There’s an old saying that tells us when the only tool we have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. In the modern office, that tool seems to be e-mail. But the truth is, e-mail sometimes causes more harm than help.
Here’s a quick look at the top 10 situations when e-mail just won’t work.
#10 – You want to send a heartfelt thanks – or apology. If you want to show genuine gratitude, taking 10 seconds to tap out your appreciation won’t do. Go out of your way by thanking someone publicly, buying lunch, or sending a handwritten note. If you owe an apology, give it in person.
#9 – You haven’t spoken in a long time. Business relationships thrive on personal contact, but e-mail can be a barrier to real communication. Pick up the phone once in a while, or walk down the hall and say Hello.
#8 – Your request isn’t crucial to them. When you e-mail busy people with a request, don’t be surprised if they ignore you. If you really want to ask a favor, start a personal conversation, instead.
#7 – You have enormous files to attach. E-mail seems like a handy way to send huge files, but you could clog your recipient’s system, and spam filters can turn you away. Check with your correspondent to see about file-size limits, and post large items on Web sites or shared drives.
#6 – You want to keep it confidential. It takes only a couple of keystrokes to turn a private conversation into a public tumult. Remember: E-mail might feel hush-hush, but thousands of red-faced people have found that it’s not.
#5 – You need an immediate reply. Some people arrange every moment around what just popped into the inbox, but plenty of people don’t. If you need an answer quickly, chat, call, text or IM.
#4 – You’re trying to convey “This is important.” For many recipients, your e-mail is likely to be one of dozens that come in every day – or every hour. Unless your name or your subject line is the most important thing on someone’s list, it’s easy to get lost in the clutter.
#3 – Your subject is complicated. Trying to explain a million details can get lengthy and difficult in text. When you’re staring at the screen wondering how to start – or re-explaining the thing you thought you had covered before – switch over to talk mode to get immediate feedback on what’s not clear.
#2 – Things could get tense. Emotion is one of e-mail’s biggest weak spots, and it’s easy to read attitude into the simplest of statements. If the topic of your e-mail is painful – or if you suspect hard feelings could occur – call a meeting so that all parties can use voice, expression and body language instead of just text.
#1 – E-mail caused the problem in the first place. Most hammers have a claw that helps you pull out badly driven nails, but e-mail doesn’t work like that. Once you’ve delivered a bad pounding in e-mail – an insensitive message, an embarrassing statement to the wrong mailing list – you need to deliver your mea culpa in some other way.