When To Use Email & When Not To

Simon says on August 20th, 2007 at 9:11 am

I agree. I think to use this flowchart for every email that you get would be counterproductive.

Intuition will tell you the correct answer.

zack says on August 20th, 2007 at 2:59 pm

I think the “Are most participants physically co-located” and “Is the issue fast and easy to resolve? should be switched. Just because you are co-located doesn’t mean you should just assume face-to-face, IM should come first.

Roy Jacobsen says on August 20th, 2007 at 3:24 pm

I hope the author isn’t seriously recommending using this on a daily basis, because this flowchart seems like over-analyzing the issue to me. (On the other hand, his list of ten situations when you should not use e-mail” is very good.)

Richard Tallent says on August 20th, 2007 at 4:08 pm

It is missing one thing: POTS. The interruptive nature of 1-to-1 telephone and IM are similar, but telephone is a lot quicker for anything but yes/no answers.

Morris says on August 20th, 2007 at 4:09 pm

Can you make that printer-friendly? I think that should be printed and hung up in every single cubicle. Honestly.

MrMagix says on August 20th, 2007 at 4:19 pm

Hi, as a tech guy at an ISP I have to confirm Dave Pollard point of view. He could extend this chart with something like “Does the message has to get to the receiver guaranteed and in tie – eg. to win an contract?” -> Don’t use a EMail – use a fax instead!

Vicki Brown says on August 20th, 2007 at 6:18 pm

Why do so mmany people forget that one of the major values of email is that it’s non-interrupting? Unless you need an answer in realtime, use email! Why should I interrupt my co-workers by popping into their cubes or calling a meeting if I can send them email. Then they can think about the question and respond on their own time.

wook alar says on August 20th, 2007 at 6:48 pm

You forgot “Are you trying to send large files (photos) or files of indeterminate size?”
-> Gmail, FTP or Chat file transfer.

kochang says on August 20th, 2007 at 7:30 pm

uups

Terrence says on August 20th, 2007 at 8:39 pm

If you need a flowchart to know when to use e-mail, you have already lost the battle. This is far too complicated to provide value.

BruceLi says on August 20th, 2007 at 9:31 pm

quite interesting.

Joe says on August 20th, 2007 at 10:55 pm

Uh, what about SMS?

Roberto says on August 21st, 2007 at 12:41 am

Where’s the good ol’ water cooler? I think we solve as many issues in the kitchenette as in the board room.

Casey Sillito says on August 21st, 2007 at 1:34 am

I think I’ll print it out on linoleum and tile my kitchen with it :)

hurriyete ilan says on August 21st, 2007 at 2:21 am

hi, thanks…

Vivek Buwa says on August 21st, 2007 at 2:59 am

Hi,
I liked the very way to show this modern way by communications by flow-chart. Congrats.

Lisa says on August 27th, 2007 at 12:39 pm

Is this flowchart available for re-use? Who is the author/copyright holder? Thanks!

Bog says on October 9th, 2007 at 11:34 pm

You forgot “Does the information involve a string of numbers and/or a URL?”

saying URL’s over the phone died in 1997.

wmwebtr ödüllü seo yarışması says on December 28th, 2007 at 7:22 pm

thanks sahsen begendim blogu :)

e-okul says on January 10th, 2008 at 2:35 am

thanks, yes cimcime fena degil hele birde linkleri ekliyorlarya süper oluyor.

Создание сайтов Сочи says on April 29th, 2009 at 1:17 am

Great article, our sales people and client relations managers should have that scheme pinned over their desktops.