Why I Don't Like Phone Calls

It is true that you can express yourself better through email than in phone. The benefit of having something documented helps a lot in the future. I think its okay to tell people that your preferred method of communication is email.

For me, it depends on what I'm trying to accomplish with the communications hit, as both methods have their pluses and minuses.

I find email is much better if I have a complex/multi-step idea that I'm trying to convey. The act of writing it out allows me more time to concentrate on a clear way to get the point across, gives me time to revise the communication to make sure I got it right, and allowed the receiver to re-read parts to make sure they have understood the idea properly. It also (obviously) makes it possible to include charts, numbers, maps, pictures - really any multimedia product that helps explain your point.

Email is also clearly better for CYA purposes/situations where you need to have an unambiguous and easily-transferable record of who made what decision. Sure, you could record and then save the phone conversation - but that's pretty awkward.

Phone conversations, on the other hand, I find are much better for information acquisition. They allow you to try and establish a rapport/make small talk with the person you're talking to, which often leads to information you wouldn't get otherwise. I can't count the number of times that a digression or a little small-talk on the phone has given me some information that I wouldn't have gotten if I'd simply sent an email listing the facts I needed to know. The small "relationship" that you can build through a few phone calls also tends to come in handy later if and when you meet the person in-the-flesh, moreso I find than n email conversation can.

Yes, note-taking sucks - but I've gotten into the routine of speaking to someone on the phone, and then while on the phone with them asking for things to be emailed to me (generally the type of things I'm after they have on their computer anyways).

The other issue, of course, is timing. Even when you're in a situation where you know the people you're communicating with are at their computers, I find it's almost always faster to call someone to get an answer to a question, as opposed to emailing them. This, in turn, influences the way I communicate with them. If the issue isn't that pressing, I'll often email - it allows the recipient to deal with it at their leisure, which I respect as much as I can. If I need the information reasonably soon, I'll send a follow-up email as a reminder, to bring the issue back to the top of their mental/actual inbox and remind them that I'm waiting for this. But if it's urgent, I'm going to end up ignoring the scheduling-habits of the person I'm dealing with and will pick up the phone. I may be interrupting whomever I'm calling, but they'll have had plenty of time to respond at their leisure by that point, and their time is up.

Bottom line, for me, is that it depends. What's the interaction for? Who's it with? What's our relationship? And when do I need that information?