Activity is not productivity – we all know that.
But why do we keep engaging in activities that are not productive?
One answer: Simply because it is easy to engage in activities that are not productive.
This is true especially when it comes to activities that are geared towards building engagement with the other person.
Sometimes, it is easy to think you are engaged when you are not even on the other person’s radar.
Here is the basic rule:
When you are engaging with your network (online or offline) who you are AND the nature and level of conversations you have will influence your level of your engagement with the other person.
The diagram above shows ONE framework that explains this relationship.
As you can see, the need for creativity goes up significantly when you need higher levels of engagement
Here are the levels:
- A. Mindless Chatter: This is basically saying whatever comes to your mind and sometimes you might get a reply (the other person may also be bored, right?) and you might think there is engagement.
- B. Inconsequential Topics: These are like ice-breakers. After you break the ice, you have to move on but many people are happy to continue those conversations forever and think they are engaged.
- C. Genuine, Caring and Thoughtful Conversations: You are genuine, caring and thoughtful about those topics you are discussing. That comes across and this is like the entry point to getting the other person engaged at a higher level. When I say this is an “entry ticket,” it means there is more work to be done. It’s not over.
- D. Immediate Relevance: From here on, you always include the previous section starting from C (Genuine, Caring and Thoughtful) as a given. You talk about things that are of immediate relevance to the other person. So you become a positive possibility for the other person right NOW.
- E. Future Relevance: You start engaging in conversations that are of immediate and future relevance to the other person. You show that you are a positive possibility for the other person now and in the future.
- F. Who You Are: This is where your personal brand kicks in. You not only show that you are a positive possibility in the immediate and future concerns of the other person in your conversations but also by showing “who you are.” The other person will make an assessment on the level of engagement based on both – what you are saying and who you are.
Think about all your conversations in the last thirty days. Where do you slot them? Are they in the right slot to elicit the right level of engagement?
If not, start unlocking your creativity to engage in higher-level conversations that will automatically lead to higher levels of engagement.
A quick note on Twitter: I included a reference to Twitter because you have an opportunity to initiate conversations with people that are loosely connected to you (meaning you are following them and they are not following you). It is easy to have a LOT of conversations on Twitter that are at best leading to moderate levels of engagement. You could, if you wish THINK and take these conversations to the next level by being thoughtful and creative. It’s your choice.
About the Author: Rajesh Setty is an entrepreneur, author and speaker based in Silicon Valley. Rajesh maintains a blog at Life Beyond Code. You can also find him on Twitter at @UpbeatNow.
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« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 Next »Wow very nice chart shows your experience level and your deep understanding in online services. Wow very brilliant , I got an idea and summarizing around some thousand tweets to categorized them using its behavior . I have just started digging the tweets manually and i can see two pattern of people. One with left brain dominance and another with right brain dominance. may be i can come to more specific once i check the trend with my data points after analysis. I may name it as Raj Tweet Con Dominance trends. Long name :)
Revathi,
You made me smile there. Thank you for being kind.
Have a great weekend.
Best,
Raj
Brilliant, just brilliant!
I've been leaving twitter(and facebook, plus other blog-based sites) to re-think and re-focus all my strategy, just yesterday.
It's a serious kick in the teeth you give me there(in a positive manner, of course)!
I still need time to know how a sound engineer can provide relevant and insightful info/content to his readers...
When I'll be ready and have switched on twitter again,(it's now idle)I'l let you know.Your opinion will be really appreciated.
In advance:what would YOU expect a music business pro(like me) to give as info?
I really wonder.
One thing is sure:my way of working is totally unique and is,pardon my lack of modesty, way better than a purely technical-based approach of music.I put a lot of interpersonal action into my job.
I am myself and do as I please,unlike my peers who prefer moaning while being "normal".
It seems to me that being "normal" is a key to stagnation, if not to failure...
More as the ideas come!
Thanks again for your analysis,I'll never tweet the same way,but I don't want to be a "joybringer without grey matter", just to be noticed by other twits.
/Alex
Alex,
Thank you for your comments. Whatever be your field (in your case, it's music) one of your objectives have to be to see how you can use your expertise to make it relevant to the people that you are planning to build a relationship.
Here are some simple rules:
1. If you are "interested" in them, you will become "interesting."
2. If you "care" enough, they will start caring for you.
3. If you "give" enough, (some of them) will reciprocate
4. If you are "nice" beyond the average, some of them will notice you.
Again, the goal is to extend the relationship online and offline to take it to the next level.
Best,
Raj
Isn't it easy to get distracted in the twittersphere and if we're not deliberate about building relationships we just end up another lost voice in mindless chatter.
I think that your 'why' or your 'purpose' in it all plays such a crucial role in determining the depths of your conversations, much the same as the offline world.
Consider a guy, who approaches a girl.
His intentions will guide his depth of conversation, and I dont need to go into explicit details, but if he is just looking for a good time, his interest and desire for deep or meaningful conversation will definately not be there, therefore the manifestation of this will be in surface level chatter, enough to determine if he'll be able to get what he wants.
However if this guy is interested in pursuing a depth of conversation to find out about this girl and to pursue meaningful relationship, with a desire not just to take but to contribute then his depth of conversation will be much deeper.
Okay I didn't intend to go as deep as that, but I like it :)
Great insights...!
Regards
Nathan Hulls
(A) vs (F) certainly does confront the "quality" vs. "quantity" of followers argument.
Excellent write up.... some folks on Twitter aren't really interested in deeper conversation across social media sites, for some, it's more about making sales or just having fun.
For me, your post does present some challenges. Using my creativity while learning to be useful or thoughtful isn't easy, especially when we just aimlessly interact without asking how we might take our current discussions deeper? Thanks again,
-Mig
I see and agree with most of what you say. However, for conversations to be meaningful, I don't think it needs to be such hard work.
Rajesh,
I am curious to know if you are using any tools to draw the drawing or if you have done it with a pen/pencil and scanned the image?
Regards
Raj
@Nathan, you took the blog post to another "space." I was not thinking about those examples when I wrote the post, but quite interesting :)
@Stefan, Thank you.
@Mig, I agree. May be most users on Twitter are not interested in deeper level conversations. This is not an issue. In fact, it makes your job easy. To stand out there, you just have to care more.
@Emil, the diagram looks complex but the implementation is not.
@Raj, I use a set of sketch pens and scan the drawings.
Best,
Rajesh