Communication is important aspect of our life and consumes significant
amount of our time everyday.
Following are various communication tools we use
E-mail: Most popular and also most abused. Tends to
be impersonal. Very effective for factual information exchange and should
not be used for emotional information. There are lot of do's and don'ts
related to e-mail. Make sure you understand them.
Optimum number of e-mails per day: 30-50. (Including high
priority and low priority e-mails)
If you are getting very high number, some systems need to be corrected.
Phone: Facilitates better personal communication and
is interactive. When information in e-mails is misinterpreted it is better
to resort to Phone communication.
Optimum number of phone calls per day: 10-15
If you are getting more than 20 calls per day, evaluate your communication
style.
Instant Messaging: Instant messaging is more useful
for short information exchange. It tends to have traits of e-mail and phone.
It is interactive but impersonal. Not ideal for business communication but
more useful for personal communication.
Engaging in more than 10 minutes Instant Messaging conversation is not
productive.
Meetings: In person meetings are always best when
possible. Allows more information exchange in short time. Multi-way
communication makes it easy to resolve things faster.
Tends to cost more time than e-mail and phone and hence less preferred.
There are always complaints about too many meetings.
Optimum number of meetings per day: 3-4
If you are attending more than 4 meetings per day ~ 4 hrs per day, then you
need to improve your planning processes.
Optimum numbers I have mentioned are based on my personal experience. More
than optimum number mentioned, tends to make our day unproductive. By using
appropriate communication for various purposes, we can be more productive.
If something can be achieved through e-mail, avoid a phone call.
If something can be achieved through a phone call, avoid calling a meeting.
