by Luke Johnson
E-mail might just be responsible for the productivity i ncrcases that economists te ll us are the key to rising prosperity. But it could also be sending us all mad. The truth is that business is generญ
ally best clone face to face. and if that is impossible. then speaking via the phone. But too many of us now hide 10 behind silent, typed communications. The trouble is that the recipient of an e-mail does not hear a tone of voice or sec a facial expression; nor can the sender modify their message 15 halfway through, sensing that it is causing offence. When you read an e-mail, you cannot tell the mood of the e-mailer.
A permanent written form is 20 deadly if you arc reeling impetuous and emotional. Too often l have made the mistake of sending an irritable response. which will have festered and angered the other encl
2s much more than a difficult telephone exchange. Spoken words fade, but e-mail is forever. lt is so much easier to be tough via e-mail. or to get away with weak
30 excuses. or to make things up, or to say no. Almost invariably. it is more human and serious to have a real discussion rather than a bizarre online conversation. I know 35 employees who have been fired for sending abusive e-mails, or who have faced severe legal consequences for writing something they should have just said verbally. 40 Everyone in business finds their inbox is almost swamped every clay with spam. I notice I spend longer and longer sorting out the e-mails that mailer from all the junk. It has
45 become, I'm afraid, a dangerously corrupted medium. Large companies suffer chronic overuse of ทreply to all'. Moreover. e-mail can be a terrible distraction, especially if you use so a BlackBerry. l was recently reprimanded for peeking at mine during a board meeting - a gross form of' hypocrisy on my part. because I once threatened to sling 55 out of the window any PDA-type devices being used in meetings I chaired. I have now vowed to switch off both BlackBerry and mobile in all meetings - anything
GO less is uncivi l. Tt must be admitted that e-mail is hard to beat as a transmitter of documents and data. It forces the sender to carefully think through 65 their arguments and express themselves logically. It allows you to reply swiftly to a host of di ffe rent questions when time is short. You don't have to worry about journey 70 times or travel costs, unreliable postage or engaged phones or voicema.il. E-mail is a marvellously economical tool for keeping in touch with far-flung commercial contacts; you
75 can send them a note at your leisure, 24 hours a day. It is also a terrific method of discreetly and directly pitching to someone powerful. It certainly beats trying to get a meet-so ing or even reach them on the phone. Like it or not. I could not do my job without e-mail. Meanwhile, I
know a senior financ ier, an ex-chair ofa FrSE company, who still has his RS secretary print out his e-mails for him to read so he can then dictate replies for her to e-mail back. Now that really is mad.
1 What forms of written and spoken communication do you like using? Why?
2 What problems can people have with the diffe rent forms of communication?
3 How do you think those problems can be solved?
• a sense of humour
• physical appearance
• no strong accent
Which of these words apply to good communicators and which apply to bad communicators? Add two adjectives of your own to the list.
articulate focused reserved
coherent hesitant responsive
eloquent inhibited sensit ive
extrovert persuasive succinct
fluent rambling vague