Your social brain reacts better to people you know than to people you don’t, so developing relationships with colleagues will smooth your ability to communicate with them by email, says Art Markman
Language is central to human nature. We learn our native language just by being born into a particular culture. If it’s an environment in which multiple languages are spoken, we learn them all and use them in different contexts. Despite the importance of language to everything we do, we recognise that not everyone is a good communicator. Some people are more skilled at conveying information clearly or using language to motivate others.
People’s ability to communicate with one another evolved in an environment in which small numbers of native speakers of the same language spoke face-to-face in real time. As the psycholinguist Herb Clark points out, the further we get from this ideal, the harder it is to communicate effectively.
Advances in technology allow you to communicate with people from around the globe who grew up speaking different languages. You can be far away and unable to see your conversation partners. You can communicate across time through writing – in which case your conversation partners cannot hear you or respond to what you’ve said immediately. Each deviation from the ideal creates opportunities for miscommunication.
But to succeed in the workplace, you must master the art of sharing information across a variety of modalities: email, memos, text and instant messaging systems. You may be part of a social network or message-board site or app where articles and discussions are posted for comment. To be a good communicator, you must know the limitations of the modes you’re using so that you can minimise potential problems. Thinking through these limitations may lead you to shift your strategy away from some modes and toward others—at least in some circumstances.
Communicating too often with text
Three communication problems can arise when you communicate too often with text.
- Asking for clarification by email can be difficult, leading to miscommunication.
- Whatever back-and-forth is necessary to clarify something may actually take more time via text than in person.
- Establishing the right tone can be challenging, making it hard to maintain relationships
Another problem with text is that you may misestimate the knowledge you share with someone else. You might use an unfamiliar word or jargon term. You might refer to things the other person doesn’t know about in ways that cause confusion.
One of my contacts, Rajesh told me about an email in which a colleague asked him to look at ‘the report’ and fix any errors. Unfortunately, the report to which Rajesh thought his colleague was referring was a different one. As a result, he spent a morning working on something his colleague wasn’t interested in.
You might think that Rajesh could have asked for clarification up front. But he was relatively sure he knew which report was meant. And even if he had some reservations, sending an email could have delayed the process significantly, because Rajesh was in India, while his colleague was in New York. Rather than take the time to clarify, he forged ahead.
In face-to-face communication, we often negotiate meanings. Consider this unremarkable snippet of dialogue:
A: Have you heard from Sydney?
B: Sydney from marketing?
A: No, our office in Australia.
B: Ah, not yet. I’m expecting an email from them tonight.
In the span of just moments, an ambiguous word (Sydney) was clarified, and the question was answered. This dialogue would occupy about 10 seconds of someone’s time during the day unless it happened via email—in which case, a few hours might elapse between messages. And messages can take longer to process if you have to read back through the thread to remember what was going on in the conversation.
Text communication appears easier because you don’t have to interrupt what your colleague is doing—they can check their emails or texts when it’s convenient. But that can actually waste a lot of time, particularly when a seemingly simple request requires a number of turns to resolve.
For greater efficiency, try dealing with simple requests either in person or on the phone. We’ve fallen out of the habit of poking our head in on colleagues or setting up a quick chat. But it’s amazing how much time you can save by talking to people in person for small things. And as your colleagues learn that when you say you need a minute of their time, you mean that literally, they become more willing to engage in a quick chat or phone call.
Having more conversations and fewer text interactions can also assist in establishing the right tone. Stacy told me that she had recently started a new job working remotely. Her supervisor said that people in the office had complaints about requests she had made to move projects forward. Stacy had never had friction with colleagues before; she realised that a big part of the problem was that most of her interactions with the rest of the office were by email.
That’s not surprising. If you ask someone to make copies for you in person, you can convey how much you appreciate their efforts by the way you phrase the question, your tone of voice, and the look on your face. Text allows you to choose your phrasing, but your tone and facial expression are missing (even when you add emojis to what you write). As a result, a simple ‘please make these copies for me’ can sound like a command in an email. Over time, you may get a reputation for being demanding or difficult.
In general, spending some time with colleagues is valuable, even if the bulk of your interactions are by text. Face time helps people get to know you better, which makes their evaluations of what you say more charitable. Your social brain reacts better to people you know than to people you don’t, so developing relationships with colleagues will smooth your ability to communicate with them by text. When they know you, they can hear your voice behind the text.
Art Markman is a Professor of Psychology and Marketing at the University of Texas at Austin. His research explores a variety of topics in thinking, including the way people form and use analogies, generate creative ideas, and make decisions.
This is an edited excerpt from Bring Your Brain to Work (2019) by Art Markman. Courtesy of Harvard Business Review Press. AMBA members can benefit from a 20% discount on this book as part the AMBA Book Club – click here for details.
