Have you ever texted or emailed someone who was sitting right beside you? Be honest! Everyone has done it at one point or another. Let’s face it: it’s convenient and sometimes easier to do than talking to someone face to face. But, just because it’s easy doesn’t mean that it’s always the best approach to interacting with others. Communication skills — written and verbal — are vitally important to develop in all aspects of life, particularly in the work environment.

Think of a city bus or a waiting room; chances are that many of the people in those locations will be focusing their attention on texting and very few will be talking. It’s not enough to rely solely on electronic devices to communicate; they are an important part of our lives, but we need to remember the importance of verbal communication and how it can help us be successful at work.

So, what’s the difference between talking to someone and e-mailing them when both methods communicate information? A big difference!

Relationship Building
Relationships are vital in the workplace; when you join a company, you will need to work hard to build relationships with your co-workers—talking face to face allows the other person to put a face to a name (aside from your social media profile picture). After a few conversations, you will start to build a presence in your office. Communicating by e-mail all of the time means that you become a faceless e-mail. Putting a face to your name means that when you walk down the hall, your co-workers won’t be whispering “who’s the new person?” when you have already worked there six months. Get visible and get involved where you can. Every time you get up from your desk, think of it as a mini-networking adventure and talk to people on the way to your destination.

Developing Communication Skills
Communication skills need to be continuously practiced and honed. Even the best communicators have to practice the art. Simple, daily conversations will help to improve your communication skills and your comfort level in talking with groups of people. If you spend most of your time alone at your desk behind a computer screen, then how are you supposed to develop those ever important verbal communication skills? You won’t! You then might find yourself in a position where simply talking with your co-workers could be difficult because it causes you anxiety or because you haven’t developed the ability to communicate clearly and succinctly. Don’t get me wrong: I know that e-mail is a form of written communication, which is an essential skill to develop, but it seems that the frequency that we talk to each other has significantly decreased with electronic communication.

Conflict Resolution
Conflicts and misunderstandings happen all the time at work and you need to be able to effectively resolve the issues in order to move forward; communication is the key to conflict resolution. Have you ever tried to resolve a conflict or misunderstanding through e-mail? If you have, then you know that it’s not an easy feat. It can be frustrating and time consuming with a lot of back and forth e-mails that often exacerbate the issue because of the lack of clarity that e-mails can provide in both meaning and tone. It is hard to convey tone and emotion over e-mail and it is equally difficult to interpret them. You can truly only understand the tone of a discussion by talking; emoticonsjust won’t cut it When you are exchanging e-mails with someone and find yourself in a situation where you need to resolve a conflict, pick up the phone or go to the person’s desk and talk it out. Think of how much time and frustration you will save. If you need the resolution documented then you can easily follow up by sending an e-mail to the other person with the agreed upon resolution.

Two things are certain: one, electronic communication is critical in the workplace and will be an important tool in your communication toolbox; two, verbal communication far outweighs e-mail exchanges in relationship building, improving verbal communication and resolving conflicts. So, how do you balance the two? The key is to be able to identify the method of communication that is most appropriate in the particular situation that you are in. Although e-mail isn’t suitable for all situations, it is appropriate for some situations; talking is a better method of communication in other circumstances. Building relationships, sharpening your communication skills and polishing your ability to resolve conflict are all fundamental competencies that are required in your career. The next time you are writing an e-mail to someone, consider talking to them instead — if I could have given you this message in person, I would have.