E-mail replacing face-to-face communication in business

In a recent survey of executives, 92 percent of respondents say managers often send an e-mail message rather than meeting one-on-one. An independent research firm for Accountemps, a temporary staffing service for accounting, finance and bookkeeping professionals, conducted the survey. Survey data comes from the responses of 150 executives from some of the nation's 1,000 largest companies.

The polled executives also were asked which forms other than face-to-face meetings they thought were most effective for communicating with employees. For that question, 43 percent chose e-mail, 31 percent chose the telephone, 20 percent chose videoconferences, 5 percent chose written memos and 1 percent indicated that they didn't know.

"For busy managers, e-mail is the next best thing to meeting in person," said Max Messmer, chairman of Accountemps. However, while e-mail is an efficient form of communication, Messmer cautions against using it exclusively.

"Face-to-face meetings reduce the potential for miscommunication, allowing individuals to share ideas and feedback with the benefit of vocal inflections, facial expressions and body language."

Messmer also advises managers to choose the medium that is most appropriate for the message.

"If the topic will involve debate or requires reaching a group consensus, arrange a meeting or conference call to address the matter," he said. "For one-way communication or inquiries requiring little discussion, e-mail may be the most effective and timely vehicle."