Texting vs. Email in Workplace – When to Use Each?

Thanks to the fast advancement in technology, businesses now have a plethora of options for electronic communication, allowing correspondence to happen more efficiently than it previously did. Currently, mobile chat apps are becoming ever-more popular among employees. However, text messaging and email remain as the top tools of choice for most businesses. While recent studies showed that email usage for daily business communications has been declining for years, it still remains as a top internal communication channel, according to HubSpot.

Text messaging is an alternative that is increasingly becoming a norm. In fact, it was the most requested communication channel in 2017. Surveys also showed that 80% of professionals currently use texting for business purposes and nearly 70% of employees think texting should be used for interoffice communication.

Clearly, both texting and email can benefit your business – under the right circumstances. Below, we offer tips on when you should use text and email, in order to maximize the potential of these channels in your business.

Email

Use email under the following circumstances:

• When you need to deliver a detailed message, and urgency of the response is not a factor.
• When you need to communicate directly with a particular person in an organization.
• When you need to communicate with someone in a different time zone or country.
• When you are traveling, because email can be sent and accessed from anywhere you have an internet connection.
• When providing factual information that doesn’t require a response, such as a price quote or the specifications of a product.

Texting

1. Texting Your Boss

• Texting your superior has become a norm, especially when there is an urgent issue that needs to be resolved quickly or immediacy is vital.

If your manager is younger and/or running a small organization, then you may be able to use more colloquial language. If you are not sure, then ask your co-workers or refer to your communications policy.

• Never text bad news or sensitive information, as these types of correspondence are more appropriate to disclose in-person. Similarly, managers should not use text to deliver their own bad news or deliver good news such as job promotion as they may be perceived as cold and aloof.

2. Texting Your Colleagues

• Texting your co-workers may depend on age, gender, personal relationship, and even work hours.
• It is also important to consider your co-worker’s relationship status and emotional state when sending texts. Messages can be misconstrued by their partners and cause problems at home, even if they’re a workplace inside joke.
• Avoid sending non-work related messages during work hours as it is highly unproductive, and you might come off as a slacker.
• Avoid texting team members after working hours unless you have a personal connection with them outside of work.

3. Texting Your Prospects/Customers

• Texting your prospects or current customers is dependent on the type of rapport you have, e. whether they have given permission and the current stage of sales process.
• Never cold-call through text messaging because many people believe that text messaging is still a personal communication that requires urgent attention.
• Do not ever text people that are not yet connected with your business or you might be perceived as gauche and invasive.
• Pushing a deal through text is not recommended as you might be perceived as unprofessional by your prospect.

Establish a Text Messaging Policy in Place

A company text messaging policy on the methods employees should use to communicate – one that is appropriate for the given circumstance – is crucial, especially for heavily regulated industries such as the financial and the government sector.

The policy should indicate what types of correspondences are permissible by text, email, phone call, and in-person meetings. In doing so, your organization will have better control over the internal communication practices of your employees – all without opposing their preference and inhibiting their productivity.

Most importantly, your business must have email and text message archiving capabilities that would allow you to capture and retain business text messages as they get sent and received in real-time. This is to ensure that your organization is compliant with various recordkeeping regulations (FINRA, SEC, MiFID II, HIPAA) and that all your business correspondence are safely secured and can be retrieved in case of eDiscovery and litigation.

With TeleMessage’s Mobile Archiver, you will be able to efficiently manage data and content from all your mobile communication channels –enterprise SMS, emails, and phone calls, to websites, IM’s, chat apps, and social media. Our archiving solution is equipped with versioning and robust governance capabilities that ensure content across all digital channels is compliant and meets global regulatory requirements.

Contact us today to learn more about our mobile archiving solutions.