I'm Right Here! Don't Email Me!

You cannot lead through email. You may be able to manage electronically, but you cannot lead. Leaders empower employees, share their vision and help others feel engaged. To do that takes more that a hastily written email. Effective leaders communicate in-person, not behind an @ sign.

Unfortunately, as email has become entrenched in most organizations, the temptation to use written words instead of face-to-face leadership is greater than ever. According to InformationWeek, business users in the United States send and receive, on average, over 300 e-mails a day. This pervasive use of email has made it the default means of communicating, even when the employees are right outside your office!

Let me be clear; I am not suggesting you stop using email. Used properly, it is an efficient means of communicating when you need to attach documents, create a written record or communicate the same message to a large number of people. But those are managerial functions, not leadership. More importantly, just because something is efficient, such as email, doesn’t mean it is also effective (a Subtlety of Leadership). Instead, I am suggesting that when you lead, do not use email.

As a leadership tool email is ineffective for a number of reasons. First, it is virtually impossible to incorporate your ‘tone’ in an email. Conveying tone in a written document is a skill most leaders sorely lack. Writing in their book Send, Schwalbe & Shipley caution that “a message written without regard to tone becomes a blank screen onto which the reader projects his own fears, prejudices, and anxieties.” Without the proper tone, your words can be easily misconstrued or misunderstood.

Another reason email (or any written communication) is ineffective for exerting leadership is that you cannot receive important non-verbal clues about your message. Nathaniel Lewis explained it this way

“When you take away the visual cues, facial expressions, sighs and pauses that are noticeable in a face to face conversation something is lost in the translation and understanding of the thing being said. The ability to adjust or change the course of a discussion or conversation is only possible when you have facial expressions that either show acceptance or doubt.”

As a leader you need to be able to adjust your delivery to your audience based on feedback; both what is heard and what is seen. Richard Garlikov described it like this: “In spoken conversations there is normally more proximity in time and/or space between the participants than there is in written communications. This allows more immediate, helpful feedback and audio or visual cues about what needs to be said next.” By communicating in-person you will know if your employee ‘gets it’.

There is an easy way to decide between the efficiency of email and the effectiveness of verbal communication. Before clicking ‘New Email’ ask yourself three simple questions:
1. Do I ‘need’ (not want) a written record of the message?
2. Is the message for more than two people?
3. Is another document essential to my message?
If you can answer ‘yes’ to any of the above, an email may be an appropriate tool.

If you answered no, get out of your chair and be a leader!