The only thing I like about mobile phones, apart from letting me to be in touch with my friends and family, is Internet access and PIM functionality. And these are the only arguments that stop me from throwing away my SIM card.
Do you like people entering your office and talking to you no matter you like it or not? Especially when thinking on some complex issues that need all your brain cells working in parallel? And that’s what happens when someone calls you to talk about stuff that is important _for that person_ and _at this given moment_. Obviously, some information is easier to pass using voice, however the condition is that the message is: short, precise and making decision is not required. That’s the reason I was such a great fan of voice mail and pagers.
Audio calls miss body language and are never precise enough. Especially that it’s very uncommon for most people to be able to follow 2-3 hours long discussion and remember things already brought to attention. It just makes no sense to discuss technical stuff over the phone, unless a lot of creativity and brain-storming is needed (or you’re responsible for customer service).
Most of the communication should be asynchronous. Send me a message, so I have some time to think about problems you want me to solve and I will get back to you with my ideas when I’m absolutely sure they are reasonable. This approach boosts quality and helps avoiding mistakes of time pressure answers. Another benefit is that we are able to understand why things were done this way and not the other, and why other solutions wouldn’t work. That is, documenting design decisions is fairly simple. Finally, it’s easier to collect knowledge, develop procedures and help members of the development team to understand the aims and expected results of the work pursued. Not to mention that being asynchronous lets you plan better and do better job in terms of time management.
After all, it’s all about if the end product satisfies requirements. Just make sure that when speaking with your customer about choosing e-mail over phone conversations you give reasons that are well-founded and will not offend anyone. Especially, if cultural differences bring even more complexity to your communication.
The only thing I like about mobile phones, apart from being in touch with my friends and family, is Internet access and PIM functionality. And these are the only arguments that stop me from throwing away my SIM card.
Do you like people entering your office and talking to you no matter you like it or not? Especially when thinking on some complex issues that need all your brain cells working in parallel? And that’s what happens when someone calls you to talk about stuff that is important for that person and at this given moment. Obviously, some information is easier to pass using voice, however the condition is that the message is: short, precise and making decision is not required.
Audio calls miss body language and are never precise enough. Especially that it’s very uncommon for most people to be able to follow 2-3 hours long discussion and remember things already brought to attention. It just makes no sense to discuss technical stuff over the phone, unless a lot of creativity and brain-storming is needed (or you’re responsible for customer service).
Most of the communication should be asynchronous. Being async-ready means productivity. Send me a message, so I have some time to think about problems you want me to solve and I will get back to you with my ideas when I’m absolutely sure they are reasonable. This approach boosts quality, saves time and helps avoiding mistakes of time pressure answers. Another benefit is that we are able to understand why things were done this way and not the other, and why other solutions wouldn’t work. That is, documenting design decisions is fairly simple. Finally, it’s easier to collect knowledge, develop procedures and help members of the development team to understand the aims and expected results of the work pursued. Not to mention that being asynchronous lets you plan better and do better job in terms of time management.
After all, it’s all about if the end product satisfies requirements. Just make sure that when speaking with your customer about choosing e-mail over phone conversations you give reasons that are well-founded and will not offend anyone. Especially, if cultural differences bring even more complexity to your communication.