As a leader, do you build strong working relationships by using personal communication?
Email has dramatically changed the way we interact. But, it cannot replace live, person-to-person conversation. This especially applies when resolving a conflict or communicating an important decision. Too many people try to do important or sensitive business through email. This is problematic because tone and context are easy to misread. In a live conversation, how one says something is as important as what they are saying. Without inflections and intonations, it's hard to understand the feelings behind the words. In fact, email-based conflict often escalates because you aren't required to be as thoughtful as you would be in a one-on-one conversation. Indeed, even apparently benign emails can turn ugly if they are misunderstood. Next time you have a delicate or complex issue to discuss, take your hands off the keyboard and pick up the phone.
Keep your communications emotionally intelligent.
Adapted from "Don't Send That Email. Pick up the Phone!" by Anthony Tjan.
This is so true. Sometimes we give ourselves excuses that we are too busy to make a call. THis article is a good reminder to me.
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