Characteristics of e-mail communication

June 18, 6:20 PMSF Workplace Communication ExaminerKenya McCullum

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Over the years, e-mail has become a major channel of communication—whether we are sending a note to a friend about tonight's dinner plans or sending a business proposal to a potential client for consideration. As a medium, e-mail is as unique as it is ubiquitous because the nature of how we use it combines characteristics that are associated with both written and verbal speech.

Verbal speech?

Although it may seem contradictory (after all, e-mails are written), e-mail does have some major characteristics found in verbal communication. Unlike writing a letter and sending it via snail mail, e-mail has immediacy to it—much like picking up the phone to speak with someone. However, with e-mail, there's no real predictor of how long it will take the recipient to respond. On the one hand, some people answer their e-mails soon after they receive them, creating fluidity in an exchange that is almost as seamless as a phone call. But at the other end of the spectrum, some e-mail may as well be sent by the Pony Express if the recipient is not in a hurry to reply to messages.

Additionally, the language used in e-mail can be considerably less formal than standard written speech, depending on the circumstances. When confirming your dinner plans with friends via e-mail, chances are you will adopt the same tone as you would when speaking to them and you may not pay close attention to things like spelling and grammar. Likewise when the occasion calls for a more formal approach, the way you write your e-mail will reflect it and you will be much more careful with your word choices.

Although e-mail makes it a lot easier to get your point across to others, that doesn't guarantee effectiveness. In many cases, good old-fashioned face-to-face communication is still the best way of ensuring that you have communicated what you intended to.

In the workplace, many senior executives and managers actually believe that the decrease of face-to-face, personal discussion has hampered productivity. For example, although e-mail is good for scheduling meetings or sending information that does not require a fast response, it can slow down decision making and limit a conversation that requires an in-depth dialogue. Face-to-face, or even telephone, conversations can minimize these concerns, as well as enable us to build personal connections that foster trust and decrease misunderstandings.

Sources:
Boone, Kathleen C. (2001). Speech or Writing?: E-Mail as a New Medium. Liberal Education 87(3).
Martin, Chuck. (2007). The Importance of Face-to-Face Communication at Work. Retrieved from CIO.

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