- Employment Career Feature
Email vs. Phone vs. Meeting
by Steven Birmingham
by Steven Birmingham
''What is your primary means of communicating with stakeholders,'' I ask the students in my masters–level project management communications class. They come from diverse backgrounds. Some are veteran project managers with certifications and successful projects under their belt. Others are just beginning their project management careers. Despite this variety, their answer is nearly always unanimous: ''email.'' This is not the answer I'm looking for.
At each class session, students share communication challenges and successes from the past week. Many stories involve never-ending email battles where a project manager isn’t receiving the desired response. At the end of such stories, I ask the class how they would proceed. Often, their answers involve ''send an email saying…''
Like my students, I, too, once relied almost exclusively on email for project communications. After a few too many email catastrophes, I had the good fortune of working with a communications coach who made me question some of my habits. Why did I continue to use email during conversations where it was clearly ineffective? Did email’s convenience and low cost mean it should always be used to initiate communications? If the stimulus was an email, should the response always be in kind, or could a call or visit be a better choice?
I have posed these questions to my students many times over the years, to seminar audiences, and to corporate training classes. Each time, after a thorough discussion, we have concluded that people reach too quickly for email. Every communication has an underlying goal; sometimes that goal is better served by a visit, phone call, or meeting.
If the goal is to convince, email cannot rival the rich body language that can be brought to bear in person. If the goal is to clarify, email cannot compete with the phone’s real-time capabilities, where listener and speaker can adjust their tone, pace, and content based on the counterparty’s feedback. If the goal is to reach consensus, email will never allow a project manager to gauge the participants’ facial expressions and head-nodding before asking for a vote. Does this mean email is not a valuable project communication tool? No.
Through trial and error, I have determined that email is often the most effective medium for achieving three particular goals:
Email is a powerful addition to the project manager’s toolbox. Used properly in appropriate situations, it can disseminate or gather information quickly and efficiently. Used inappropriately, it can cause confusion and frustration. This is the lesson I’ve learned the hard way and tried to teach my students.
What should be your primary means of communication with stakeholders? It should be a medium, which works best to achieve your goals.
About the Author:
Steven Birmingham teaches Professional Communications for I.T. Project Managers at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology in Harrisburg, PA. Over 10 years, he managed or participated in numerous projects as I.T. Director at a $2 billion financial institution. He holds an. M.S.E. in the Management of Technology from the University of Pennsylvania and is a popular seminar speaker on the topics of communications and project management. He is a founding member of The Communication Gym.
At each class session, students share communication challenges and successes from the past week. Many stories involve never-ending email battles where a project manager isn’t receiving the desired response. At the end of such stories, I ask the class how they would proceed. Often, their answers involve ''send an email saying…''
Like my students, I, too, once relied almost exclusively on email for project communications. After a few too many email catastrophes, I had the good fortune of working with a communications coach who made me question some of my habits. Why did I continue to use email during conversations where it was clearly ineffective? Did email’s convenience and low cost mean it should always be used to initiate communications? If the stimulus was an email, should the response always be in kind, or could a call or visit be a better choice?
I have posed these questions to my students many times over the years, to seminar audiences, and to corporate training classes. Each time, after a thorough discussion, we have concluded that people reach too quickly for email. Every communication has an underlying goal; sometimes that goal is better served by a visit, phone call, or meeting.
If the goal is to convince, email cannot rival the rich body language that can be brought to bear in person. If the goal is to clarify, email cannot compete with the phone’s real-time capabilities, where listener and speaker can adjust their tone, pace, and content based on the counterparty’s feedback. If the goal is to reach consensus, email will never allow a project manager to gauge the participants’ facial expressions and head-nodding before asking for a vote. Does this mean email is not a valuable project communication tool? No.
Through trial and error, I have determined that email is often the most effective medium for achieving three particular goals:
- Providing information (''The budget is $250,000'')
- Requesting information (''What is the budget?'')
- Requesting action (''Please send Joe the budget.'')
- Convincing
- Clarifying
- Building consensus
- Congratulating
- Discussing
- Creating
- Problem-solving
- Resolving controversies
- Conveying or receiving emotion
Email is a powerful addition to the project manager’s toolbox. Used properly in appropriate situations, it can disseminate or gather information quickly and efficiently. Used inappropriately, it can cause confusion and frustration. This is the lesson I’ve learned the hard way and tried to teach my students.
What should be your primary means of communication with stakeholders? It should be a medium, which works best to achieve your goals.
About the Author:
Steven Birmingham teaches Professional Communications for I.T. Project Managers at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology in Harrisburg, PA. Over 10 years, he managed or participated in numerous projects as I.T. Director at a $2 billion financial institution. He holds an. M.S.E. in the Management of Technology from the University of Pennsylvania and is a popular seminar speaker on the topics of communications and project management. He is a founding member of The Communication Gym.
|
Popular tags:
communication careers expressions body language meetings managers success project managers corporate training sessions |
|||||
|
Comments
article ID: 230475 http://www.employmentcrossing.com/article/230475/Email-vs-Phone-vs-Meeting/ article title: Email vs. Phone vs. Meeting |
||
| Comment not found for this article. | ||
|
|
||
|
Related articles
|
|
Facebook comments: |
| Find Jobs in Every Industry and Location that No One Else Knows About |
|
Other job sites only show jobs employers pay to post. We show jobs from every employer career page, job board and news source we can find. |
|
Tell us where to send your access instructions:
|
|
new jobs this week on EmploymentCrossing |
| 627,000 |
|
jobs added today on EmploymentCrossing |
| 135,943 |
|
Job Type Count on EmploymentCrossing |
|
Healthcare Jobs 356,997 Managerial Jobs 341,474 Information Technology Jobs 332,767 Retail Jobs 254,190 Sales Jobs 242,960 Blue-collar Jobs 231,783 Recruiting Jobs 218,422 |
| Get your risk FREE trial |
| jobs near you | |
|
International jobs Work at home jobs |
UK jobs Canada jobs |
|
New search feature using US map. click here
Looking for a new job in your city? click here |
|
| most recent articles |
| Once You Achieve Success, Savor and Enjoy It to the Fullest |
|
I have certain habits and ways of thinking about the world that are the right ways, at least for me:
|
|
employment industry news:
|
|
recent articles:
|
|
|
| top 5 job searches |
| job fairs |
|
12-Feb-12 Spring Engineering Career Fair 7 East 7th Street New York NY 10003 12:00 PM-2:00 PM contact person: Toni Burrell contact number: 212-353-4377 |
|
|||||||||
| Free Report
The Five "Big Dirty Secrets" of Job Sites Just enter your email to get the Report |
![]() |
|||
![]() |





