Just the other day Al Krueger and I were having a conversation about an email one of us had received. We were debating whether the email was intentionally dismissive or just a bunch of face-value, no-frills words in an email.

telephoneCould go either way, right? We’ve all gotten emails like that. And we’ve all debated about how to respond. So we craft and rewrite our responses with care and caution. We waste time worrying about whether our response will set the sender off into a tizzy of more terse words in yet another unclear email.

But what if – stick with me now – what if we just picked up the phone instead?

Yeah. I said it. In this day and age of faceless, conflict-avoidance electronic communications, a phone call might actually be the solution. (Of course if we work in the same building with the person, a face to face conversation would suffice, as well.)

We are all guilty of it from time to time. Sometimes it’s easier and faster to simply shoot off a reply and forget about it for a while. But at the end of the day, if your communication is already failing you, so will another email in a long chain of emails.

Conversations aren’t just for conflict resolution anymore. They enable a cursory relationship to solidify into a lasting exchange of ideas and respect.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my Twitter banter. I can appreciate a well-crafted email overview. And I’ve had the pleasure of “meeting” some really clever and successful people through social media, having never had a live conversation. But those quick back and forth conversations can only go so far. A phone conversation or a personal meeting and a handshake will always trump a tweet or a wall post or an email.

As a Marketing/Communcations kind of person, I would like to think that I do alright with human communication, but I must admit that I catch myself being a lazy communicator from time to time. I have to remind myself that a phone call says more to the client or friend or colleague than what is actually said over the phone.

It tells him that he matters enough for me to make the time to talk to him, listen to him, ask about his wife, his kids, his upcoming vacation. It gives him another reason to think twice before cutting my line item from his heavily scrutinized budget. And it offers another reason for him to give me the benefit of the doubt when an occasional vague email comes from me in haste or under stress.

So I challenge you to do what I am trying to do more often: pick up the phone. Or maybe even start Skyping a bit. Use your voice (literally) more in your communications and deepen your relationships with the people that matter to you. It’s amazing what a conversation can do for clearing up misunderstandings, much less avoiding them in the first place.

It turns out the email mentioned at the beginning of the post was typed on a mobile device – while driving (don’t try this at home, kids). Which explains the dismissive tone and lack of clarity. I’m glad I called to find out.