There’s no doubt that new methods of workplace communication have exploded in popularity over the last year and a half due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many business leaders had to immediately pivot to fully remote operations, which led to them adopting the use of new, innovative communication channels to keep in contact with their teams. From Slack messages to weekly video chats, they collaborated with their teams using an array of methods, and many of these methods stuck even when they reverted back to an in-office work environment.
This trend has led some business leaders to wonder: is email communication dying in the workplace? Are we entering into a new era where emails are now the fallback option when it comes to corresponding with colleagues, clients, and other stakeholders? The answer to both of these questions is a resounding “no.” Yes, business leaders should opt for phone calls, video chats, or other instantaneous forms of communication in times of urgent crises, but here is why emails should always be the go-to method for non-critical workplace communication.
Emails Can Be Left Unread But Still Top-of-Mind
How many times have you chatted with a coworker via instant messaging, and they mentioned something important to you that you ended up forgetting about right after the chat due to other distractions? Or, have you ever had a pertinent discussion via video conference about customer orders, marketing data, employee schedules, etc., but you couldn’t recall some of the key information discussed once the call was over? This is exactly why emails should be the preferred communication method for non-urgent discussions.
Emails can be simply left unread in your inbox until you have the chance to sit down and give them your full attention and focus. This means the information they hold won’t get lost or forgotten like they possibly could during Zoom calls, phone discussions, instant messages, etc. You can schedule an hour each day to reply to all of the emails for the day that you left unread until you could devote your full attention to them. If you need to determine if incoming emails are urgent, simply glance at their subject lines — don’t open them until you have time to reply to them, as you can easily forget to answer them as the day goes on.
Emails Provide an Easy-to-Search History of Vital Information
Do you need to locate information in a monthly client report that was emailed to you? Or, do you have to analyze a digital marketing campaign’s data that a team member emailed to you several weeks ago? It is a breeze to search for this information in your email inbox — simply put quotation marks around specific keyword phrases that you know are in the email (like the client’s name and the project or campaign name) in the search bar, press search, and voila! The exact email you need will likely be in the results. This has helped me so many times in my own business journey with Live Lingua.
Even better, if you can recall a distinguishing word in the subject line of the email, you can further optimize this process by using “subject:” to bring forth only the results with the specific word in the subject. For example, if you know the email’s subject contains the word “report”, add “subject:report” to your search to look up only the emails that have “report” in their subject lines. You can’t do these sophisticated searches in communication channels like Google Chat!
Saved Emails = An Automatic Backup of Pertinent Files
We’ve likely all experienced this — right when we need a high resolution image, an excel sheet containing data, or another important document that was emailed to us in the past, it is nowhere to be found on our desktop or in our files. Was it accidentally deleted? Was it ever even saved?! Well, no need to fret! Emails that contain files are an automatic backup in the event that the local copies are deleted or simply lost on your computer. Simply use the aforementioned search tactics to locate the email containing the file that you are having trouble locating.
Emails Give You Time to Compose Your Thoughts
When you communicate with colleagues and clients via video conferencing and phone calls, you can be easily put on the spot and have to answer questions right in the moment. This could be really frustrating if you don’t know the correct answer to a question or you need time to do more research before you can provide the most informed insight possible. In contrast, communicating via email gives you time to compose your thoughts and do all of the research you need to do to provide the best, most accurate replies.
This also goes for instant messaging — while chatting with a colleague, they may ask you a question about a project or client that you don’t know the answer to right off the bat. However, you may feel pressured to reply right away, as you have already been chatting with them and they can see that you are online. This can lead to you having to admit you don’t know the answer to their inquiry, or you might answer to the best of your ability, but it is wrong because you didn’t do necessary research. You won’t have these issues with email communication!
Emails Are Less Intrusive Than Other Communication Channels
The great thing about emails is that you can answer them on your own time — I even recommend scheduling a designated time block to reply to emails each day, so that you can use the remainder of your day for deep work on projects. On the other hand, phone calls, Zoom calls, Slack messages, and social media messages are all instantaneous and have the expectation of an immediate reply. They can be very distracting, interrupt your work flow, and stifle your progression on projects you need to focus on.
Summing It All Up
It’s true — we are in an era where there are so many various forms of workplace communication, from video conferencing to Google Chats. However, emails should reign as the go-to method for non-critical workplace communication. This is because emails can be left unread but not forgotten, they provide an easy-to-search history of vital information, and saved emails are an automatic backup of pertinent files. On top of this, emails give you time to compose your thoughts and they are less intrusive than other communication methods. These are just a few reasons why email communication will never become obsolete in the workplace.