Do you know when to use the phone or email?  What about text, social media, and face-to-face meetings? How do you feel when you hear the phone ring?  In this podcast episode, HR expert Tamara Finlay shares advice and frameworks to help you choose the ideal communication media or platform to optimize your communication.

 Link to PDF of shownotes click HERE.

 

CONTENTS

* Summary: Choosing the Ideal Communication Media

* References & Links

* Andrea’s Commentary

* Interview Transcript

* Conclusion

SUMMARY

Choosing the Ideal Communication Media

We have a lot of choice when it comes to communication media or channels, including but not limited to phone or email, text, social media, face-to-face, video or teleconference (Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, etc.), hand-written note, typed letter…

When choosing the ideal communication media, consider the ACE acronym and the 3H framework:

ACE acronym

–       A = Audience

–       C = Content

–       E = Environment

3H framework

–       Head

–       Hand

–       Heart

A = AUDIENCE  Consider the other parties with whom we’re communicating. What’s their preferred method of communication?

* Age – Younger folks (Millennials) are digital natives, and are often most comfortable with texting, for example. But we shouldn’t over generalize.  There are younger people who love the phone and older people who prefer texting. 

* Is it an individual or a group?

* Consider the stage of the relationship. Face-to-face is ideal early on for building a relationship. Then later on, texting, phone or email can maintain that relationship

C = CONTENT is where we can think of HEAD, HEART or HANDS: 

* HEAD –if you’re trying to engage the brain with objective content that is less emotional, you can use almost any media.

* HEART – Here, it’s all about emotions and relationships. It could be a huge decision or something where open dialogue is ideal. In which case, in-person, face-to-face communication is ideal. If that isn’t possible, then the phone is next best, because at least you can hear the other person’s tone of voice.

* HANDS – if the content is directive, task oriented (like confirming next steps or location and timing details) the written word – like in emails or text is fine.

E = ENVIRONMENT   This is where you can consider factors such as timeliness, confidentiality, or financial cost in choosing how to communicate.

REFERENCES & LINKS

Tamara Finlay

* LinkedIn

* https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamarafinlay/

* Recommendations:

* FastCompany

* Allegra Shaw

 

Talk About Talk & Dr. Andrea Wojnicki

* Talk About Talk podcast episodes mentioned:

* How to Conquer your Email Inbox

* Authenticity with Ana Serrano

* Free Weekly Email Blog – https://talkabouttalk.com/blog/#newsletter-signup

* Website: https://talkabouttalk.com

* Facebook group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/2512948625658629/

* Andrea’s email –