Pros and Cons of Email Communication in Business
There is no doubt that email has completely transformed a wide range of areas of life - and business is certainly one of them. However, this doesn’t mean that every change that has taken place has been positive. On the plus side, it allows for instant communication between workers on clients who live on the other side of the world. On the downside, it can end up being a very time-consuming and productivity limiting activity as well.
It is worth looking in further detail at some of the main pros and cons involved in email communication in business, so that you can formulate a policy which works for your company. Of course, you also need to do the same for other parts of your business which involve communication, and you may want to look into the benefits of getting 1300 numbers. But in this blog post, we are going to place the focus on emails.
Pro - Multiple People Can Be Involved
Sending an email is a simple way to include multiple parties in a single conversation at once. You can be sure that everyone is receiving the same information, and any queries can be dealt with quickly and effectively. You also have a paper trail which you can refer back to if any issues should arise further down the line.
Con - Emails Are Often Distracting
When you receive continual email alerts throughout the day, this can end up distracting your employees from their main task. And once they have been distracted, it takes a while to refocus on the job that they were doing beforehand. To reduce the number of internal emails, you could try to encourage face to face communication where possible. You could also suggest that workers limit the number of times per day that they are checking their email accounts.
Pro - Emails Can Be Sent at Any time
Unlike phone calls, there are no restrictions when you send an email. So, if you get an idea in the middle of the night and you think that somebody needs to take action over it in the morning, you can fire off a quick email. You can also communicate across time zones with no trouble at all.
Con - They Are Susceptible to Viruses
There is a wide range of different computer threats which can travel via email including trojan horses, viruses, and other malware. To protect against these issues, you need to ensure that you have up to date firewalls and anti-virus software. You should also train staff on the common signs of spam and phishing emails, as well as not opening attachments from untrusted sources.
Pro - It is Easy to Send Different Files
Emails are not all about the words on the page. You can also send photos, video content, and entire projects - as long as you have the right compression software available. And they also provide a great medium where you can get feedback and make changes. They are a great collaborative tool which help people to work together no matter where they are in the world.
Con - Emails Can Be Misinterpreted
One of the major negatives of emails is that they remove the ‘human element’ of interactions. Since you are unable to communicate through your tone of voice or clarify a point that is misunderstood, you may find that offence is taken where it was not intended or instructions have not been fully comprehended. This can end up being a major issue, and can end up causing a rift between clients or staff members. That is why you need to be especially careful with what you put in an email, and you should encourage your team to be the same way. If any
issues do arise, you may be better off dealing with them face to face or over the phone to avoid any further damage being caused.
Pro - You Have the Option to Edit Your Emails
One of the major advantages of emails is that you have the time to mull over what you want to say and make edits as necessary. This is in direct contrast to the immediacy of face to face or over the phone communication in which you can make mistakes. We talked earlier about how emails can be misinterpreted, but this is much less likely to be the case if you read through them properly to make sure that you get the tone right.
Con - Emails Can Get Overlooked
Emails are a medium which tend to be overused. And if someone received hundreds on a daily basis, it is likely that yours could get overlooked. This could pose a major problem if it contained some urgent information which you needed to get a reply to as quickly as possible. This is why it is sometimes sensible to use other forms of communication if you are hoping to get a more immediate response to your query.
Though there are new forms of communication being thought up and released all the time, emails still play a central role in corporate culture all over the world. However, if you want to use it in the most effective way possible, it is worth putting in place certain guidelines which are going to ensure this happens. While it can be a useful tool internally to get across pieces of information quickly, you should try to discourage lengthy email changes from taking place as these are not productive. You should make sure that all your staff members are well-trained on spotting spam and phishing emails, so that you avoid any unnecessary viruses or malware infiltrating your systems. Also, it is worth teaching staff that they need to be very careful about what they are putting in their emails. Firstly, this comes from the point of view of getting the tone of voice right. Not only this, it can cause a problem as it leads to a paper trail. Once you send an email and it is opened, it is out there - potentially for the world to see.
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