Knowhow-Now Article

Despite being the primary form of communication for businesses in the 21st century, some organisations have banned email for internal communications in order to encourage employees to use instant messaging instead. To some this idea is preposterous; to others it makes perfect sense. Communicating with fellow employees is one of the most important parts of working in a large organisation, but all communication methods have their own pros and cons.

Email is one of the most favoured methods of internal communication, for obvious reasons. For example: it’s easier to email someone than to call them; sending an email means a written record of the transaction; it’s harder for ideas to be lost in translation; and you can easily point people toward websites and documents on the server.

However, email does have its negative points too. Email folders can fill up quickly with junk messages from mailing lists, and sometimes an important email can be buried within that pile, causing employees to miss it completely. Emails can be wrongly deleted, or end up in the ‘spam’ folder. There’s also the issue that it’s easier for staff to have personal conversations with friends and family without anyone noticing.

The telephone has always been an important method of internal and external communication for businesses. Despite the rise in digital technologies, it would still be hard, if not impossible, to run an organisation without business telephone systems. Calling someone has the advantage of an immediate response, whilst emails can be ignored for days. Speaking to someone on the phone builds up a rapport, and for people working in sales roles, it is essential. In large organisations with offices across the country, telephone calls are essential for sharing ideas and brainstorming.

The phone is definitely vital for client relations: there’s no doubt about that. However, when the phone is ringing all day with small requests from colleagues, it may interrupt important client based work or prevent external calls from reaching you. For that reason the telephone is best used internally for urgent queries or requests.

Instant Messaging is favoured by a number of companies. It has advantages in that it’s a lot more urgent than email (smaller requests are sent with less impact on server space). Internal links to documents on drives and websites can be sent via instant messaging, too. Using email for only external contacts and keeping internal messages separate is also a good way to ensure that important emails don’t get lost within social club emails, too.

The problems with instant messaging arise when people start to use it to socialise rather than spend time on work. This can reduce productivity rather than increasing it. Retrieving sent messages from an instant messenger chat log is also slightly more difficult than using an email programme such as Outlook, so outstanding requests may be quickly forgotten about as soon as the chat window is closed.

So, no matter what method you choose to drive internal communication within your business, it’s imperative to have the tools in place to ensure that the technology is being used for work and not for socialising.

Sean Burke writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.

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