The proliferation of communication channels does not necessarily streamline communication or understanding.
Limiting your communication channels may actually do more to streamline than adding a new one. But the human temptation to move to something new is always pretty strong as new technologies and generations emerge.
The advocates of each mode of communication advocate the advantages, but unless communication is more deliberate and methodically, there can be just as many gaps in the quantity and quality of the communication More information can be transmitted asynchronously and with greater detail in an email than by phone, but validating that each party understands each other may take a few more loops.
Slack and Teams try to combat the limitations of phone, text and email by putting all of those modes of communication in one place which sounds fabulous until you realize that you still have to deal with all of the other modes too…
Nor does the emergence of each new communication channel does not necessarily improve the quality of information conveyed. Some companies try to make all internal communication taller place in Slack or Teams, but customer and vendor communication can happen via email, phone or text.
There are ways to bring those conversations into Slack or Teams. These tools can even be connected to CRM systems which can capture all customer conversations…
So in theory, it is possible to keep a pretty complete record of all communication about an activity, but it does provide greater clarity to all parties involved or does it merely provide evidence that can be used to your benefit or possibly to your detriment.
Each communication channel adds more complexity to your job and to your organization, but not necessarily more clarity.
