Submitted by Guest Author: Michelle of http://medicalstudentblog.co.uk

At a recent staff meeting, the topic of email came up as an effective way for the multisite medical organization to stay in contact. While the immediate cost savings and instant access available through email communication, there is also reasoning to not completely eliminate face-to-face communication.

Email “Me”?

I don’t think that we could entirely replace interoffice face-to-face communication with email, even if we wanted to. Actual person-to-person interaction is essential on many levels of business and human interaction. Oral presentations offer important opportunities to put communication skills on display (Thill & Bovée, 2007). Although an individual may be able to write well, if unable to effectively communicate with people in a face-to-face setting the individual will be ineffective as a business leader. It is very difficult to show personality through text, especially quick little blurbs like email and IM.

In my own experience, I want to communicate with a person. I don’t want to be stuck on a long, automated voice service. I don’t particularly like to text message, and I certainly don’t want to have to email the person that shares my cubicle to ask how the day is going.

It is also a problem to consider the cultural impacts. “Communication style—including the level of directness, the degree of formality, preference for written versus spoken communication, and other factors—varies widely from culture to culture” (Thill & Bovée, 2007, p. 84). If large corporations could convince their employees to only communicate via email, I think that they would lose ground in the international markets. This is especially relevant if the business is centered in customer service, because I think we need to practice good communication (oral, non-verbal) skills to be effective communicators. The best practice is within the office before adjusting to the multi-cultural world of the clientele. Given the direct patient care setting within the office, I think that it is necessary to reinforce effective communication skills within the internal organization so as not to negatively affect the quality of patient care.

The other important thing to consider when using email to replace oral communication is that email could potentially damage your reputation. “The time you might save with sloppy e-mail writing won’t make up for the damage it can do to your career” (Thill & Bovée, 2007, p. 157). Many people don’t take the time to compose business-sounding business emails.

A couple years ago, I was communicating with an English teacher that I had met online via email. He sent sloppy emails, often filled with misspellings, poor grammar, and other classically embarrassing mistakes. Due to his lack of attention, he lost all credibility in the forum full of aspiring authors, editors and publicists.

I like email, and think that it is a vital piece of the communication puzzle; however I think that it should stay only a part of the picture. Face-to-face contact is still necessary to relay all of the nonverbal, personal, and intimate parts of our daily interactions. In a world increasingly focused on technology, it is important to maintain communication skills on all levels. Within the medical world, it is essential to polish verbal and non-verbal communication skills so as to offer the best care to patients.

Reference List:

Thill, J. V. & Bovée, C. L. (2007). Excellence in Business Communication (7th Edition). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.