Choosing the right communications channel

Has it really been that long since I've posted? March?!?! <sheesh>

Assuming there's anyone really reading this, my apologies.

I have been hit smack in the face with the subject of this post on a number of occasions. I've come up against this so often, that I'm going to state the observation as Sawyer's First Law:

While conflict can be initiated by email, it can never be resolved by email.

In fact, the very thing that often drives us to use email in many cases - the ability to apply cool professionalism to a situation that has a potential to carry some emotional baggage - can often backfire.

Cool professionalism in the context of an email can easily be mis-interpreted -as cold condescension by subordinates or brown-nosing by co-workers. Cool professionalism can even be seen as a threat by superiors. Cool professionalism can even initiate an unexpected emotional response, especially when one unintentionally steps over turf or other real or perceived domain boundaries.

In any case, the remedy is to not continue with email but to elevate the issue to a "broadband" face-to-face exchange. Here, tone-of-voice, body language and facial expression as well as immediate feedback provide a much clearer, less ambiguous communication channel. This yields a much better chance at a prompt resolution of the conflict.

Comments

[Kathy]

Great site Steve!