I thought I told you about this

There is a lot of advice out there about reducing the use of email, chat tools, instant messages and written communication in general, in favour of face to face discussion.... I've often read that an email of more than a paragraph should be a conversation.

I'm not sure - and I'm talking in a professional business environment not purely social - that I agree.

Even many aspects of social interaction can be far more efficient and effective when supplemented or augmented with digital communications, presuming of course, you're doing the personal work that fosters a relationship that supports an element of digital communication too. Maybe the subject matter merits a conversation, but I say, not necessarily straight away, and definitely not as the final means of communication on any matter. Like a meeting with no minutes, to assume a purely verbal conversation or exchange has reached a mutually agreed upon and understood conclusion, is fraught with danger.....

The digital world is here and has been for some time. Whether you like it or not, whether you're good at it or not, digital communication is every bit as important an aspect of your interpersonal relationships and communication skills as verbal, face to face , phone calls or even Skype is.

This is not to say you should completely replace face-to-face time with digital alternative. No, not at all. But you should be prepared to use digital communication and the written word far more often than many people do. The new (to some) paradigm though, of disjointed conversation, does place more emphasis on the importance of the written word and the requirements for those that can not always be bothered, to make an effort to communicate clearly.

Interestingly, (and admittedly this is only anecdotal) I find those that don't provide good written communication also do not communicate verbally very well either. Good communication takes effort whether it be verbal or written - in person or digital. Poor communicators waste time and create the biggest interruptions to your day, whether they write or speak.

People that oppose written (digital) communication the most, usually do so, prefixing every face-to-face conversation with "it's easier to just tell you this..." but usually, "it's easier for them to just tell you this...", because it's quicker, they can dump on you and move on, feeling self assured that they have told you what they need you to know, and absolve themselves of the responsibility for clear communication. Writing it down involves thinking about it and creating some accountability for the message.

Some people hide behind email and avoid face-to-face contact. That too is a frustrating problem and can derail otherwise productive interpersonal relationship. However, escaping the responsibility for crafting a clear, well thought out and structured written message, and the accountability it brings with it, is every bit as destructive to productivity and effectiveness.

Even socially (as opposed to in business life) digital messages, texts, tweets and so on, serve a great purpose and when embraced, provide a huge productivity boost to your day. You see, you can move through you day at your pace. Sometime you will answer a query straight away. Sometimes after an hour. That keeps you moving...it still gets everyone else want they want. It's arrogant for someone to assume that asking me to solve their problem or answer their question is more important than what I"m doing. It's very respectful however, to give me enough credit to decide whether their question should be answered now, or can wait to later.

I've heard talk of "African-time". A social norm in African countries that says, when someone is running late, that "it's okay, they're good people, they must have a good reason for it otherwise they would be here. Something more important than [insert whatever you're doing here] has come up".

A lot of communication in a typical day comes into this category. Of course it's important for someone to find help to "work this thing out", or to know what I think of that idea, but it actually just derailed my morning. Message me. Let me manage my notifications and I'll decide. The better job I do of that, the better I do my job!

It's interesting how all productivity tips say to turn off email notification, chat, Facebook etc, but quite often, once you have a reputation for not replying, for turning of phones, email etc, people use them, they'll just come and interrupt you!