The
three modes of communication, e-mail, phone and face-to-face, have their place
in sharing information and communicating needs.
E-mail
is a good form of communication when it is important to document communication
and give some important information.
This is especially true for larger amounts of information since it
allows the individual to read through the message at their own pace and go back
over parts that they need to review. It
is not always a good way to get results quickly, since sometimes e-mails may be lost
or delayed in delivery. The e-mail message
in "The Art of Effective Communication" does convey the important information,
but I don’t think this was effective in the situation posed.
Phone
is important to attempt to reach the person quicker and try to impress upon
them the importance of their assistance.
Many times a phone call can be more personal than an e-mail message. The phone message in "The Art of Effective
Communication" did share the importance of the information and was more
effective than the e-mail message in conveying the need for assistance in
completion of the project.
Ultimately
a face-to-face conversation is sometimes the best way to get a response and
communicate the importance of completing a task or submitting the
information. This really impresses upon
the person that their input is important and they add value to the project. Face-to-face meetings build trust between the
individuals because relationships get built when people are put together
(Luscome, 2010). The face-to-face
meeting in "The Art of Effective Communication" was the most
effective communication in this example because it was the most direct and
probably was the fastest way to get the needed results.
References
Luscome,
B., (2010, June 22). Why e-mail may be
hurting off-line relationships. Time. Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1998396,00.html
Mark,
ReplyDeleteYou said, “It is not always good to get results quickly, since sometimes e-mails may be lost or delayed in delivery… Phone is important to attempt to reach the person quicker and try to impress upon them the importance of their assistance. Many times a phone call can be more personal than an e-mail message.” I sort of disagree with your words per say. Don’t you think an email can get to a person quicker than making a phone call? And if the person does not answer, won’t it be quicker than leaving that message on there voicemail? Do you agree or not that voice mails can also be lost and does not hold up long when trying to keep up with them?
Also, share your thoughts regarding what this communication activity implies in your words about communicating in the workplace or with a team.
Yes, I see your confusion. What I meant to say was "It is not always a good way to get results quickly." I know that I have had colleagues send out email, expecting an answer within 15 minutes, while I am working with students in the classroom. I am the type of teacher that is constantly moving from one group of students to the other and e-mail messages tend to get responded to after school. At my school, voicemail does not exist, so that is not even an option. If you need something quickly it must be a phone call or face-to-face in my current situation.
DeleteIn regards to working in the workplace or on a team, communication with others is important. If a speedy response is needed a phone call or face-to-face communication is required. If the response can wait, voicemail or e-mail is a good choice.
Mark,
ReplyDeleteYou said, "E-mail is a good form of communication when it is important to document communication and give some important information." This is an excellent point. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have the ability to go through old emails! I've had to search for emails from a year ago sometimes to find information. It is very difficult for me to record my phone calls. I try to keep a steno noteboook and/or document my conversations in a record in our computer system, but quite honestly, it doesn't always happen and I have to rely on memory (NOT GOOD). I rely on emails greatly for documentation and information.
As a classroom teacher, e-mail is the easiest way to communicate to others. I am able to do the communication after hours and do not need to be at school to make the contact. Trying to get parents to answer the phone when you use your personal cell phone is sometimes problematic, especially when they do not answer numbers they do not recognize. I also am concerned about giving out my personal cell number to students and parents in the concern that they would abuse it. I know at my previous school I had phone calls after 8 pm that caused disruption in my daily routine of getting children to bed. The call could have been made to school or via e-mail, because it was not an emergency.
DeleteThis year I set up a google voice number for this kind of contact, but no one has had a need to use it yet.
Mark,
DeleteI too believe that face to face is more effective than the other two modes of communication in the multimedia program, "The Art of Communication". Personally I have more requests to follow up a face to face conversation with an email. It is not uncommon to have a F2F conversation with someone and forget specific details. If the information communicated is time sensitive, full of details, or multiple requests, an email is more effective where you can reread the communique.
Mark,
ReplyDeleteNice job! You mentioned that, "phone is important to attempt to reach the person quicker and try to impress upon them the importance of their assistance". My interpretation of the voicemail was exactly how you stated this. I find better results professionally when I contact a client via phone if a response on their part from my email has not arrived on time or the usual "I'll get it to you" has not gotten to me. I work for clients around the world so face-to-face is very limited for me.
This was a great assignment and once that will certainly stick in my mind down the road.
I also was provoked in thought by your reply to another comment regarding phone call abuse after certain hours. This is yet another aspect that no one has mentioned and could certainly be a topic for a great discussion. In my previous blog entry I believe I mentioned an attorney whom I was doing a website for. He called me after midnight on a Saturday night, clearly intoxicated and yelling at me for insignificant things while saying I was going to destroy his law practice. Most frustrating was that I was in the process of working on the CSS for the design and the site was only available to himself and I via a password ... so no one else could have seen it anyway. A good example of how a phone conversation can also be a bad thing ... clients 'drunk dialing' ... hmmm ...