Know When to Phone Instead of Writing E-Mail

Prefer to phone when:

• You need an immediate response. (You can't guarantee when someone will answer e-mail, but ifyou catch him or her answering the phone, you may get an immediate response.)
• You want to hear someone's voice tone to "read between the lines" about the message, information, personal commitment, and so forth. People are typically less on guard when speaking than when writing.
• You need to ask questions and negotiate issues, and the answers to the questions determine your immediate direction in the negotiations.
• You are concerned about the privacy ofyour comments.

Prefer e-mail to the phone when:

• The information is complex and will warrant repeating (rereading).
• Awritten copy will be more convenient for later reference.
  

Nothing makes another person as angry about the wrong choice of media as the following situations: I) when someone leaves a voice mail with detailed information that needs to be transcribed almost in its entirety; or 2) when someone e-mails about a situation that has too many discussion points, reqniring either an ongoing saga or an extended, timeconsuming
response.