Some people like to communicate by email and voice mail. Other people like to communicate by telephone or face to face. Which type of communication do you prefer and why.

In the internet and speed era the people developed methods to communicate fast and efficient. Even though the email and voice mail are convenient and fast ways to get or keep in contact with the people, personally I prefer to communicate by telephone of face to face for few reasons.

First, in person communication is more personal. Writing an email or living a voice mail does not imply personal involvement. Written material is arid and strict and communicates fact. You don’t have one person in front of you, you have just a piece of paper. In general, in this case people forget to take in consideration the other’s felling and this can cause harm to the relationship. For example my daughter had a huge fight with her girlfriend because they send to each other emails containing demeaning words. I talked to her and I ask her if she would have told her the same words if she would speak to her directly. Her answer was no, because she would have been ashamed to do that.

Second, when you communicate directly using telephone or in person you can get more information than if you use just email. In general, communication imply not just words but nonverbal signs too, such as body gestures or face mimics. For example, at the end of last year my boss evaluated my work activity. Even though he was very strict and objective, he smiled at me all the time during our conversation. I assumed that in fact he was more than satisfied with the way that I achieved my objectives. After a month that confirmed because my bonus was bigger than in the previous year.

Third, I believe that direct communication will save precious time. In general, when the people send an email or record a voice mail the person who received those will send the reply later which can cause delays or the emails can go back and forth with no respect for the individual’s time. If the person choose to communicate in person or by telephone, the answer will come back right away. For example, last month I had to finish a project for work by the end of the week. I had all my research done but I still needed few information from my project partner. I send him an email requesting that information. He was out of town with no access to his email and he replied to my email after three days. Because of this I missed the deadline and I was penalized. That’s why I think that if I would have called him I would have been able to avoid this problem.

By way of conclusion, taking in consideration the reasons explored above, I consider that it would be better for people’s life if they use in person communication.