In Chapter 12, the authors talk about Synchronous and Asynchronous communication. Telephone, cell phone which provide immediate feedback are treated as Synchronous communication and e-mail, voice mail etc., are treated as Asynchronous.
I agree to some extent with the authors in that Asynchronous communication might save time and make it possible for communications to proceed interactively, outside of "real time". But this in my opinion also has some ill effects. A common work place issue today is too much e-mail, so it is very difficult to assume that if something important needs to be communicated e-mail is the best medium due to the volume of e-mail people get. Trying to reach them by phone might have a better success rate in such situations.
Also, due to the ease of sending an e-mail people start using it and send messages that are not needed and some that can be easily misunderstood as some people spend very little time in composing them. Due to lack of attention messages might not always come out properly, leaving the possibility of misunderstanding and confusion leading to more wastage of time. In those situations in person or telephone conversations might be better.
I think both types have their advantages, but proper usage of them determines their success and productivity from them.
Streaning Star Trek: Insurrection Full Movie
6 years ago
5 comments:
When I first started using email, years ago, I used to look forward to getting new messages. After the novelty wore off, and the volume of emails increased substantially, I started dreading them. A recent news item on CNN/business reported that it takes an average of 15 minutes for someone to get back to the original task, after being interrupted by an email message. I found myself in a similar situation of checking email so often that I had a difficult time focusing on the work at hand. Carrying a Blackberry exacerbated the situation. I discussed the situation with my boss who told me that she used the simple time mgmnt strategy of designating two 20 minute periods throught the day to respond to messages. The solution was so simple, I wondered why I hadn't been doing that myself. After thinking it over, I realized that on some level the technology itself conveys a sense of urgency to emails...almost as if the sound of "you've got mail" suggests that it's an important matter.
I constantly check my email because it gives me stress when there is a high number of unread messages. I feel like I am somehow falling behind if I don't keep up with my messages. So I don't know if I could handle the 20 min. strategy. At the minimum, even if I don't immediately respond to every message, I need to briefly check it and make sure its not urgent. I think with the way technology is now, the expectation is that emails will be responded to fairly quickly. I've even heard people refer to others as not working hard because "they never respond to their emails."
The two 20-minute blocks sound ideal, but not very feasible for me.
First, there is no way that I'd get a day's worth of email done in any less than an hour. The morning starts with a few levels of email filtering... delete the obvious spam messages, quickly preview messages and delete unimportant emails, mentally assign priority based on significance, then finally answering in order of importance.
Second, I've had people call my manager within an hour of sending me an email, claiming unresponsiveness. Even my manager has a good laugh at this, but it's very disconcerting. If someone has a message of that much importance and time sensitivity, they really should be using a synchronous form of communication!
Both, synchronous and asynchronous communication, is important for every one but in different situations. A firm that is internet based should have a reliable and speedy system that responds to emails as they pour in. In other cases,it's effective to resort to telephones calls.Both are highly effective,but I feel that I can help out a person more effectively if I get immediate responses to my queries,thus,resorting to telephone calls.But for some, who are not very expressive verbally, email sounds like a good option.You just need to see which suits you better to use technology effectively.
I agree that synchronous communication, such as a telephone call, is much more effective compared to other forms of communication, such as e-mail. I have noticed that important e-mails are not always given the attention that they deserve simply because people generally tend to get flooded with tons of e-mail. However, I don’t think you can overlook over the importance of e-mail because of the efficiency that it provides for businesses.
It is true that there are pros and cons with both forms of communication, and I believe that it is necessary for managers to decide which would be more effective, a phone call or an e-mail.
Post a Comment