Why do people email instead of chatting face-to-face? 19

[ParabolicTet]

I find it annoying when colleagues engage in endless chat and email conversations when they can just talk to me to get a better answer in much less time. In face-to-face or phone I can get context, urgency and ask tangential questions. None of that is possible with chat/email.

In my opinion engineers are just afraid of people and face-face dialogue. They hide behind this fear with email and chat. The end result is no collaboration takes place and nobody learns anything.

I am dealing with one engineer who refuses to get on the phone. I have done my best to ask him politely to give me a ring to discuss this. But, he keeps on requesting my help via chat message. I am not sure how to handle him. Do I give in and do my best via chat ? Or do I tell him this is not efficient way for us to get at the heart of this matter.

 

[casseopeia]

I hate emails for the simple fact that I get way too many and tend to forget about them. For messages or quick questions, I like F2F or Skype.

If you are offended by the things I say, imagine the stuff I hold back.

 

[HamburgerHelper]

I like email for yes or no questions that should be answered with only yes or no.

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If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself.

 

[truckandbus]

My first job (1989) we had two email accounts, one used within engineering and one considered corporate. i asked my boss if he saw a meeting request on the corporate email and he said "what corporate email"?

We logged him in (for the first time) and he had a year's worth of unread emails. Either they weren't important or somebody picked up the phone to ask him the question directly

 

[wroggent]

I like email because I can't be interrupted and I don't often have to say 'I don't know' to a question I am asked because I have time to think about it or research.

 

[vthomidis]

...just a bit offtrack here, but I think it may be interesting...

truckandbus.....In 1989 the company did have an email account!!!
Obviously you are in the US.
In my part of the world (Greece), email started becoming applicable at around 1995 and even
then it was considered "avant guard" among the few. It started spreading at the end of the 90s.
By the beginning of 2000 one could expect 80% of companies having an email address.
(.....and yes, up to about 2000 writen comunication was mainly effected through fax!)

 

[truckandbus]

vthomidis-

yes we had email but is was only for internal communication. Engineering had a service provided by Digital that piggy backed off our other engineering software and the corporate system was an IBM based system called PROFS

I switched jobs in 1997 and the company I went to had an email system but it was basically unused - people still issued memorandums on paper and distributed by interoffice mail or fax if they were in a hurry. I would write people emails and then print off and send paper copy to make sure they got it. The email use at that company didn't take off until 1999 or so - same as your experience

 

[EngrPaper]

It depends on what type of information is needed. If I am looking for advice or for a technical question, I will go face to face. If I am looking for something related to project direction, quotes, or the like, e-mail is better because I will have those numbers or dates on record to future reference.

 

[cranky108]

I just know that when I get an e-mail answer that ends with 'sent from my Iphone' They did not read the attachment, and is mostly worthless.

I should be answering these e-mails with 'call me'.

 

[IRstuff]

'sent from my Iphone' They did not read the attachment


That's a presumption. I've got viewers for PDFs, Word, and Powerpoint on my phone. Makes for tough going, but everything is generally readable.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
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[Sparweb]

(confessions of a recovering e-mail addict...)

This happens to me almost every day: I start typing an e-mail, but instead of sending it, I pick up the phone.

Sometimes the act of writing clarifies my thoughts on a complex topic, before discussing it with others. Usually, though, I catch this when a quick phone call will determine if, for example, someone is available for a meeting, a needed part has arrived, someone has finished a certain task, etc.

STF

 

[Sazirul]

It's just my point of view!

I use email because I don't need to stay online to reply it instantly and this is the standers digital version of letter as a formal way. But chatting is just for instant answer and reply when both are online and it is like casual conversion.

Thanks

Locomotive Boiler | History of LED | Fuses - How It's Made

 

[epoisses_]

Email is quick. Email is traceable. Email does not interrupt any of the discussion partners.
Try calling a meeting or a teleconference and see if it's any more efficient than an email discussion. No way.

Now the above is true only for people that are reasonably organised (not the ones with thousands of unread emails in their inbox - I see more and more people who have just given up on email) and don't mind putting black on white in simple and brief terms what they really think.

On the other hand if you need to suck information out of someone, if you need to convince them, if you need to let them know bad news that will probably make them freak out, nothing works better than a face to face meeting or a phone call.

Agree by email, disagree by phone.

 

[SandCounter]

I used to count sand. Now I don't count at all.

 

[jari001]

I work with colleagues on the West coast in the USA, I send them emails in the morning (EST) and call to follow up after the morning coffee(PST). People I work with on the East coast, I will always try to call or stop by their desk at least once before I email unless I need to send out a communication that's time sensitive.

Here's the kicker - I default to IM'ing people on the work IM client before I call them because I see that as less intrusive.

 

[urgross]

Some people have really bad breath.

 

[D Scullion]

Email has its benefits as listed but when possible I always try to go and see the person, even for less urgent matters Ill save up a few conversations and take a lap of the office and speak to a number of people in one run. I am a 'younger' engineer but also not the most forward so this does take effort. My reasons are
- gets me away from my desk for a short walk 2-3 times a day (exercise is important)
- I find it a way to still be productive when the 3pm slump kicks in and I can't concentrate on whats in front of me.
- conversations can run on but (speaking as a problem solving design engineer) that run on can very often include some gems of inspiration that wouldn't have made it onto the email
- face to face gets an answer there and then
- builds better relationships - not just with the person you are going to see but the people you say hello to on the way
- keeps sub-ordinates on their toes
- communication is 10% verbal, 90% nonverbal, body language etc

 

[controlsdude]

People are all different.
But people are basically 3 types of listeners and talkers (communication).

1st type = Verbal communication, these people talk alot, and love to talk. Not sure they know how to listen. The better ones have learned to listen.

2nd type = Written word communication, these people are your email people. When they write something down onto paper, they process someone talks, email, or picture thru their brain and down their arms into their hands. And if you go talk to them and try to nail them down by talking to them, they usually will be flustered to know end. They will just end up sending you an email later.

3rd type = Picture is worth a thousand words communication, these people are usually the artists and engineers since most people in these fields use pictures to communicate their ideas. Its why PLC ladder programming is popular with engineers, its a picture representation of how stuff works. On the artist front is how emotion good and bad can be communicated in pictures.

Saying all this, people are all different, and since we are created differently we are not strictly the above categories but maybe even a combination of the above.

 

[lacajun]

Why not discuss this with the person and resolve it face-to-face?

Pamela K. Quillin, P.E.
Quillin Engineering, LLC
NSPE-CO, Central Chapter
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