Why Email Starts Fights

I have the following rules for my use of email with colleagues, friends, and family:

• Avoid emails when I'm angry
• Avoid constructive feedback by email
• Avoid emails in the evening (Google has a new tool called Mail Goggles that forces people to do math problems before sending email in the evening so you don't email anyone while intoxicated)

This incredibly insightful video that should be required watching for the whole world really gets to the bottom of why email is not useful for many types of communication.

The main reason... drum roll please... email is good for facts and data, but does not carry the visual and emotional cues that are critical to human interaction and understanding.

What does this mean for government?

• For official communication (i.e., facts and data), email is unrivaled and is perfectly suited for the role.  You can see my previous entry on this.
  
• For citizen service, email is only useful up to the point where tone becomes important
• For internal collaboration and cooperation between offices and agencies, there is no substitute for in person and (as a decent substitute) phone meetings and conversations