Communication

Ryan, thank you for pointing out the elephant in the ether:  face-to-face is hard to beat.

Cowardly managers, we are told, use email to avoid confrontation.  Just as often, confrontational managers complain that they receive emails from employees when their door is "always open."  Maybe, we need a committee to resolve it.  The resulting policy can be emailed to everyone.

Email is limited.  Emotional communicators probably find it largely useless.  And many people don't write or read well enough to use it.

But it can increase productivity.  It doesn't interrupt like a telephone call.  It can be reviewed, revised, and reflected on before sending.  It's great for anything that can be written on a matchbook, saving all that time spent playing phone tag.  And when all else fails there's "Please call me or stop by."

The problem with email isn't the cowards hiding behind it or the bullies using it as a club.  These individuals are what they are.  The problem lies in the irony of a workplace saturated with "communication" that doesn't allow open discussion.  After a while, the only message is, "If you didn't hear us, we'll say it again."  My guess is when there is more open discussion -- with or without management -- there is less broadcasting.

I regard many email communications that could be better handled face-to-face in the same way I hold text messenging - I HATE IT !  

What ever happened to the old fashioned voice conversations and human interactions that give personal effects that these types of communications?  I find that it is much easier for (managers, et al) to say no or ignore someone through electronic means than it is in person.  Yeah, it is easier to sit behind the desk and hit <ignore>, <delete> or write a useless reply that is basically nothing but fluff and wind that doesn't accomplish anything.

I hate getting those mass mailings that are about goings ons as well as directed emails that would be better handled in person, i.e., serious matters, individual corrections, or things of a personal nature.

While it is nice to have a written record of an interaction, I still feel that a lot is lost by not being able to look someone in the eyes and detect that they are full of B.S.

Wow!  I wish I could print this and post it on the office door of every one of supervisors.  There is very little group dialog where I work.  I do think our individual input is valued, but to get together in small groups to discuss issues from many perspectives at once and hash out ideas rarely happens.  Seems that "we're" always too busy for that.  I'm tired of asking.

Wow, this is a great article and I am 100% guilty of this! Thanks for bring it out to the open. I can not count how many times I have said "didn't you read the email?" It is easy to realize now, that they would not of been asking me if they did! Thanks!