This post has been written as an answer to an assignment question in my ID Masters Degree.
I was given 3 modalities of delivery of the same message from Jane to Mark - email, voicemail and face-to-face message. I was then asked to compare the modalities and share a synthesis of my thoughts regarding what this activity implies about communicating with members of a project team.
The email is written by Jane to Mark. Jane is obviously stressed about a deadline and is relying on some information from Mark to complete her report. She is worried that she will miss her deadline because he hasn’t given her the info she needs. The email is polite, but clear.
The voicemail is somewhat more compelling - the urgency in Jane’s voice is palpable and she seems almost desperate. I would be more likely to respond to this message.
The face-to-face message sends a totally different message - this time Jane is clearly not as concerned as it appeared in the voicemail about the missing information. She seems happy and smiles throughout the message. She isn’t really stressed and seems to understand the reason she doesn’t have the information is because of a meeting that Mark is attending. She is making excuses for Mark and there isn’t any sense of urgency.
Factors that influenced my perception of the message: in the email, Jane was direct and clear about what she needed. There really wasn’t any emotion involved. In the voicemail, her voice sounded stressed and worried. There was a sense of urgency that she needed the information before she missed her deadline. Because there weren’t any visual cues to go on the agitation in her voice conveyed a message of urgency that clearly wasn’t there in the face-to-face message as Jane is smiling all the time and seems very understanding - information completely missing from the audio and written messages.
I would have been more likely to respond to the voicemail as the urgency communicated demanded cooperation. I would have been less likely to respond to the face-to-face message as I felt that Jane wasn’t that worried about the problem and it could probably wait until after my meeting. When communicating with members of a team, I have found email to be the most reliable medium. You have a record of the discussion and it is easy to send out a clear message. You have time to plan the message and can reread before sending. A voicemail is obviously open to interpretation - there are emotions communicated that are left to the listener’s discretion to interpret. Sometimes these may be misinterpreted, whereas an email (if correctly worded) will be more clear and less likely to misinform.
According to a study called The Effect of Communication Modality on Cooperation in Online Environments “we have demonstrated a technique for the quantitative assessment and comparison of the effect of different forms of communication on the development of trust and cooperation. Consistent with the sociological literature, voice communication was found to have an extremely powerful effect in fostering trust and cooperation.” (Jensen, C. et al)
I agree with this statement, given our example in this assignment. The voicemail is the most compelling and would have elicited an immediate response from me.
References
1. Jensen, C., Farnham, S., Drucker, S. & Kollock, P., The Effect of Communication Modality on Cooperation in Online Environments, http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/sdrucker/papers/chidilemmas.pdf
2. Web Link to media clip: The Art of Effective Communication, http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6145/03/mm/aoc/index.html
Linda,
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned an important part of the puzzle, in my opinion: Documentation. Many of us who have worked with others in the adult world can relate to this necessity.
While the point of this assignment was to see the differences in the different modalities for communication, I believe that in real life another point would have to be considered as well: company culture and climate. Could this problem of not getting tasks done on time (and therefore delaying others) be something that has become "normal" or expected for this team, making the less urgent face-to-face modality the best choice? Could there be underlying issues in which an email (for documentation purposes) would be the best first choice? I think the climate/culture is an important factor here.