Ryan Standil is a former lawyer and the owner of Write To Excite. He leads seminars for businesses and governments about effective writing in the workplace.
In 2024, I was leading a communication workshop at a prominent Canadian law firm, and a transactional lawyer lamented the current state of affairs. Specifically, he questioned why e-mail was the chosen method of interaction in almost every instance. I remember him saying that picking up the phone, walking down the hallway and running an in-person meeting are skills “like glass-blowing – about to become extinct.” He said we must keep in mind the importance of personal contact, efficiency, tonality and everything else that’s critical to internal and external success.
In the workplace, communicating by e-mail is so entrenched in the culture that we sometimes forget about the other options. Employees routinely send emails regarding subjects that would have been better suited to a phone call, video conference or in-person meeting.
During my workshops, I ask attendees, “When is it best to opt for an oral means of communication?” The most common answer is when the subject of your discussion is sufficiently complex or highly sensitive, such that it calls for the richness of a live dialogue. The other common signal to communicate orally is more roundabout: it’s when multiple emails have already been exchanged and important questions remain unanswered.
Using oral methods of communication usually leads to a clearer understanding of content and tone, but the decision between written and oral communication goes beyond understanding. As attendees point out during my workshops, this is also a business decision. When you engage in oral communication, you forge deeper relationships with your team members and clients. A proponent of this philosophy is John Duff, who once led the sales team at Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. Mr. Duff and I facilitated a communication workshop for his group, where he preached that there is no substitute for face-to-face interaction when it comes to building meaningful relationships.
As you move along the continuum of communication options, there is a trade-off between the intangible qualities of human gathering and the convenience of asynchronous correspondence. While meeting in person establishes the greatest rapport, e-mail provides the most flexibility. Each of the oral-communication options – phone, video and in person – is increasingly taxing on your schedule. A single “coffee meeting” can gobble up an entire morning.
In the middle of the continuum, the choice between phone and video is important as well. Video calls allow for more efficient communication because of non-verbal cues and the “sharing” of computer screens. However, phone calls are more convenient because you can answer them in any location or attire.
Since the pandemic, I have noticed that many of my contacts automatically assume a conversation will be held on video. Because it’s not always convenient to join a video call, Mr. Duff says it’s more tactful to give correspondents the choice. He advises his team to arrange discussions using language such as, “I am available to connect on Zoom about this or I’d be happy to have a phone call if that’s more convenient.”
Finally, how do you assess whether meeting on video is a suitable replacement for gathering in person? It is so enticing to meet on video in order to avoid travel. From the comfort of your office, you can end one video call at 11:59 a.m. and start the next one at noon. But it is almost impossible to remember the intangible benefits of meeting in person until you have just left a face-to-face encounter. As Mr. Duff put it during our workshop at MLSE, you wouldn’t want to attend a wedding on Webex if you could be in the room, and the same goes for important moments in business. This leads to key questions about balancing opportunity costs and expected outcomes. For example, if holding a meeting in person will occupy three hours of your day, whereas holding it virtually would occupy only one, is it worth investing the time?
At first, it may seem inefficient to have the meeting in person, but if the odds of getting a better result will increase, then the decision deserves careful analysis. When I review my client list, it is striking how consistently my in-person interactions have generated business compared to my virtual meet-and-greets. Consider your own clients, or your closest team members, and recall the encounters that caused those relationships to blossom. In a world full of homogeneous video calls, connecting in the flesh will cause you to stand out. Whether you are asking for a promotion, launching a new project or brainstorming an important strategy, you can make a stronger impression by being in the same room.
Nonetheless, remote work is now a mainstay, so I asked Kieran Murphy, the talent coaching director for accounting firm RSM Canada, how to maximize the value of connecting on video. Emphasizing the importance of organic interactions, Mr. Murphy said that “The water cooler chat has to be deliberately recreated in the digital space. When people are in the office, they can pose questions in the hallway or by popping into their leaders’ offices. When working remotely, team members must feel psychologically safe to interject during a video call or reach out to colleagues. One solution is to create ‘virtual office hours’ where team members can ask leaders about topics such as strategy, team dynamics or even a recent episode of a TV show.”
This column is part of Globe Careers’ Leadership Lab series, where executives and experts share their views and advice about the world of work. Find all Leadership Lab stories at tgam.ca/leadershiplab and guidelines for how to contribute to the column here.