Today’s post is from my colleague,  Jeff Kortes, Human Asset Management. Jeff’s a leadership trainer and executive recruiter. I chose his post for many reasons, the main one being that many people forget about voice-to-voice and face-to-face connections. It’s important to make that personal connection and Jeff’s post shares some of the reasons why. Enjoy! – Wendy Terwelp

Stop Emailing & Get Personal! – Jeff Kortes, Human Asset Management

I was talking with a buddy of mine and he told me he is getting more than 150 emails a day. That is mind boggling! Worse yet, because half of them were crap, he hits the delete button again and again and again. There’s something wrong with that picture. Email was designed to be a communications TOOL, not this monster it has become. So, how do we stop the insanity?

The one way to get the most bang for your buck is to go back to the rule that if it takes more than 5 minutes to write the email, pick up the phone and call instead or (God Forbid) get out of your office and go talk with that person face-to-face. Not only will you save time, you will enhance your visibility as you walk to where the person is located. You have just killed two birds with one stone: saved time and enhanced your visibility. But more importantly, you will be building better rapport when you do it face-to-face. Besides, it’s a heck of a lot more enjoyable!

The other key benefit as a leader, is that you have an opportunity to use your people skills. I make no bones about it when conducting my leadership training programs. I am seeing people skills starting to deteriorate as we rely too heavily on “electronic” communication. If you start to lose those skills, your value as a leader drops. If you are a young leader, this is even MORE important for you, because many of your peers have NO PEOPLE SKILLS. Many people in the younger generations of leaders are not practicing them as much as back in “the day.” Want to stand out compared to your peers as a leader? BE GOOD AT BOTH COMMUNICATING FACE-TO-FACE AS WELL AS ELECTRONICALLY!

Today, before sending off that lengthy email, get off your butt and walk down the hall to talk with the person. If you do, you will be more productive, build a better rapport with people, enhance your visibility and, perhaps most importantly, have a more ENJOYABLE time when you get face-to-face with people.

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Want to make more networking connections that work? Pick up a copy of Rock Your Network for Job Seekers and get hired faster! And the extra bonus Jeff points out? Gain stronger leadership skills. Share your story!