Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Keep in Touch !!


One of my dear friends and ex-colleague has this lovely mantra for building and enhancing relationships. He keeps in touch (KIT) with all the people who matter to him. I strongly suspect that he has a calendar for doing this and helping him to remember. KIT is a wonderful way to telling people that you care for them and that you value their relationship. The only investment needed for doing this is your time.

One can KIT with people in many different ways. Starting from text messages to mails ("forwards" also count but it cant be the only method) to telephone calls to visits. Whether it is for pure friendship or for official or a commercial relationship, KIT works wonders. Whenever an opportunity comes up, the first name that comes to mind is the person who has been in touch with us. At the sub-conscious level we have deep appreciation for the person who practices KIT with us because he is giving us importance.

Care should be taken, however, not to overdo it. We cannot impose ourselves on others at all times in the pretext of "KIT".. We should be sensitive to the other persons need for private time and should be able to sense it based on body language, response levels etc.

Each of us should have a list (physical or mental list) of people whose relationship is critical for us. Till this becomes a habit and part of our nature, we may want to use tools like a calendar / reminder system to KIT. We should have a list of important dates / events in the lives of such people which we should use to make our communication more personalised (like a birthday / anniversary greeting). Once this becomes hard coded in our behaviour, we will also become like my friend who enjoys a special standing and status in his relationships.

Communication is to a relationship, what breathing is to the living – Virginia Satir

5 comments:

Dithi said...

Greetings Vish!

I must admit that I can be quite inconsistent and sporadic when it comes to KIT (as with my blog posts !!) but I do admit that it is important, especially now when everybody is moving in a different pace and in different orbits!

Best.

dithi.

KParthasarathi said...

When someone keeps in touch with us,our need to be remembered or appreciated is met thus building a close bond.Thanks for the nice post

Avin said...

The time between your birth and death is called LIFE. So if someone shares that few minutes or seconds to write a mail or type a sms it has to be appreciated and reciprocated which your post has duly highlighted. Great post.KIT with ur posts :) KIT is soon to become the global mantra

Anonymous said...

Keeping in touch is a wonderful gesture to tell others that they are cared for,remembered and appreciated.Hence it is very important to KIT with our near and dear ones.If you KIT with people you keep communicating with them even though you may live far apart.
A nice post.

Tyaagi

Radhika said...

nice article..