ASG's Security Solutions Blog

Can Conversations Really Take Place in an Email?

By ASG's Professional Services Group

If you know me, you know that I like to talk. I enjoy a good conversation. I like talking about a problem and getting all the facts out on the table even if some might be hard to swallow. However, I have trouble when I receive emails more than five sentences long or have more than a half dozen others cc’d on the message.  I also don’t like to leave long messages on phones and  usually only text someone to let them know I want to talk.

In most cases, if you send an email that attempts to explain a complex process or the point you are trying to make takes more than five sentences, the recipient will only grasp the fact that something needs to be discussed.   In the age of less face to face interaction and more “conversations” happening over the digital platforms of email, social media, and the like, some things get lost in translation.  Conversations require meetings which can occur face-to-face, via telephone or through your on-line software.   Email is not the place to have a conversation. And here is why.

You see the problem is that we try to turn e-mail into something that it. Take a look below at two ways to make your life and your organization’s life more efficient and get off your e-mail dependency. 

Email Cannot be Complex

If I asked you to tell me how to put on a tie and you could choose to either call me or e-mail me, what would you do? For those of you that said I would e-mail you, I would encourage you to try. I can guarantee you that by the time I read your email and attempt to “tie the tie”;  and then e-mail you back with questions, what we could have done in 5 minutes over the phone will have taken us 15 minutes through typing and email. This same concept is true in business. You open Outlook and see a massive email from someone explaining a very intense process and by the fourth line you have more questions than answers.

Solution:

Don’t try to explain a process over e-mail. It is only going to confuse people. More importantly  processes are political. Your email is going to take much longer as you navigate the political waters.

Get a meeting going with the right people and talk the process through, then email people the notes. Outlook has the ability to set up 15 minute meetings and often when people see this they know that consensus must occur quickly.

Email kills efficiency

Take the scenario above and run with it. Let’s say the person above took 30 minutes to write the email. And five people respond at 10 minutes each. Just for one email and one response you have effectively taken up about an hour and a half of time or about 240 dollars. And what are the odds that the one response from everyone is going to answer everything…doubtful. Now, was the e-mail that important?

Solution:

If you are simply telling people information, then email is great. “Potluck on Friday” “Our Sales are down and here are five ways to make things better”, “Here is the proposal you asked for” are all efficient uses of email.  But, if you require a response or consensus to your email then think about your audience and who needs to be on the e-mail.

Remember, the more people you email the more responses you will get with less consensus. If your e-mail is going over five lines and is addressed to more than three people, you are nearing the breaking point. Set up a meeting and talk the items over and send everyone an email telling them what the course of action is going to be.

Having been in organizations where people use email for everything and all conversations, I can understand how you may think the two items above would be hard. Getting everyone on the phone might be challenging and changing the way you communicate can be difficult.  For those of you that love to write and hate to type, I would encourage you to write out what you are going to talk about on the phone call first to help you organize your thoughts, so you can have a conversation with results.

For the rest of us, think before you email someone or some group. I guarantee it will make your company and your work life more efficient and your conversations more productive!