The Evil Twins: Voice and Email!

... Jay Ellison is one of my heroes! Read on:
TO MAKE THE BEST USE of all associates’ time, and to encourage associates to engage with one another on a more frequent basis, I am
announcing a BAN on email every Friday to and from all sales and operation associates, effective immediately.

THAT MEMO, which went into effect August 2004 will continue to the end of the year, is from Jay M. Ellison, executive vice-president U.S. Cellular Corp.,based in Chicago. The company has more than 500 retail locations nationwide and 7,000 employees.

ELLISON EMAILS CONTINUES:” G o - o u t - t o m e e t - w i t h - y o u r - t e a m s - f a c e - t o - f a c e . Pick up the phone and give someone a call. Get out in the field.” So far, Ellison says, his ban is a success. And he may have started a
revolution: Imagine people talking in person!

I have clients who email employees in the next cubicle and use email as a conflict management tool. Yikes! What has happened to face time?
If you have a choice, use voice mail rather than email. We know the majority of the meaning of a message is sent nonverbally by both vocal cues (pitch, tone, rate, pauses, quality of voice, sarcasm, etc) approximately 38% and 55% by body movement (gestures, facial expressions, posture, position, etc). So with voice mail, the receiver can obtain a better read of the message being sent because they have more cues! How many times have you scratched your head when reading an email wondering, “What do they mean?”

Do it today! Make time for face time. If you can’t, pick up the phone.