[RushLake]

"I have been writing detailed e-mails and typed letters to business people. Many will not even give me the courtesy of a reply. Writing skills are not the only thing missing from corporate America. Common courtesy is gone, too."

I experienced the same thing during my glorious career in big business. I think its a combination of time and fear of being nailed down to something in writing. I finally came to the conclusion that email is a short sweet and to the point medium, not necessarily a vehicle for detailed communications. I found the phone to be more effective when there was a need for detailed conversation. Black writing on white background can become overwhelming, and can also mislead the writer's intent because you can't hear him speak. I also believe that voice inflections go a long way toward establishing a good working relationship. I used to receive and take part in these long strings of email with ccs to the world which then took on tangential lives of their own and could often be misconstrued or supportive of someone's negative agenda.

I would follow the phone conversation if necessary with a short sweet and to the point email only to the person I talked with. Sure helped avoid lots of acrimony and confusion.

Another thing I noticed is that as the company I worked for became more diverse, lower communications skill sets came into play. I had one africanhyphenamerican who worked for me who proudly proclaimed to anyone who would listen that he "be havin' fo degrees" all of which, apparently, were related to the ebonics language.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

.... Black writing on white background can become overwhelming, and can also mislead the writer's intent because you can't hear him speak. I also believe that voice inflections go a long way toward establishing a good working relationship. I used to receive and take part in these long strings of email with ccs to the world which then took on tangential lives of their own and could often be misconstrued or supportive of someone's negative agenda. ...

Bump!

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

I found the phone to be more effective when there was a need for detailed conversation.

Do you mean you actually reached a live person by telephone?

[Aquinasfan]

I think its a combination of time and fear of being nailed down to something in writing.

Bingo.

[Ditto]

I finally came to the conclusion that email is a short sweet and to the point medium, not necessarily a vehicle for detailed communications. I found the phone to be more effective when there was a need for detailed conversation.

Agree. If a detailed document is required, E-mail is not the correct vehicle. It should be a document attachment that can be read on the screen for those with the inclination, or printed out for folks like me who digest complexity easier from the printed page.

IMHO, (in my humble opinion) no E-mail should be longer than one page.