9/26/2017–It’s hard, but I try to avoid sending emails when I need quick replies.
Sometimes I forget an important benefit of email: it allows asynchronous communication. In other words, it’s not meant to be read nor acted on right away. Like a handwritten letter, the communication continues at a pace reasonable to both parties, rather than the pace expected by the initiator (sender). This is important to note, because it shows how ineffective it is to expect a quick response from someone. By “quick” I mean within a few hours. This is especially clear when you consider how many faster methods of communication we have: phone call, text, walking by someone’s desk, and instant messaging. Investing in relationships ahead of time makes these even more effective, and mitigates the discomfort we may feel from using them vs email.
I try to remind myself that it’s not about how I feel, though. If I need you to tell me something, I’d benefit from tailoring my message and medium to what you prefer. In most situations, email is by far the slowest form of communication, except when you’re certain the recipient is not checking their cell phone for texts. It could be a day or two after it’s received that it’s read or acted on. For this reason, it’s also best to include in emails the date when referring to upcoming days of the week. For example, I should write “we’ll decide next Wednesday 9/26” instead of “we’ll decide next Wednesday”. Depending on when someone reads it, he or she may not know if I meant the most recently passed Wednesday, the upcoming Wednesday, or the Wednesday after that.
But maybe speed isn’t the most important factor for my message. Maybe it’s important to respect their preferred means of communication (it usually is), or maybe they need more information than a text or call allows. Maybe their “offline” and I don’t know their phone number.
Then I’ll try to send an email stating the day by when I’d benefit from having their response.
And I’ll make it 48 hours or more in the future.