{"id":3497,"date":"2015-04-07T09:47:21","date_gmt":"2015-04-07T09:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smarterbusinessprocesses.com\/?p=3497"},"modified":"2015-04-07T09:47:21","modified_gmt":"2015-04-07T09:47:21","slug":"life-by-email-an-interview-with-author-phil-simon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smarterbusinessprocesses.com\/life-by-email-an-interview-with-author-phil-simon\/","title":{"rendered":"Life by Email: An Interview with Author Phil Simon","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

Guest Blog by Emily Esposito – Smartsheet<\/p>\n

In the time it took you to read this sentence, 20 million emails were written.<\/h3>\n

There\u2019s no question we all receive too much email (over 100 billion emails are sent and received each day). But, no matter how many times we complain about time wasted over email or the sheer amount of messages in our inbox, the truth is, we actually like it. And science can prove it.<\/p>\n

We get a rush of dopamine to the brain\u2019s pleasure centres every time a new email comes in. Researchers<\/a>\u00a0believe that our compulsion to constantly check email is driven by the dopamine releases that occur in anticipation of receiving good news.<\/p>\n

Along the sames lines, our sense of value gets inflated the more emails we receive. According to award-winning author and recognized technology authority Phil Simon<\/a>, \u201cwe secretly love email. We tell ourselves, \u201cLook at how essential I am to the company!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Simon\u2019s new book, Message Not Received<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0examines how we communicate and often misuse language and technology at work, especially email. Via extensive case studies, he demonstrates how business professionals are embracing simpler language and new technologies to communicate in a more effective way.<\/p>\n

Smartsheet got a chance to interview Simon about business communication mistakes, trends, and best practices.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the conversation:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Q: What are the most common mistakes in communication you see happening in business?<\/h3>\n

A: There are two key mistakes to emphasize: too much email and too much jargon.<\/p>\n

In mid-2014, a large software vendor released a press release on its new, next-generation, big data platform as a service. In the first sentence, there were 61 words. It was totally confusing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Business

I\u2019m not against changes in language\u2014language changes very organically, but many, many people are using more jargon and confusing people more than ever. And, when we get that jargon in emails, we just shut down. We make mistakes and we don\u2019t understand what we\u2019re supposed to do.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Q: Has email always been an ineffective communication channel? Was there a turning point?<\/h3>\n

A: \u00a0It\u2019s not always effective or totally ineffective. Communication has always been contextual. Certain mediums can be better than others. Marshall McLuhan famously said, \u201cThe medium is the message.\u201d He\u2019s absolutely right.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not anti-email; I\u2019m anti-inefficiency. Productivity usually suffers on incessant email chains.<\/p>\n

Let me make it more concrete. Let\u2019s assume that 80% of emails are actually clear and you receive 10 emails per day. That means two don\u2019t make any sense to you. That\u2019s manageable.<\/p>\n

We actually get 120 to 150 emails per day. More than 20 times per day, you receive a message that doesn\u2019t make any sense to you.<\/p>\n

Email was never designed to be a collaboration tool. You can\u2019t search your inbox as effectively as you can search 25 trillion web pages. It usually takes us less than one second on Google to get what we want. Our inboxes contain 20,000 messages. At least a few times per day, we can\u2019t find something in our inbox.<\/p>\n

Brass tacks: Email should not be our default communication tool.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Q: Do you have a general rule-of-thumb about when it\u2019s best to email, use chat, or talk in person?<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"

 <\/p>\n

A: First, I have a three-email rule. After three, we talk in person. Second, I pick up the phone if I want to catch up with someone or explore different opportunities. Third, it drives me crazy if someone sends me multiple attachments via email. I like collaborating in real time. And lastly, I will not engage in a difficult \u2018conversation\u2019 over email.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Q. What does the future of business communication look like?<\/h3>\n

A: The future of business will be split. You always have your early adopters, people who won\u2019t manage a project over email and go with tools like HipChat<\/a>, Jive<\/a>, Yammer<\/a>, Smartsheet<\/a>, and many others. Early adopters will maintain an advantage over companies that refuse to embrace truly collaborative technologies. Organizations that use antiquated tools are missing out. More and more companies will embrace collaboration tools; they have to.<\/p>\n

Simon closes by saying, \u201cThere is not one best tool. I want people to think carefully about what we\u2019re saying and how we\u2019re saying it. I want people to ask questions about whether or not they\u2019re communicating efficiently.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About Phil Simon<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"

Phil Simon is a frequent keynote speaker and recognized technology authority. He is the award-winning author of seven management books, most recently\u00a0Message Not Received<\/em>. He consults organizations on matters related to communications, strategy, data, and technology. His contributions have been featured on The Harvard Business Review, CNN, Wired, NBC, CNBC, Inc. Magazine, BusinessWeek, The Huffington Post, The New York Times, Fox News, and many other sites.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Guest Blog by Emily Esposito – Smartsheet In the time it took you to read this sentence, 20 million emails were written. There\u2019s no question we all receive too much email (over 100 billion emails are sent and received each day). But, no matter how many times we complain about time wasted over email or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":3,"featured_media":3499,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[40,191,192,190,6,193],"class_list":["post-3497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-collaboration","tag-communication","tag-dopamine","tag-email","tag-smartsheet","tag-technology-at-work"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":6}},"featured_image_urls_v2":{"full":["https:\/\/smarterbusinessprocesses.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/email-resize.jpg",1024,662,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/smarterbusinessprocesses.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/email-resize-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/smarterbusinessprocesses.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/email-resize-300x194.jpg",300,194,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/smarterbusinessprocesses.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/email-resize.jpg",768,497,false],"large":["https:\/\/smarterbusinessprocesses.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/email-resize-1024x662.jpg",1024,662,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/smarterbusinessprocesses.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/email-resize.jpg",1024,662,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/smarterbusinessprocesses.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/email-resize.jpg",1024,662,false],"wp_review_small":["https:\/\/smarterbusinessprocesses.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/email-resize.jpg",65,42,false],"wp_review_large":["https:\/\/smarterbusinessprocesses.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/email-resize.jpg",320,207,false]},"post_excerpt_stackable_v2":"

Guest Blog by Emily Esposito – Smartsheet In the time it took you to read this sentence, 20 million emails were written. There\u2019s no question we all receive too much email (over 100 billion emails are sent and received each day). But, no matter how many times we complain about time wasted over email or the sheer amount of messages in our inbox, the truth is, we actually like it. And science can prove it. We get a rush of dopamine to the brain\u2019s pleasure centres every time a new email comes in. Researchers\u00a0believe that our compulsion to constantly check…<\/p>\n","category_list_v2":"Blog<\/a>","author_info_v2":{"name":"GwenR","url":"https:\/\/smarterbusinessprocesses.com\/author\/gwenr\/"},"comments_num_v2":"0 comments","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"link","format":"url"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smarterbusinessprocesses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smarterbusinessprocesses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smarterbusinessprocesses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smarterbusinessprocesses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smarterbusinessprocesses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/smarterbusinessprocesses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smarterbusinessprocesses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smarterbusinessprocesses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smarterbusinessprocesses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smarterbusinessprocesses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}