 2 types of relationships that are of special interest to me as a researcher, relationships in a classroom environment and relationships in the marketplace. My classroom research (Lee, 2014) confirms the assertion that face-to-face relationships in the classroom are strengthened by mobile chat. If applied to relationships in the marketplace, buyer-seller relationships that are built on MIM will be stronger than traditional face-to-face buyer-seller relationships (the customer and salesperson in a shop, customer service over the phone or email, etc). In this type of MIM-ameliorated relationship, the buyer has the seller's constant attention, as the seller has the buyer's constant attention. Win-win on both sides.

Tell me your opinion: Does mobile chat improve the buyer-seller relationship? How? 

Reference:

Wood, C., Kemp, N., and Plester, B. (2014). Text messaging and literacy--The evidence. Routledge: Oxon, United Kingdom. 

Lee, S. (2014). Mobile instant messaging (MIM) and student engagement in an EFL context. Publication in process. 

Skills Mothers Have (that Fathers don't!)

Crying Vomiting Baby Cartoon by Chris Desatoff from I Work Off The Clock!!

Employers tend to shy away from hiring mothers of young children. The assumption is that mothers have too many responsibilities at home and cannot possibly be as focused and productive at work as their single/male counterparts. Of course, long hours are out of the question and frequent absenteeism is expected. 

Alas, such a short-sighted point of view. What employers seem to forget is that mothers are trained in a number of highly desirable soft-skills that their single/male counterparts may lack. 

Multi-tasking

Picture this, a busy mother preparing a meal in the kitchen for her fussy brood. Hot water is boiling on the stove, she is wielding a sharp knife and slicing chicken and chopping vegetables. In the meantime, son #1 (10 years) is at the kitchen table doing homework and mother is fielding 4th grade math questions. Daughter #2 (8 years) and son #3 (5 years) burst in arguing and require dispute resolution. The phone rings, father is at the store and needs the shopping list sent via instant message. Mother does a quick inventory and texts the list. Half an hour later, lunch is cooked, homework is done, dispute settled, groceries on the way. Mothers can handle emails, phone calls, and other work tasks simultaneously with her eyes closed.

Negotiation

Scenario: family is at a restaurant, dinner is served. Child #3 (5 years) wants ice cream and refuses to finish his half-eaten meal. Mother is not having it, neither is child. Child starts screaming and rolling on the ground (restaurant floors, yikes!). Mother calmly picks child up and begins negotiation. Mother tells child that he must finish his dinner and that of his sisters in order to get ice cream. Child balks and says that he cannot eat that much. Mother suggests he finishes his own food and he will get juice in return. Child feels he has won and settles down to finish his dinner. 

Ever tried to reason with a 5-year old, throwing a tantrum, in public? Reason will get you nowhere, but smart negotiation skills will win the day. Negotiating with a 50 year-old, highly rational, male executive across the table is too easy. 

Laser-sharp focus

Mothers are constantly being interrupted. Constantly. Children crave attention and as soon as mother sits to work on something, they come running with questions, to show off something, with an injury or a mess to clean up, etc. Mother has to focus, go off and do something else, return and re-focus, go off and do something else, return and re-focus again and it goes on. This isn't too different at work when work tasks are constantly being derailed because of some distraction, co-worker chit-chat, boss' demand for information, phone call, meeting, lunch break, internet down, fire alarm etc. Mother is able to quickly return to what she was doing without missing a beat. 

Planning

Outings, roadtrips, airline travel with young children all require careful logistical planning and problem anticipation. From finding the best deals (big families are expensive) to booking airline tickets (window seat for the 3 year old) to planning meals  (allergy prevention) and entertainment (PG13 and educational programming only) and organizing family reunions (make sure kids have other kids to play with); the list goes on. Inadequate or lousy planning will mean ruined trips, grumpy kids and adults and mother having to hear about it for the rest of her life. By comparison, planning the next marketing event at work is a piece of cake.

Endurance

Childbirth is a test of endurance and it's only just the beginning. Being the first to wake and the last to sleep pretty much everyday until the children are grown requires endurance. Tending to children while sick requires endurance. Getting the kids ready for school, speeding off to work, giving 110%, getting home and preparing meals, supervising homework, getting kids to bed, catching up on social and marital life and then starting the whole routine again the next day requires endurance. What are 20 hour work days? That's just everyday for mother. 

So employers, think again. And mothers, try your hands at entrepreneurship, you are already trained entrepreneurs.

What do you think? I dare you to disagree!