Don’t email

Electronic communications are great, but texts and email are encroaching on territory that should be reserved for face-to-face interactions. If you need mutual understanding, negotiation and commitment, you’ve got to be face to face.

Albert Mehrabian, a pioneer on the understanding of communications since the 1960s, found that, in the communication of feelings and attitudes:

• only 7% of the spoken message is received through the words themselves;
• 38% of the message comes through the tone of voice; and
• 55% of the message comes through body language, mostly from eye contact.

Email is just words. It’s a weak, low-bandwidth medium.

You need to see and hear your words going in, and the other person needs to see and hear your words coming out.

That way, they can see ‘where you’re coming from’, understand your perspective, and empathise. They can also ask questions to clarify what you want, and ask for something in return – in other words, negotiate.

Having sent a long email, people can think they’ve ‘got their point across’ and that, if the recipient doesn’t get it, then it is their problem and there is nothing more to be done.

That’s not the way it is at all.

Effective communication is essential in deep and deliberate delegation.