E-mail

A while ago I made a comment over at Ask a Manager that I preferred e-mail over telephone calls and meetings. (I couldn't find the actual post, but it's a true statement.) I got the following e-mail from Rachel Prosser:
Dear (not so) Evil HR Lady.

I really enjoy your blogs, even though I don't live in North America. I was curious at your comment on AskaManager's blog that "I wish people would stop calling me and just use e-mail"

My experience in my last corporate job (Senior Lawyer, in a 6000+ employee public organisation working in a strategic/policy area) was the reverse. I often wished people would just talk to each other more .

Although if asked a legal question, I would sometimes make them put it in writing so they had to properly think through the question first.

Yes, sure e-mail can be fine for a simple factual question where you need to keep a record of the discussion, and you don’t want to be misinterpreted (or to have evidence on your side if you are.) It can be convenient, because you can read it when you wish, and interruptions by phone are a pain. It can also be good if you want to be super-careful you are complying with policy.

But, it requires a high-trust environment, and acts as a magnifier of divisions where there is low trust and suspicion. For many, many things I found it much better to cut off the e-mail exchange and have a proper conversation rather than e-mail tennis. Even voice-mail tennis could be more helpful. It enabled any false assumptions to be ironed out and to build relationships. And hearing someone’s voice means you have a chance of a relatinoship.

I found people would revert to e-mail in low-trust situations, which then amplified mutual suspicion. “aha I have evidence he said x”; “honestly he’s saying x can you believe it...”, “’listen to how he put this, he obviously.....”

Devoid of a human relationship, people would read in the worst. They sense that what’s being written is being done to “cover the back” of the manager, and no-one likes to be treated in a way which assumes you’ll be on the other side in litigation.

The use of e-mail also provides as a way of distancing a manager from staff. I’ve seen managers rever to non-committal, weasel-worded replies which are compliant with policy, but which are a way of avoiding and honest and personal relationship. “He’s toeing the party line”, she’s treating me like a statistic.

E mail is handy if you are going to have to make a diary note of the call anyway, if there’s a high trust environment with relationships built away from the e-mail, and if it’s a factual request (how many days annual leave do I have?) which the recipient is likely to want to work on in a batch, or need to research. In a situation where the employment relationship is already bad, it can help provide evidence for the subsequent employment/industrial tribunal/litigation.

But it can waste time with minor points bouncing back and forth, and good relationships are better built by speaking to people.

Very good thoughts.