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.

 

[IRstuff]

More likely, it's fear of getting dragged into an extended discussion, germane or otherwise. I've got a colleague who can suck up a half-hour on one relatively simple question. With other people, the discussion can meander over hill and dale; I've had technical discussions that derailed into something related, that derailed into religion, or somesuch.

Additionally, typing slows the tempo down, which allows one to spend more time thinking about the question and the response. I find that it also gives me the freedom to simply postpone the discussion until I've more time to consider or more time to do some research, neither of which is possible in a live conversation.

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[TenPenny]

With some of my colleagues, I want an email exchange, because their verbal statements change from day to day depending on who is asking the question and how bad they can make the other person look.

 

[truckandbus]

Previous company we tried to mandate "no emails/talk" for communications but that went bad quickly - to much "that isnt what I said or meant" and "you never explained that constraint"

Emails are nice in that they can be quick way of getting and documenting a specific question.

I did have one rule for my engineers in that if they could not get a satisfactory response after the second email they needed to pick up the phone to figure out why the other party wasn't getting it (or why they were not getting the other party) then follow up with a summary email "per our conversation...."

 

[moltenmetal]

As already stated: the e-mail serves both as the means of communication and the means of documenting the result. It's efficient. It's not intended for negotiation, but it's excellent for getting answers to questions or decisions. And unlike a phone call, the exchange can happen at times convenient to both the sender and the receiver without interrupting other work.

 

[cranky108]

As a matter of fact, I am required to talk and document that I talk to some people that I work with. E-mail works well for this.

On the other hand, there are some co-workers that I don't want to talk with, and e-mail also well for that (short and to the point).

It's also a generational thing. Us older one tend to use face to face more, and the younger ones tend text more.

 

[Compositepro]

There are many benefits to email like documentation and convenience. If the reply becomes too detailed or requires discussion then the appropriate reply is "call me" or "see me about this".

 

[SandCounter]

It beats carrying around a tape recorder to prove what was said/promised.

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

 

[CWB1]

Email sucks for documenting individual comments and concerns simply because the #1 problem with it is ambiguity in written technical matters. As the OP's noticed, five minutes in-person or on the phone is far more efficient and productive. I'm rather well known at quite a few companies for being quick to call or schedule a meeting, I rarely involve anybody not absolutely necessary but if an email is misunderstood more than once in a chain then its time to talk.

I'd offer the same advice given to me years ago for dealing with anybody reticent to meet. Invite them to a meeting. If they don't show up, reschedule and add their supervisor. Repeat as necessary. As a junior engineer, I once had a meeting's reschedules up to the fourth level product manager but stuck with it. He was the only one that showed up so I asked him to explain an engineering matter. Five minutes on his cell phone produced every subordinate, my issue was resolved, and they were told to either communicate and attend meetings or find another job. I never had another issue at that company.

 

[truckandbus]

interesting comments on generational issues - knowing your audience tailors the way you choose to communicate.

My last company had a policy of not having texts as part of the cell phone package - our sales force was losing out business from the 'up and coming' generation of fleet maintenance managers that seemed to be tethered to their cell phones

 

[PEDARRIN2]

Maybe I am an anachronism, but I, as an older engineer, use email a lot for coordinating information between two or three people. It is precise and, if written well, not open for confusion.

But I know its weaknesses and know everybody doesn't like to use it. It should not be used for long drawn out correspondences and multiparty conversations.

But it is invaluable for documenting decisions, direction, etc. I cannot tell you how many times down the road in a project, somebody had convenient amnesia about a decision or direction. I pull out the email where the decision was made and suddenly it is not my problem anymore, or at least I am not on the hot seat anymore.

Now, I do call as well. I will follow it up with an email about the contents of the call, asking for confirmation/agreement.

 

[SuperSalad]

I've had many frustrating exchanges over the years where people have absolutely refused to put a decision down in an email and would always reply to my emails with phone calls. This was because they knew those decision had strong potential to bite them at a later date. There are times where both communications are appropriate, and as others have said, email makes for an easy documentation of conversations. When people I correspond with will not use an email to respond I often take notes and transcribe the relevant parts back in an email as PEDARRIN2 mentioned above.

Andrew H.

http://www.mototribology.com

 

[moltenmetal]

MotoLuber: just as Frost said that "good fences make good neighbours", so it goes with trust: any decision made in verbal conversation needs to be followed up in writing if it matters at all. Otherwise, it is subject to "selective amnesia" as it was cleverly described by an earlier poster.

 

[CheckerHater]

Lot of different reasons besides "leaving trail", etc.
I used to work in a place with half-height cubicles, so we could just have a quick chat as needed.
I turned around to ask my boss something and ... he is not there. Should I keep turning around all day or just type away?
Time and place for everything.
Also, there is no wrong time for e-mail.
Recipient of your phone call may be in the meeting, driving, not in the mood to talk to anyone, BUT people check e-mails exactly when they feel like it.
So, there is no better way to send request for phone conference / personal meeting

"For every expert there is an equal and opposite expert"
Arthur C. Clarke Profiles of the future

 

[SuperSalad]

Also, there is no wrong time for e-mail.

According to my emergency management training, emails are not appropriate for alerting the authorities and the EHS manager/plant manager of medical emergencies and major accidents within the facility.

Who woulda thought, right?

Andrew H.

http://www.mototribology.com

 

[PatCouture]

May it be a language problem? My primary language is French and I can be uncomfortable having a live discussion in English. The chat and email gives me some time to understand better what is said and also write a proper response so I will be less afraid of the awkward situation of searching for words in front of the other person.

 

[cranky108]

Email-> To the point.
In person~> add in discussions about the family, vacation, other projects, news, events, ect.

 

[truckandbus]

Email-> To the point.
In person~> add in discussions about the family, vacation, other projects, news, events, ect.

Email -> To he point. People I don't like
In person ~>add in discussions about the family, vacation, other projects, news, events, etc. People I like

 

[CWB1]

Email -> Little chance of making complex technical matters sound simple, so everything costs more and takes longer.
In person -> Simple explanations are easy to give until the person understands what you're trying to do, so everything costs less and gets done faster.

I cant say I've ever emailed a friend when I'm in a bind, but I have phoned many.

 

[umatrix]

When I give status updates to my boss, he says : Don't email! did you call so and so ?, did you go to their cube? so now I send a chat, email, call and go to their desk.