Imagine you need to contact your colleague about a working issue.
You have 2 options — to call or email. Meeting in person is not an option, due to COVID-19 or whatever. Which of 2 options would you choose?
In this story I share my thoughts about choosing between calls and emails.
Practice is an Answer
School, university, courses — generally, they do not teach how to communicate by phone or email.
Books about business communications — reading them sometimes worths the time spent, but you need to communicate somehow right now.
What remains is practice. To be exact, a lot of practice.
Communicating is like swimming — you can read many books about swimming, but you can learn to swim only by diving into water.
Know Your Choice
To make a choice, understand what options do you have.
As regards calls and emails, it is not only a matter of the device or program used to transfer information.
Calling is a process. In most cases, social conventions must be followed. It’s easy to get distracted, intentionally or unintentionally, by extraneous topics — new dress, new car, or new president.
Calling is like when you enter an office on business, but risk to delay, tell too much or forget about the main thing.
Email is a transaction. There is a fast exchange of data. There is no room for reflection. The focus is not on the process, but on the result — to make a report, to attend a meeting, or to buy paper clips.
Writing an email is like sticking your head in an office door. Comply with social formalities — no; transfer message instantly — yes.
In The Office, Andy and Kevin illustrated differences between a conversation and an email when they have been negotiating parking spaces at the Dunder Mifflin office parking lot ,— check the video here.
To Call
In some cases, you cannot do without a call.
Call if:
- there is an agreement to call
- you are unable to email due to technical reasons, but you need to transfer a message immediately
- the correspondence dragged on and you need to get out of the vicious circle
- you need to express your — emotional — attitude to what is happening
- you need to communicate bad news before emailing about them
- you received no response to the reminder letter, but need a response
For example, your colleagues might prefer to hear bad news first and read them later. Your voice will calm them down and prepare them for the inevitable — an incoming email about a drop in sales, a loss of a customer, or a lawsuit. Emotions will remain in the telephone wires. The letter will consist of bare facts and an action plan to overcome the crisis.
To Email
My experience shows: when there is no clear need for a call, write an email.
So I stay calm and email, respectively.
Compared to calls, emails have many advantages —
- The text is tangible and persists for a long time. Oral speech is ephemeral and disappears without a trace unless it is recorded.
- People believe the text. Rumours are strong, but — in my opinion — are not as strong as texts.
- The text is a strong evidence. Testimony is good, but human memory is unreliable.
- The text disciplines and demands clarity. By contrast, idle chatter is a sweet fruit.
- Written speech helps to control thoughts and feelings. Instead, there are many sparrows in oral speech; if sparrows fly out, it is difficult to catch them.
Exit to Emotions
Sometimes you need to express your emotions — happy, angry, furious, whatever.
The call meets your needs perfectly: you can emotionally colour your oral speech by tone, volume or tempo.
But an email can be a great vehicle for expressing emotions too.
Check this example: what emotion this email evokes in you?
From: Peter Ivanov <petr.ivanov@bubble.com>
Sent: Friday, July 18, 2015 12:34 PM
To: Ivan Petrov <ivan.petrov@service.com>Subject: CATASTROPHE
YOUR WEBSITE IS A DISASTER! BUG ON BUG. I ORDERED THREE WT879786 PALETS LAST WEEK. HAVE NOT RECEIVED MY ORDER YET !!!! THIS IS YOU CALLING THE BEST SERVICE IN INTerneT!?!?!?! WHAT IS HAPPENING TO YOU THERE!?! WAITING FOR YOUR anSWeR IMMEDIATELY. IF I DO NOT RECEIVE YOUR ORDER TOMORROW BEFORE 6 AM, I WILL SUE YOU. AlsO I WILL FIND ANOTHER SUPPLIER.
And what about this email?
From: Vasily Korolov <vasily.korolov@bubble.com>
Sent: Friday, May 28, 2019 10:01 PM
To: Maria Simonova <maria.simonova@bubble.com>Subject: Thanks for the bonus
Hi Maria,
I appreciate the generous bonus I received for my work in Q1 2019.
Working on Bubble’s participation at the IT Tech WorldWide 2019 was a challenging task. Completing it with 115 new contracts on supply New Edge 2020 exceeds the initial goal and ensures growth of sales income.
I am grateful that my contribution to generating revenue for Bubble has been recognised and rewarded.
Thanks.
Vasily Korolov
Event Manager
Bubble, Inc.
vasily.korolov@bubble.com
You can communicate emotions via email using —
- ratio of text and white background
- sentence and paragraph structures
- text layout
- order of presenting main and secondary thoughts
- signal words
- punctuation marks
- uppercase and lowercase letters, and
- professional jargon.
The addressee will get angry if you don’t separate your emotions from fact and, as a result, your email looks like it is written by a teenager who has no idea about the rules of business communication.
The addressee will feel cared for if your structure your email clearly, present the ideas in due order, choose the words carefully and make the text easy to view and read.
Neither Call Nor Email
There is always a third option — not to call or email.
Check whether you can resolve your issue independently, without interference or introduction of your colleagues.
You may prefer to choose this option due to —
- the regulatory requirements
- the rules of your company / employer (comply with prohibitions and restrictions on transfer of confidential information)
- common sense (don’t write or say what is not intended for prying eyes and ears), or
- respect for your colleagues (don’t waste time, solve your problems yourself whenever possible)
Remember: the email and call recording can be forwarded to another person without your knowledge. In most cases, you are not in control of such transmission.
For example, Jack wants to call or send an email to Alice. Eva — her name is inspired by the English word eavesdropping — decides to intercept without permission.
Before dialling a phone number or clicking on the “Send” button, ask yourself:
am I ready to face adverse consequence of Eva — any unauthorised person — learning about the fact and content of my communication?
If your answer is no, don’t call or email. Look for another option to resolve your issue.
If your answer is yes, go ahead and call or email. But be careful and discreet, anyway.
Disclaimer: This is my personal blog. This is neither a legal opinion nor a piece of legal advice. The opinions I express in this blog are mine, and do not reflect opinions of any third party, including employers. I do not intend to malign or discriminate anyone. I reserve the right to rethink and amend the blog at any time, for any or no reason, without notice.
