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I’ve been wondering for awhile, how much does lack of typing proficiency contribute to this problem? There is one co-worker who always wants to huddle if any S

I’ve been wondering for awhile, how much does lack of typing proficiency contribute to this problem? There is one co-worker who always wants to huddle if any Slack thread gets busy. In a complete separate conversation they told me that they are a hunt and peck typist. This person is an incredible engineer. I put 2 and 2 together. In Slack conversations I am absolutely burying them in paragraphs of text because I can type quite fast. They can’t keep up. I’m sure there are also other factors like language proficiency, written communications skills, etc. But I think the lack of typing proficiency may pushing people away from written communication. Outside of the workplace, people who do not even have keyboards (phone/tablet only) may be contributing less to text chat conversations than others. They are also the people who only use voice messages.

orev 2y ago
I’m not sure that you’re putting the correct 2 and 2 together. To be frank, if you’re “absolutely burying them in paragraphs of text”, it seems like you’re the problem in that situation. Doing that is the equivalent of going into a meeting and using your loudest voice to monologue everything you have to say without giving anyone else a chance to speak. It’s a filibuster tactic that results in forcing everyone else to shut up. Communication is not a competition to see who can win by speaking the fastest and loudest. I get your point that lack of typing ability probably makes some people avoid text chat, but in your example, switching to a voice chat is definitely the right approach to cut off that behavior.
arp242 2y ago
How can you work with computers all day and be a hunt and peck typist? I'm not judging, I just don't understand. Is this some sort of medical condition?
- hoseja 2y ago
  Not quite to the level of hunt-and-pecking but unless you are typing up reams of boilerplate, typing speed really isn't a bottleneck to intelectual work with a computer.
  - SoleilAbsolu 2y ago
    I like being able to type fast enough to take meeting notes in realtime with minimal attention to what my fingers are doing. I find this method to be great for helping me actually remember what happened. FWIW I was a hunt & peck-er until I wrote my masters thesis in 2021, and touch typing is absolutely one of the most useful skills I've ever learned.
- dkjaudyeqooe 2y ago
  Same reason I didn't take a calligraphy class so I could handwrite. Hunt and peck is perfectly functional for most typing. People can hunt and peck quite quickly. The question is do you type slowly or quickly, not which method you use.
- mindslight 2y ago
  I was never really interested in learning the touch typing technique and basically just kept advancing hunt and peck into a kind of floating hands style. My registration to key positions is based more off the outer keys on the keyboard. Switching keyboards takes longer to get used to the new one. Using random keyboards or typing while standing I'm generally back to looking at the keys. Sitting down at my partner's desk and using their keyboard with blank keycaps is seriously annoying. I've clocked about 140wpm on my own keyboards though, so shrug. My real question is how do people keep at "hunt and peck" and not eventually get quicker? And how do people use things like touchscreen phone keyboards to compose anything longer than ten words, not getting frustrated and giving up?
coffeefirst 2y ago
This is real. I’ve had people ask if I used AI when taking notes live. They’d never seen anyone fast enough to keep up.
- coffeefirst 2y ago
  Actually, as I say this, I wonder if this is part of why some people actually like AI autocomplete. If you struggle to type, the predictive stuff has a lot more value.
  - tartoran 2y ago
    I toyed with predictive stuff and noticed that I started leaning into its predictions too much, altering the course of what I truly wanted to say.
  - marssaxman 2y ago
    That's a remarkable insight! I have been a fast typist since I was young, and I have never found it worth the trouble of using even regular autocomplete - it distracts me more than it helps. I have yet to try AI autocomplete, either, because the problems it apparently solves don't really seem to be problems I have. It had never occurred to me that typing skill might have something to do with this.
hombre_fatal 2y ago
“Paragraphs of text” in a back and forth on Slack probably does mean time to have a call. It’s an anti pattern imo. Whether the problem genuinely needs that much context to explain or you are flooding them with low signal logorrhea (another common problem), both cases are solved with an in-person or audio chat.
dyauspitr 2y ago
Paragraphs of text is a waste of time. I did a basic experiment for about a week where I typed everything out vs called a huddle when things got too verbose in similar threads and the time savings were ~8x They were so good I’m now convinced that a slack thread that gives everyone context that then jumps into a huddle at the right time is more effective than scheduled meetings.
- DontchaKnowit 2y ago
  Hate this mentality. 1) written text is often more clear and concise 2) written text leaves a reference that can be used later whereas huddles leave me wondering wtf we just talked avout 20 minutes ago.
  - mGeza 2y ago
    Those two points are important for me, too. Conversations are important, too. However, if there's no need to write down the result then a) or the topic was something a minor detail, b) or we are in 'crises management' mode (maybe permanently).
  - dyauspitr 2y ago
    One way monologues may be concise but conversations with a lot of back and forth are slow and painful
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
yesfitz 2y ago
Anecdotally, I've noticed an inverse relationship between ability to read and preference for oral communication. My takeaway from this has been to prefer short, highly-formatted emails over meetings and chat. I put the "Bottom Line Up Front", try to limit paragraphs to two sentences (takeaway and detail), use indentation to indicate which sentence(s) are less important, and always direct questions at a particular person. Email allows slow readers, slow thinkers, and slow writers to ingest, digest, and respond at their own pace. I disagree with the author's hope for AI. "Orality" doesn't leave room for deep thought. It demands immediate response. It rewards those who keep talking. It doesn't allow for linking and references. While we're getting AI that can show how it arrived at a response, and AI that can summarize your spoken words, we don't have AI that can show how you arrived at your response. That's on you.
- readthenotes1 2y ago
  I always got a grumble after reading a long email and seeing tldr at the bottom. It would take only a few seconds of the writer's time to put it at the top...

orev 2y ago

I’m not sure that you’re putting the correct 2 and 2 together. To be frank, if you’re “absolutely burying them in paragraphs of text”, it seems like you’re the problem in that situation. Doing that is the equivalent of going into a meeting and using your loudest voice to monologue everything you have to say without giving anyone else a chance to speak. It’s a filibuster tactic that results in forcing everyone else to shut up. Communication is not a competition to see who can win by speaking the fastest and loudest. I get your point that lack of typing ability probably makes some people avoid text chat, but in your example, switching to a voice chat is definitely the right approach to cut off that behavior.

arp242 2y ago

How can you work with computers all day and be a hunt and peck typist? I'm not judging, I just don't understand. Is this some sort of medical condition?

hoseja 2y ago
Not quite to the level of hunt-and-pecking but unless you are typing up reams of boilerplate, typing speed really isn't a bottleneck to intelectual work with a computer.
- SoleilAbsolu 2y ago
  I like being able to type fast enough to take meeting notes in realtime with minimal attention to what my fingers are doing. I find this method to be great for helping me actually remember what happened. FWIW I was a hunt & peck-er until I wrote my masters thesis in 2021, and touch typing is absolutely one of the most useful skills I've ever learned.
dkjaudyeqooe 2y ago
Same reason I didn't take a calligraphy class so I could handwrite. Hunt and peck is perfectly functional for most typing. People can hunt and peck quite quickly. The question is do you type slowly or quickly, not which method you use.
mindslight 2y ago
I was never really interested in learning the touch typing technique and basically just kept advancing hunt and peck into a kind of floating hands style. My registration to key positions is based more off the outer keys on the keyboard. Switching keyboards takes longer to get used to the new one. Using random keyboards or typing while standing I'm generally back to looking at the keys. Sitting down at my partner's desk and using their keyboard with blank keycaps is seriously annoying. I've clocked about 140wpm on my own keyboards though, so shrug. My real question is how do people keep at "hunt and peck" and not eventually get quicker? And how do people use things like touchscreen phone keyboards to compose anything longer than ten words, not getting frustrated and giving up?

coffeefirst 2y ago

This is real. I’ve had people ask if I used AI when taking notes live. They’d never seen anyone fast enough to keep up.

coffeefirst 2y ago
Actually, as I say this, I wonder if this is part of why some people actually like AI autocomplete. If you struggle to type, the predictive stuff has a lot more value.
- tartoran 2y ago
  I toyed with predictive stuff and noticed that I started leaning into its predictions too much, altering the course of what I truly wanted to say.
- marssaxman 2y ago
  That's a remarkable insight! I have been a fast typist since I was young, and I have never found it worth the trouble of using even regular autocomplete - it distracts me more than it helps. I have yet to try AI autocomplete, either, because the problems it apparently solves don't really seem to be problems I have. It had never occurred to me that typing skill might have something to do with this.

hombre_fatal 2y ago

“Paragraphs of text” in a back and forth on Slack probably does mean time to have a call. It’s an anti pattern imo. Whether the problem genuinely needs that much context to explain or you are flooding them with low signal logorrhea (another common problem), both cases are solved with an in-person or audio chat.

dyauspitr 2y ago

Paragraphs of text is a waste of time. I did a basic experiment for about a week where I typed everything out vs called a huddle when things got too verbose in similar threads and the time savings were ~8x They were so good I’m now convinced that a slack thread that gives everyone context that then jumps into a huddle at the right time is more effective than scheduled meetings.

DontchaKnowit 2y ago
Hate this mentality. 1) written text is often more clear and concise 2) written text leaves a reference that can be used later whereas huddles leave me wondering wtf we just talked avout 20 minutes ago.
- mGeza 2y ago
  Those two points are important for me, too. Conversations are important, too. However, if there's no need to write down the result then a) or the topic was something a minor detail, b) or we are in 'crises management' mode (maybe permanently).
- dyauspitr 2y ago
  One way monologues may be concise but conversations with a lot of back and forth are slow and painful
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

yesfitz 2y ago

Anecdotally, I've noticed an inverse relationship between ability to read and preference for oral communication. My takeaway from this has been to prefer short, highly-formatted emails over meetings and chat. I put the "Bottom Line Up Front", try to limit paragraphs to two sentences (takeaway and detail), use indentation to indicate which sentence(s) are less important, and always direct questions at a particular person. Email allows slow readers, slow thinkers, and slow writers to ingest, digest, and respond at their own pace. I disagree with the author's hope for AI. "Orality" doesn't leave room for deep thought. It demands immediate response. It rewards those who keep talking. It doesn't allow for linking and references. While we're getting AI that can show how it arrived at a response, and AI that can summarize your spoken words, we don't have AI that can show how you arrived at your response. That's on you.

readthenotes1 2y ago
I always got a grumble after reading a long email and seeing tldr at the bottom. It would take only a few seconds of the writer's time to put it at the top...