The other day I received an email from someone higher up in an organization I worked with at the time. This email contained several incorrect assumptions and apparently was very urgent.
My feeling when I got this email was actually disappointment – I had expected more of the sender. I had even defended this person before, highlighting integrity and not shying away from saying & doing what needs to be said as key qualities.
And now, although the issue was clearly very urgent for the sender (and the person is usually not shy to give me a call), I received this email rather than a quick phone call – whereby the latter would have easily resolved the misconceptions and would have led to an immediate resolution of the matter.
As sending the email was clearly not faster than a call (especially given the golden rule of emailing: an email usually triggers more emails), the only explanation I can come up with is that it must have felt like the “easier” option for this person.
I guess we have all been there, faced with a (potentially) awkward conversation. And it might be tempting to just resolve it with an email – no need to look the other person in the eyes, no risk to have your own world view challenged, no need to be directly faced with the other’s reaction.
However, it is for a reason that leading communication experts advise against written conversation for everything but the most basic exchange of factual information – and especially to stay away from email for anything complicated, time critical or sensitive [1].
There is just too much room for misunderstanding and misinterpretation as the written word usually lacks nuance and the non-verbal cues that facilitate effective communication. Plus, if the matter require just a minimum of discussion, you will start the dreaded email pingpong.
And it’s not just the process, also the quality of the outcome suffers without space for subtle nuances, being able to build on each other’s thoughts in real time and the ability to spot & rectify misunderstandings.
So yes, it might be tempting to write a “quick” email. But I argue that as a leader you should have the integrity and strength of character to not take this (apparently) easy way out, especially as it will also do you a disservice in driving the best possible outcomes.
❓Do you agree? Do you have any experiences where written communication just went wrong? Or where you actually steeled yourself for an awkward conversation, just to find it to be really fruitful and constructive?
Dr. Eva-Maria Hempe 