I like email.  I can do it any time, 24/7.  I never bother anyone, and no one bothers me with it because I can check email whenever I want.   I can delete it, save it, store it in a file, respond to it, or ignore it.  Usually I respond quickly because it’s so easy.  There, I’m done in 20 seconds or less.

My conclusion: I’m an email person, not a phone person.  I don’t like the phone.  I especially don’t like phone tag.  I don’t like long voice mail messages either.  Say it nicely, but please, say it in an economy of words.  The phone also gets in the way of my work.  I feel like I have to respond to it quickly.  I know I don’t, but I do.  The phone is also a big time waster.  We talk too much and too long.  We also socialize more than we should.  Do I sound like an old curmudgeon?

But we can also overload on email.  We try to solve too many thorny problems by email when we could get the job done in a few minutes with a short, face-to-face meeting or a brief phone call.  We also email people back and forth when we sit right next to them in an office.  Sometimes we take efficiency too far.

We can also appear quite terse with email and let our mood take a cheap shot at someone for no reason at all.  It’s very easy to be misinterpreted with email, which causes a blow-up that could otherwise have been avoided.

Some people say to keep emails extremely brief.  When I write, I like to express myself intelligently, even in email.  Some people don’t.  I find that their personality comes out in emails just like in one-on-one conversations or by phone.  Writing an email is on my time, not someone else’s.  That’s what I don’t like about the phone.  I have to share the time with someone else.

I also stopped using the old bcc.  It only takes one dumb mistake to realize the bcc person resent my message to the wrong party.  Embarrassing!

So there you have it: confessions of an email guy.  Choose your method: in person, via phone, or through email.  Whichever you choose, be nice, be professional, and be communicative.  That, alone, solves a lot of other problems.

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