Communication is one of the key factors that drive teams towards their goals, making possible the exchange of ideas, plans or problems. It is therefore crucial to do it efficiently, while keeping in mind that you’re still talking to humans and not some kind of information processing machines.
It is therefore essential to choose your media wisely according to each situation, but to my experience so far, nothing compares, in terms of efficiency, to just saying out loud what you have to say. Emails may be useful for storing decisions or ideas, but it’s by live talking that you can transmit them in the best way.
Personally, whenever I need to discuss something with my team, I always prefer talking to them rather than exchanging emails or leaving offline messages on their IM accounts. I do write emails on important matters, but mostly aiming to archive the discussions for later reference, or when they involve many people which may not be in the same office or on the same schedule.
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