Emails. Love them, Hate them.
As I take more significant interest in writing articles on Medium, I decided to participate in a MOOC class to improve my writing skills.
One of the short assignments was about emails, and I find out I have a lot to say about it.
It changed our life.
Emails have changed our lives. As we will see, you can like it, or not, but it’s a fact. People use emails every day for work or personal matters. From a simple “Hello, How are you?” to your parents, to a lengthy explanation to your boss. People use emails. When is the last time you use your phone to call and ask for information?
The good
Emails have changed the way we exchange information.
Emails are fast.
Asking information via email allows you to spend a minimal amount of time on the task at hand, then move to something else. You know that time you called your parent to say hi and you end up talking for 2 hours. Most of the time, it’s nice. But when you’re busy and cannot be distracted for that long, you drop an email. It’s the same thing for information. Why call a business, or a venue, and spend 10 minutes on the phone, when you can ask the same question in a minute with an email?
Emails are immortal.
Emails will not be deleted. It could be an issue for privacy, but when you want to keep some information, and the access to it, it is useful. You can store emails for a long time. You can sort them to know where specific information is. You can also access them from anywhere using computers and mobile devices. Emails are becoming your very own small Wikipedia.
When it comes to factual information, I’m convinced that emails are a phenomenal tool. It’s fast, it’s reliable, it’s permanent, and it makes you gain a lot of time.
But what happens when you want to share non-factual information.
The bad
Emails cannot convey feelings.
Even with a very long, very well written emails, it’s not possible. If you want to convey an emotion, you need more than the message. You need what’s above and beyond the words. You need the nonverbal cues. Seeing the person allows you to adapt your story in real-time. This physical interaction gives you a discussion, a real conversation. Emails cannot do that.
Nowadays, we do have emojis and smileys. They are cute and fun, but they’ll never replace speaking to someone face to face.
Emails cannot be sent at the right time.
You have no control when the person is going to read your message. So if you are waiting for the right time to deliver a specific piece of news, sending an email is not the solution.
Email can be send too fast.
We saw that quickly write and send information to someone is the point of an email. Well, it has its downside.
The faculty to quickly send an email doesn’t give you enough time to reflect on the message. If you want to ask at what time the meeting is, that’s ok. There is not a lot of reflection to do. But if you’re going to reply on a sensitive matter, It’s better to think twice before sending that email.
The rule I have when I need to respond to a challenging email, or when I’m angry: write the email, save it, walk away. Five, or ten minutes later, go back to it and start over. Never send an email when angry.
The conclusion
Emails have changed the way we exchange information. That’s undeniable.
But I’m under the impression that they make us communicate more, but they do not make us communicate better.
My advice to you: ask yourself if you need factual information. Yes, send an email. No, pick up your phone… after all, if it’s called a phone, maybe we should use it’s intended.
