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  • #2170534

    Email – on its last legs or growing up?

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    by dr monica ·

    Many say email is fast approaching the end of its life. Is this true? Will social media take over as the dominate business communications channel? Or will we see a ‘polymedial’ approach where people become far more selective about which tools are used for which purpose?

    My own experience and research suggests the latter is the way most organisations are heading. For example if a communication does not need to be retained as a business record and an urgent repose is needed, then instant messaging tools offer a great alternative to email. Meanwhile, news and status updates are well suited to collaborative tools such as wikis and discussions forums. Such an approach also helps reduce the email overload and creates a pull rather than push information culture which is both less stressful and more mature

    On the other hand for all communications which need to be retained email will remain the dominant channel. However, currently email is one of the biggest drains on personal and business productivity. It is also wide open to abuse and is often an easy entry point for cyber crime.

    With more choice it would not be surprising therefore if people did shun email in favour of other social media which would be akin to throwing the baby out with the bath water. In five years time we would find ourselves suffering just as badly from information overload.

    More to the point is to educate people when and how to use email effectively.

    What is your experience?

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    • #2432077
      Avatar photo

      RE:- [i]What is your experience?[/i]

      by hal 9000 ·

      In reply to Email – on its last legs or growing up?

      Remember the Paperless Office. Hasn’t happened yet and personally I don’t believe that E Mail will be ever stop being used.

      In reality any Messaging from any Business needs to be stored if only just to prove that no illegal activities where described in it. It’s pointless trying to defend your business against a Fed Police Investigation because someone claimed that a entry on a Social Media Site implied that a criminal activity was intended.

      When you do not have primary control over your own data you have no control and there is no correspondence of any type that doesn’t need to be stored to prove Guilt or Innocence. For instance can you imagine News International messaging anything about Phone Hacking on a Social Media site because they didn’t want it in their Companies E Mail?

      From my personal experience most people do not think before they post to Social Media and they then wonder why the Police come and charge them with things that they Boast About on Social Media. They manage to convict themselves quite successfully. :^0

      Col

    • #2432069

      Why use Instant Messaging for business when you can make a phone call on

      by deadly ernest ·

      In reply to Email – on its last legs or growing up?

      either the normal phone network of by VoIP? I do see business moving to use VoIP a lot more, especially between their own offices.

      • #2432061

        Cause voicemail is irritating

        by slayer_ ·

        In reply to Why use Instant Messaging for business when you can make a phone call on

        I use messaging all the time, especially when talking about work order and ticket numbers, or when discussing and sending code snips.
        Or just links to youtube videos and dilbert comics 🙂

        • #2432060

          Slayer, what’s the difference between speaking to someone over

          by deadly ernest ·

          In reply to Cause voicemail is irritating

          IM and over a telephone? I don’t voicemail so I don’t use it on my phone or to leave a message – to me a phone is for voice communication. With ViOP or a normal phone there’s a link between the two phones, but for IM I have to go through the IM server involved, adding an extra link; plus I got to have some annoying IM program up and running instead of just picking up the phone.

        • #2432020

          Email – on its last legs or growing up? IM versus the phone

          by dr monica ·

          In reply to Slayer, what’s the difference between speaking to someone over

          Hi Deadly Earnest – sounds like you have an awful IM system. I love mine and my clients for quick messages and catch-ups especially when the other person is busy and doesn’t want to talk but will break out to IM.

        • #2432014

          G’day Monica, it’s not a case of a good or bad IM program, I just see

          by deadly ernest ·

          In reply to Email – on its last legs or growing up? IM versus the phone

          no difference in being able to talk to someone on the phone or over the headset on an IM. With the phone I don’t HAVE to be at the computer to communicate, but I can using ViOP. I also get a quicker response if they’re there, and know quicker if they aren’t.

          If I don’t need a quick response, then an email is just as good and they can answer at their convenience.

          I do not see an IM program as being a magic comms system, the way some do. I know people who sit there with three of four IMs open and switch between them, sometimes they get caught with one and it’s ten to twenty minutes before they check the others again. In that case an email is just as good, while the phone quicker as they leave the PC to answer the phone or respond to Skype if using VoIP.

        • #2432000

          IM’s lack formality

          by slayer_ ·

          In reply to G’day Monica, it’s not a case of a good or bad IM program, I just see

          That makes them better.
          That and its also nice to see if someone is at their desk two timezones away and if they can answer you right away or not.
          Email quickly becomes overkill.

          This is very similar to the texting vs talking argument for cellphones.

        • #2431992

          Hmm, I’ve never known the phone or email to be formal, and

          by deadly ernest ·

          In reply to IM’s lack formality

          a no answer on a phone call let’s you know they ain’t available, so an email does the trick.

        • #2431978

          Texting vs. talking.

          by charliespencer ·

          In reply to IM’s lack formality

          I’ve never understood why anyone carrying a phone would not use voice as the primary method of communication. Talking strikes me as faster and easier than typing.

          I’m not sure what you find formal about e-mail. There’s certainly little formal about a phone call. I set the level of formality based on my audience and the message, not the medium.

        • #2431975

          How about this then

          by slayer_ ·

          In reply to IM’s lack formality

          My boss has a thick Russian accent, our BA has a thick Chinese accent. I can’t understand a word they say over the phone, but using IM’s works just fine, no misunderstandings.
          We actually have an informal office rule, the BA is not allowed to say Beach because it comes out like B*tch, the Russian can’t say fax cause it comes out as f*cks.

          I still phone them if I have something really long to say, but for a quick one sentence, IM’s work fine.

        • #2431889

          all right

          by highlander718 ·

          In reply to IM’s lack formality

          but your BA and your boss can be considered as exceptions, when truly IM can help. I agree.
          Still, I have a longtime colleague, who recently wrote gays instead of guys in an e-mail addressed to multiple recipients….repeatedly … not by accident 🙂

        • #2431884

          I got one of those

          by slayer_ ·

          In reply to IM’s lack formality

          A miss spelled word auto corrected to incontinence

          “The system is having an incontinence issue…”

          My boss sent that to customers by accident.

        • #2432035

          While I too find voice mail irritating,

          by charliespencer ·

          In reply to Cause voicemail is irritating

          I find IM to be equally annoying. I can talk a lot faster than I can type, and the lack of a spell checker annoys me to no end. If I need an immediate answer, I reach for the phone first. If it isn’t urgent or I don’t get an answer, I send an e-mail. I’ll respond if a co-worker initiates an IM conversation, but I don’t see any advantages in my situation.

        • #2432013

          Exactly my view, Palmy -nt

          by deadly ernest ·

          In reply to While I too find voice mail irritating,

          nt

      • #2432034

        Testing

        by gsg ·

        In reply to Why use Instant Messaging for business when you can make a phone call on

        I use IM extensively when I’m helping someone test. I only need to be available if there are issues and they need me to look at what a message looks like in between the sender and receiver. I don’t want to stay on the phone the entire time, so they just IM me when I’m needed. It’s better than filling up my email as well. That way, I can get some work done instead of just waiting around until I’m needed.

        It’s also a good way for 1st level tech support to know if I’m at my desk. If it’s not an emergency and they need my advice on an issue, they can IM me. However, if they’re going to turn over a call to me, they call me instead as it usually requires too many details for an IM.

      • #2432021

        Email – on its last legs or growing up? IM versus the phone

        by dr monica ·

        In reply to Why use Instant Messaging for business when you can make a phone call on

        Agree about using the phone. But somehow people will IM before they will either phone or better still walk and talk if in the same office. Does anyone know why?

        • #2432012

          nope – nt

          by deadly ernest ·

          In reply to Email – on its last legs or growing up? IM versus the phone

          nt

        • #2431989

          I think

          by highlander718 ·

          In reply to Email – on its last legs or growing up? IM versus the phone

          it’s because people are no longer confortable talking face to face. Some prefer to “hide behind the screen”, it feels safer.

        • #2431976

          Perception

          by gsg ·

          In reply to I think

          Management in some organizations thinks that if you aren’t at your desk, you aren’t working. So, IM is available, and people take advantage of it. Plus, if you work in cubicle land, it’s probably preferable to IM than pick up the phone and potentially bother everyone in the area.

          I agree that face-to-face is best when possible, but I understand why IM is preferred in some situations.

        • #2431974

          IM’s are nice and quiet

          by slayer_ ·

          In reply to Perception

          It’s a big factor.

        • #2431904

          Email – on its last legs or growing up?

          by dr monica ·

          In reply to I think

          Ah, Highlander718 – now you are getting to the root cause of many of the problems with email. It is often wallpaper cover much deeper management and behavioural challenges.

        • #2431903

          and IM is even worse still with IM -nt

          by deadly ernest ·

          In reply to Email – on its last legs or growing up?

          nt

        • #2431886

          Hiding

          by charliespencer ·

          In reply to I think

          The same could be said of e-mail.

        • #2431854

          true, except most email addresses, especially business ones, can be tracked

          by deadly ernest ·

          In reply to Hiding

          so it’s harder to hide

        • #2431977

          Why? Beats me.

          by charliespencer ·

          In reply to Email – on its last legs or growing up? IM versus the phone

          I’d prefer face-to-face for longer conversations, but I’ll usually preface those with a call to see if the other party is ‘at home’ and it’s convenient.

          I don’t get the appeal of IM at all. Perhaps it’s generational, that I grew up with other methods of communication and don’t understand the advantages of it.

      • #2431891

        Call or Messaging

        by samplequestionnaire ·

        In reply to Why use Instant Messaging for business when you can make a phone call on

        Messaging is better only when we want to deliver the same message to a group of people. Calling is better when we want to communicate with a single person; messaging is waste of time in this case!!

    • #2432036

      Responses

      by charliespencer ·

      In reply to Email – on its last legs or growing up?

      How are we defining ‘social media’? I don’t see the free, publicly visible services becoming a dominant form of business communications. The issues of reliability and privacy are too big to overcome; those questions also apply to paid services. Maybe internally hosted services could supplant e-mail.

      Some IM tools can retain the conversation.

      I dislike the ‘pull’ model intensely. It depends on the intended recipient checking the site (or multiple sites). I much prefer ‘push’ and the assurance that the content was delivered to the intended recipients. I’d also much rather have content delivered to me than have to go out and check to see if it’s been updated. I don’t see what makes any method “less stressful and more mature”. I also don’t see what makes social networking less (or more) of a productivity waster or abuse target than e-mail. Indeed, the very name ‘social media’ strikes me having more potential for wasted time, implying that social activities are as acceptable as work-related ones.

      I think most people already know how to use e-mail effectively, as least as effectively as they need to or interested in learning. After all, it’s the older technology; people have simply had more time to get comfortable with it. Where I need help (along with those I’ve observed where I work) is how to get workplace value from IM, wikis, and other social tools. Most of what we do is still accomplished via shared files.

    • #2431887

      One things I have noticed with a lot of IM messages I’ve seen

      by deadly ernest ·

      In reply to Email – on its last legs or growing up?

      when visiting people and the few times I’ve ended up using the dang things, is they’re like a lot of the text messages – –

      very short on good sentence structure, short on good spelling, and many are down right rude — seems politeness in IM and texting is not accepted or permitted due to the extra time and trouble needed. I just hope what I’ve seen of Im messages is not representative of them as a whole, but the evidence so far is they are.

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