This week were asked to receive a request for information through email, voicemail and then face to face to determine which form of communication most clearly stated the intent of the message. The message was an informal reminder to submit needed back ground information on a project. The recipient was involved in a long meeting that day which had nothing to do with the communicated request. I found that in this case, communicating the message through voice mail was the best. It allowed me to hear the inflection of the request as well as to replay the message if needed. The email was poorly written and difficult to follow without the inflection that a voice can give to a message. The face to face message was too informal and if given during the break from the long meeting could easily be forgotten. A voicemail message can be checked when the receiver is ready for the message as opposed to over the cube wall in between meetings as was the case in this scenario.
According to Portny et al. (2008) formal requests should always be completed in writing or if in a face to face meeting a follow up email or document should be sent. This scenario was an informal request so a voice message or clearly written email would be best. Stopping someone in the hall or peeking over the cube to deliver the reminder just asks for it to be forgotten. Ultimately, we should always attempt to use the right form of communication for the subject matter and the recipient. Portny et al. (2008) succinctly states “The key to successful project management is effective communication – sharing the right messages with the right people in a timely manner “ (p. 357).
Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Hi Anita,
ReplyDeleteThere are many different ways a person can communicate and I personally think how one communicates is based on the individual. We communicate thru email, face to face, written, text, voicemail,etc. On my job, the principal communicates thru email, but their are some teachers who never check their emails so they are always late getting the information because the team has to give them the message verbally. I don't like checking voicemails because you never know what the other person is going to say on the other end and then you have to sit and listen to the whole message before you can hit delete. It could be good news or bad and I just don't want that left on my voicemail. I think text was the best thing ever invented. I could text all day and never have to talk to a person, but some people say they get tired of typing and you could have just picked up the phone and said all that you typed. Face-to-face communication is a good form of communication because the person recieving the message can look at you and understand where you are coming from. In a business, I would say always use two forms of communcation just to make sure everyone recieves the message. If it is informal communication, it really shouldn't make a difference. I think whatever works best for that individual.
The use of email is a powerful tool. Many organizations and business have established all the communication via email. You mention that meetings should have a follow up and this could be done with the use of emails. I agree with you that this communications can be done with the use of smartphones. There are many ways technology can be use in benefit of a business or organization.
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