August 20th, 2007 in Communication
When To Use Email & When Not To
Sometimes email isn’t the right communication tool. Either you’re trying to get too much information from someone - or too many people - or you’re conveying too much information.
Dave Pollard not only discusses 10 situations where email probably isn’t a suitable communication tool, but also put together this flowchart for figuring out which tool is right.
How do you guys feel about this? I think it’s quite well put together, although I’ve never felt the need to analyze these things this much.
When To Use Email & When Not To - [HowToSaveWorld]
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Comments
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.