Comments on: Interview with Antonio Gould, Consultant, and Sara Harris, Screen Media Lab http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/blog/2006/10/25/interview-with-antonio-gould-consultant-and-sara-harris-screen-media-lab/ coaching creative professionals Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:28:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Mark McGuinness http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/blog/2006/10/25/interview-with-antonio-gould-consultant-and-sara-harris-screen-media-lab/#comment-6942 Mark McGuinness Sun, 05 Nov 2006 09:59:14 +0000 http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/blog/2006/10/25/interview-with-antonio-gould-consultant-and-sara-harris-screen-media-lab/#comment-6942 Thanks for the comment D'log. I can't speak for Antonio and Sara but I think you make some good points. One of the themes that has come out of these interviews for me is the need to match the communication channel and style to the context and culture of an organisation, and the abilities and expectations of people involved. So if people are comfortable with using e-mail and have good writing skills, then e-mail can be an excellent solution for most communication. I conduct increasing amounts of my own business via e-mail and can't imagine how I managed without it. On the other hand, I have seen plenty of misunderstandings arise because people have been using e-mail to duck out of difficult conversations. So I would argue that e-mail is unsuitable for emotionally charged conversations unless there is a high degree of mutual trust and verbal literacy. Otherwise you can run into two proplems: 1. confronted with the bare words, in the absence of facial expression, voice tone etc, it's easy to misread the emotional content of an e-mail and misinterpret its meaning; 2. when talking face-to-face or on the phone, you can get instant feedback and clarification of misunderstandings or differences of opinion, whereas problems can arise when someone receives an e-mail, interprets it negatively and then 'chews over' it in their mind before firing back an angry response. These were the kind of things I had in mind when I was listening to Sara and Antonio. I didn't think it was implied that 'everyone should use the phone'. The same issue came up in the interview with Chris Hirst. So I don't think we can say that e-mail, phone or face-to-face is inherently 'better' than the others, except in certain contexts. Whatever the channel, I agree that 'clarity of expression' is crucial - and I would add, a willingness to reach mutual understanding, even if the original message was unclear. Thanks for the comment D’log. I can’t speak for Antonio and Sara but I think you make some good points. One of the themes that has come out of these interviews for me is the need to match the communication channel and style to the context and culture of an organisation, and the abilities and expectations of people involved. So if people are comfortable with using e-mail and have good writing skills, then e-mail can be an excellent solution for most communication. I conduct increasing amounts of my own business via e-mail and can’t imagine how I managed without it.

On the other hand, I have seen plenty of misunderstandings arise because people have been using e-mail to duck out of difficult conversations. So I would argue that e-mail is unsuitable for emotionally charged conversations unless there is a high degree of mutual trust and verbal literacy. Otherwise you can run into two proplems: 1. confronted with the bare words, in the absence of facial expression, voice tone etc, it’s easy to misread the emotional content of an e-mail and misinterpret its meaning; 2. when talking face-to-face or on the phone, you can get instant feedback and clarification of misunderstandings or differences of opinion, whereas problems can arise when someone receives an e-mail, interprets it negatively and then ‘chews over’ it in their mind before firing back an angry response. These were the kind of things I had in mind when I was listening to Sara and Antonio. I didn’t think it was implied that ‘everyone should use the phone’. The same issue came up in the interview with Chris Hirst.

So I don’t think we can say that e-mail, phone or face-to-face is inherently ‘better’ than the others, except in certain contexts. Whatever the channel, I agree that ‘clarity of expression’ is crucial - and I would add, a willingness to reach mutual understanding, even if the original message was unclear.

]]> By: D'log http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/blog/2006/10/25/interview-with-antonio-gould-consultant-and-sara-harris-screen-media-lab/#comment-6793 D'log Sat, 04 Nov 2006 00:32:08 +0000 http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/blog/2006/10/25/interview-with-antonio-gould-consultant-and-sara-harris-screen-media-lab/#comment-6793 Part of the conversation veered worryingly into "we very much prefer phone communication" over e-mail, and therefore it was implied that everyone should use the phone. I'd say that this is very much a 'manager view' ... a 'we're good at talking' thing. Many creatives and/or techies will prefer e-mail, as long as they know how to type without strain. I've managed a major web-site development for a billion-dollar company in the US purely by e-mail, so I know it's possible, and doesn't cause the misunderstandings that were talked about during the interview. I think that's a key area to discuss for creative management though - the levels of written-word literacy that different types of creatives have. Some types of creative with better levels of literacy/vocab. and keyboard skills will be far more willing to use e-mail, and will use it productively and with far less likelihood of misunderstandings. The same probably goes for managers, some of whom will have been promoted above their ability. Having 'clarity of expression' talent will also be a factor for both groups. Part of the conversation veered worryingly into “we very much prefer phone communication” over e-mail, and therefore it was implied that everyone should use the phone. I’d say that this is very much a ‘manager view’ … a ‘we’re good at talking’ thing. Many creatives and/or techies will prefer e-mail, as long as they know how to type without strain. I’ve managed a major web-site development for a billion-dollar company in the US purely by e-mail, so I know it’s possible, and doesn’t cause the misunderstandings that were talked about during the interview. I think that’s a key area to discuss for creative management though - the levels of written-word literacy that different types of creatives have. Some types of creative with better levels of literacy/vocab. and keyboard skills will be far more willing to use e-mail, and will use it productively and with far less likelihood of misunderstandings. The same probably goes for managers, some of whom will have been promoted above their ability. Having ‘clarity of expression’ talent will also be a factor for both groups.

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