The Workplace Coach

These days we tend to communicate online a lot of the time.  Anyone with a young person in the family will know that the portable supercomputer they call a phone and keep on them at all times of day and night is NOT for making phone calls.  It is for tweeting, snapping, gramming, TikTok, WhatsApp, WeChat, QQ and sliding into someone’s DMs (whatever that means).

Most workplaces now use email or instant messaging as the default communication method.  Often an email is now replacing what used to be a conversation but as managers we need to be careful NOT to use email when a face to face conversation would be more appropriate.

There will be times when an email is a lot more effective/efficient than a meeting. Here are 7 instances where you would be much better off sending an email rather than pulling people in for a meeting:

1. You need answers that are going to require someone to pull them together and present them coherently.  If you are going to need a lot of back-and-forth dialogue, then schedule a meeting but the initial request can be an email.

2. You just want a document reviewed.  Send the document to the reviewers and then if necessary, you can have a follow-up meeting to discuss their feedback.  

3. You need to get the information out to the group. Not all information needs to be shared face-to-face. Save the meetings for the times you anticipate a lot of questions or you need to share complex or in-depth information that is too long or hard to absorb in an email.

5. You want quick updates. At your last meeting, everyone left with tasks and deadlines but you haven’t heard anything from them, so it’s time to get together again. Right? Wrong. Send an email to individuals asking for an update on their to-do list. You don’t need to pull everyone into a meeting.

6. You haven’t got time for a meeting.  Instead of scheduling a time to meet, you may need to schedule a time to work. That could be a far better use of your time and theirs.

7. You are not prepared and do not have a clear agenda. Productive meetings need to be planned with agendas and intended outcomes. If you need help or ideas for your meeting agenda, that is where an email comes in handy. 

You may notice that most of the situations above relate to group or team meetings.  That is the clue. 

When are you better off having a meeting rather than sending an email? When the message is personal or performance related, or whenever there is even the slightest chance that the recipient might misread the tone or intention of the email.  The best option here is always going to be a one-on-one meeting. 

If you can’t meet in person, then a virtual one-on-one using MS Teams or Zoom or similar is the next best option, even over a phone call.  You want the visual connection so that the other person can see your intent through your non-verbals signals and so that you can see their reaction.  As the young people would say, “see you IRL” (in real life).

I understand that some people prefer to use email to create a written record, you know, just in case it all blows up.  The funny thing is that it is far less likely to blow up if you have the conversation first, you can always summarise the discussion in an email after the meeting.

If you find these having these conversations with individuals difficult or challenging get in touch, we can help.

The Workplace Coach