Touchpoint Management and Interpersonal Communication

Abstract

A touchpoint is anything in time and space with the purpose to temporarily enable sharing of information and minds to be connected. Since we in our time have many ways to get in touch we are starting to pay more attention on how to manage our available touchpoints for the benefit or our relationships and communicative goals. An interpersonal theory of touchpoint management is outlined based on six basic communication premises. Several parameters are described to distinguish between different touchpoints and what they can afford in communicative situations. Touchpoints can be managed in kind and degree. To optimize the choice and use of touchpoints we have to take a lot of factors into consideration. The suggested factors are collected in nine dimensions and three of them are seen as more important: Accessibility (preference and skills), relations and effectiveness (goals). Related theories are discussed and compared in terms of similarities and differences.