???? “Sending an email? Make it a meeting.”
You know that old chestnut, “This meeting could have been an email?” Well, in the day and age of virtual everything, think about flipping that around every once in a while.
First, because it’s really hard to stay connected to colleagues when all you’re doing is sending emails to one another.
Second, because having conversations opens things up and allows new ideas to form and flow. Sending emails limits the conversation to the narrow call and response dictated by what you ask for. Talking with someone allows for more “what if” type dialogue and exploration.
And third, because the written word is a wildly ineffective form of communication. (Trust me, I’m a writer.) The idea that something is clear when it’s in black-and-white sounds nice but just isn’t true. Example 1: US courts are filled with lawsuits due to contractual disputes, all stemming from disagreement over what was meant in a black & white contract. Example 2: have you ever sent a text that was taken out of context? Yeah, thought so.
The point is, learn to fall back in love with the phone call. And if you don’t know how, ask any Gen Xer, they’ll walk you through it.
That’s all I got. Love you, see you next week.
Sales Associate at Microsoft
1 年Thanks for posting
Sales Associate at Microsoft
1 年Great opportunity
Project Manager and Scrum Master | Proactive problem solver | Connecting people and ideas to make things happen
1 年Thanks Jason for bringing up an important topic. An email is not always the right answer because of exactly the reasons you raise. It takes discernment to understand whether it will be most effective to use a quick one-on-one instant message, a brief and clear email, or a meeting. A company's communication culture will have a great deal of influence over which option will work best. Jared R Delo Green also brings up an excellent point - meetings need to be intentionally planned to have any value. The same goes for emails, which is the core of this issue: be intentional about how and when you communicate.
Employee Well-being Consultant ?? Delivering results = 30+% reduction in workplace stress & anxiety, 81% more engagement & up to 200% ROI
1 年Ah yes! Interpersonal communication! Because that’s what humans were designed for and we’ve not evolved past it (yet).