Photo Contacts Strengthen Relationships

Most basic mobile phones on the market today, include the ability to integrate a personal photo and associate it with a contact in the address book. It seemed that the younger generation all used photo contacts but I looked upon them as a frivolous, unnecessary feature and one I would have never looked for when selecting a phone. All that changed, when I purchased my Treo 700W.

The Treo 700W was the first smart phone to feature photo speed dials and in an effort to minimize the large speed dial buttons I moved all speed dials to photos. In order to do this, I needed to add a picture of these contacts directly into the phone. I was now greeted by the picture of the caller anytime one of my photo contacts would call me.

I am in a highly virtual position at work and in this environment, relationship building can be a challenge. The organization is large (800+) and there are new associates joining our workforce every day. To compete effectively you must be able to overcome the relationship building obstacles that are inherent in the virtual work world. There are many suggestions I could make on building relationships and I will keep "Virtual Relationship Building" as one of the topics of the blog going forward but for the purpose of this entry, we will focus on how photo contacts strengthen relationships in a virtual work environment.

My phone has been ringing off the hook all day. This is typical for me as I am always on the road and am currently using over 2500 minutes per month on my mobile phone. As I look down at the phone, in a mild state of annoyance, I become relaxed when I see that "Ben's" photo has just popped up on my Treo. Ben's smiling face is nice to look at it and as I reach to answer the phone I am no longer fearing an action item or hearing about a problem, rather I am thinking about connecting with Ben and discussing the item at hand.

Cell phone manufactures have finally come to realize that photo contacts enable positive communication. As I said above, Palm's Treo 700w was the first to allow photo speed dials on a Windows Mobile device and Blackberry is expected to finally include photo contacts in the upcoming release of the 4.2 OS. There are also many add-on programs for Palm/Windows Mobile/Blackberry devices that add functionality to photo contacts.

As a society, we become more virtual everyday and thus the need to redefine how we build, manage and strengthen our relationships. Technologies such as video conferencing, instant messaging, SMS, MMS, and push to talk are all at work to instantly connect people in this virtual world. I would challenge that seeing a smiling face behind the ringing phone or incoming SMS will enable you to relax and shed a positive tone on the communication transaction that is about to occur.

Photo contacts strengthen relationships in a virtual work environment by:

• Putting a face to a name. Through sharing of photo contacts you can immediately recognize a virtual work colleague who you may have never met face to face.
• Defusing any negative emotions and setting a positive tone for the conversation
• In virtual work environments you can go months if not years without seeing some of your colleagues. Photo contacts are a daily reminder of the person behind the voice on the other end of the phone.

You will need to establish a few rules in order to effectively use photo contacts as relationship strengtheners:

• It is ideal to use a photo that has a positive memory of you and the contact. This positive memory will enter your subconscious every time the individual calls.
• If you don't have a photo from a memory, ensure the photo you choose is flattering and that the contact is smiling. An angry photo of your boss is going to have the opposite effect on you than a picture of him/her smiling.
• Engage other photo contact users in picture sharing. In a virtual world you may not have photos of as many people as you would like. Share your photos with others.
• Do not just use photo contacts for your established relationships, the point is to strengthen relationships of those that you don't know well.
• If a photo is annoying you, or every call from a particular person is upsetting, remove the photo. Don't let your photo contacts work against you.