01/ 15/ 2008
by Charles R. McConnell
We're told it's poor practice to answer a question with another question. But if someone asks, "What's the best way to communicate in the work setting?" we might legitimately respond with "What do you want to accomplish?" There's no single best way for communicating in business, even though hastily launched e-mail messages sometimes seem to have taken over our communication.
There's no shortage of means for transferring information between people, yet misunderstandings are common and some communications raise more questions than they answer. However, it's possible to reduce error and misunderstanding by selecting the means of communication according to what we need to accomplish.
In business we communicate in writing, by telephone and thus by voice mail, by e-mail and by face-to-face contact.
- Face-to-face meeting. Essentially, this provides everything: immediacy, the message in words, the other party's facial expressions, body language, vocal tone, volume, and manner, the chance to ask questions and the ability to work things out (in other words, the opportunity for instant feedback). But do you always need all of this? Can you realistically hunt down everyone you do business with for a face-to-face meeting, and is instant feedback always necessary?
- Telephone. The telephone is immediate. You have the message in words, you're hearing vocal tone, volume and manner, and you have the opportunity for instant feedback and interchange. What you're missing compared with the face-to-face meeting is all of the facial expressions and body language, which may or may not be significant, depending on the situation.
- Voice mail. This is discussed separately from the telephone because of one critical difference: the opportunity for immediate feedback has been removed, with the message pared down to just words, vocal tone and manner of speech. Voice mail can be useful and convenient; people can exchange questions and answers without having to connect directly. But voice mail is also a convenient dodge for people who would just as soon not discuss an issue directly.
- E-mail. E-mail is the most misused and abused process in present-day communication. Misunderstandings and misinterpretations are frequent in its use. All you have to go by with an e-mail message are the words—no facial expressions, body language, vocal tone or instant feedback. Or at least no guaranteed immediate feedback; a recipient can choose to answer an e-mail at once, answer it later or ignore it, and the sender has no control over the choice.
- Writing: letters and memos. Written communication often has the disadvantage of being the most time-consuming and slowest means available. All that is available is the message in words. Feedback is far from immediate. However, writing a letter or memo constitutes creation of a permanent record.
Which means best? Again, what are you trying to accomplish? Consider some possibilities:
- A problem-solving or negotiating activity usually calls for a face-to-face meeting. You benefit from the opportunity for discussion and for considering various views in a context in which the parties' manner and behavior are visible to each other. (Given today's technologies, face-to-face meetings sometimes occur via teleconferencing.)
- When it's necessary or advisable to create a permanent record for reasons legal or otherwise, a letter is the only way to go. (A printed-out e-mail message usually won't suffice; it hasn't the standing of a signed letter.)
- An informational message or notification that requires no discussion or immediate feedback can occur via e-mail or voice mail, which may or my not call for return confirmation.
- A sensitive matter for which you legitimately must avoid leaving a record calls for a face-to-face meeting or telephone call (without a voice mail message). No e-mail, no letter, no memo.
Some parting words about e-mail: E-mail often seems to be more trouble than it's worth and raises more questions than it answers. This need not be so; e-mail is capable of being our most helpful means of everyday business communication. The fact that it isn't always helpful is owing to two significant reasons. First, too many messages are carelessly written and sent without being edited, some lacking even simple punctuation. Most e-mail messages should be as carefully written and edited as an important letter would be. Second, in spite of many business's policies about e-mail use, e-mail often carries an appalling amount of non-essential material (to phrase it kindly)—jokes, cartoons, recipes, inspirational messages and more. It's unfortunate that so many supposed business users treat the computer as a toy rather than a tool.
Regardless of the intended purpose of any particular message, step one should always be careful consideration of the content of the message; step two is the selection of the means of communication, depending on what you wish to accomplish; and it's not until step three that the message is sent.
