Email, Phone, or Text?- How to Choose the Right Communication Medium

Do you follow up on a task by email, text and phone? Do you ask people if they received your previous email message with another email? Believe it or not, how you communicate is just as important as where you communicate. Using the wrong channel at the wrong time can erode trust and signify poor digital body language. This is why it’s important to create norms around when to use different communication mediums.

I was recently brought in to assess a team’s digital communications. The division leader wanted to know why he was dealing with so much dysfunction: missed deadlines, ignored emails, reports of uncomfortable chat room conversations, and passive aggressive behaviors amongst peers.

What I discovered was that the team was using collaboration tools in all the wrong ways. Skype messenger had become an easy way to avoid necessary face-to-face collaboration. Team members were sharing the same messages and documents in multiple collaboration tools, making it hard to know where to go for what. Many employees were commenting on tasks to colleagues using 10-word Slack messages, without fully explaining if the message was an opinion or immediate action request.

Yikes, they were in bad shape.

To get them out of a place of dysfunction and into a place of effective communication and collaboration, I had them consider 4 factors: length, complexity, familiarity and discipline.

1. Length is the easiest variable to manage. Quite simply, if you have long updates, lean into a medium like email and stay away from channels like instant messaging. Is this a short FYI, a team status update or a detailed brief prior to a board meeting? Choose the right channel for the length of the message
2. Complexity (by definition) is less straightforward. Sensitive information is harder to share easily. The rule of thumb is this: bigger, broader ideas require more flexibility. if you are making a complex argument it’s often best to select a medium, such as phone or face to face or a powerpoint presentation, that allows for greater trust building and supporting elements, like photos, video and quick feedback.
3. Familiarity refers not only to our relationship with the recipient(s) but also the contents of our updates. If we have a close relationship with someone, then reaching out with a text to their personal smart phone may be a welcome, trusted disruption. If the contents of your message is personal or confidential, make sure you send a private message, as opposed to using a public channel or copying others on your message.
4. Discipline is the final consideration when matching a message with a medium. Don’t use multiple channels to send the same message. No one wants to receive a call, three texts and an email with the same request. Use discipline and err on the side of being conservative in what you write and, above all, develop habits that illustrate empathy for others — including a healthy respect for the other person’s time and a regard for their privacy.

With all these in mind, make sure your message, both the length and topic, is suitable for the channel you choose.

At the end of the day, creating norms and a clear channel etiquette on your team will remove communication barriers so you and your team can get your work done. As you work through your team agreements, this is crucial for both your Communication norms as well as maintaining Productivity and Accountability within your teams.

Additionally, here are some guiding questions for you to consider as you set norms around collaboration tools:

1. How many collaboration tools does your team use on a daily basis?

2. Speaking for yourself, which collaboration tools personally help you thrive? Consider the potential reasons why (we’ve discussed many of them in this book), which can range from sheer familiarity to your preference for formality.

3. Alternately, which collaboration tools do you find yourself avoiding?

4. Is there someone in your organization who uses an X or Y collaboration tool especially well? What are they doing that you are not?

5. Does your team have an established set of norms for when each tool is to be used?

6. Which channels do you use most often as a team, and what does this say about your team culture?

I hope this was helpful and you’ll take these back to your team to use to maximize collaboration tools. And, if you’re interested in more FREE TIPS check out my Hybrid Work Toolkit.

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