Isn’t it ironic that many people with smart-phones use them to email rather than call? That’s such a waste and potentially even dangerous. What I mean by that is this: email is one of the most potentially detrimental things you can bring to a relationship with peers, customers, and others. Think about it. How often have you read an email and asked yourself “doesn’t this idiot know how this reads?” Or worse – have you ever written an angry email and sent it only to regret it immediately? Those issues don’t happen when you use the telephone. Sure, your words might be less precise but there is immediate feedback and it’s a conversation, not an exchange of monologues.
Then there are a few other things:
- Email has tone issues. You might mean something one way and the recipient reads it, and “hears” it, a totally different way. The written word can’t convey tone, intent, or emotion as well as the spoken word.
- Email is vague and inefficient. You often have to exchange several rounds before a point can get clarified – in a chat, it would happen immediately.
- Email is permanent. Sometimes we do say things in anger. With email, the heat of the moment lasts forever.
- Email is transferable. Sure you meant to keep something quiet but did the recipient?
- Email isn’t private. Ah, the dreaded “bcc”. Unless your phone is tapped or the conversation taped, anything repeated from a conversation is hearsay.
Paulie Walnuts loved to say he “don’t write nothin’ down.” I do, but when I try to communicate, email is my third choice behind a personal visit or a telephone call. Most business is based on relationships and most relationships are based on good communication. Why use the last resort first?
What do you think? Feel free to call instead of email!
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Consult Keith 
Keith,
Great piece, even though it’s written and can’t convey tone, intent, or emotion as well as speaking. Even though I agree with you, I love e-mail. I think I’m some kind of Jane Austen character and love to explain things in letters (e-mails in this day an age).
If you’re careful, you can be very specific and thorough in an e-mail — it’s actually easier to communicate a complicated set of issues because you the writer can re-read what you’ve written before sending, and your recipient can read and refer to your message to deal with whatever is being dealt with.
And . . . haven’t you ever had a conversation where the heat of the moment took things in a completely negative direction? I have. Sometimes the in-person quality of the talk is what takes the communication down the wrong path. E-mail, when carefully constructed, avoids raised eyebrows, sighs, smirks, and edgy tones of voice.
Having said all that, I want to repeat that all of your points for personal conversation are valid way more often than my points pro e-mail. So talk it up, people.