This Meeting Could Have Been an Email (But We're All Terrible at Email)

Finding comfort in the chaos of modern workplace communication

We've all been there. You're sitting in yet another meeting, watching someone share their screen to read through bullet points that could have easily been sent in an email, and you think: "This is 30 minutes of my life I'll never get back." The phrase "this meeting could have been an email" has become the unofficial motto of the modern workplace, a rallying cry for efficiency enthusiasts everywhere.

But here's the thing nobody talks about: most of us are actually terrible at email.

The Email Illusion

We love to fantasize about the pristine world where all communication happens asynchronously, where thoughtful emails replace rambling meetings, where action items are crystal clear and everyone follows through seamlessly. It's a beautiful dream. It's also largely fiction.

The reality is messier. That "quick email" sits in someone's inbox for three days because they're overwhelmed by 47 other "quick emails." The action items you carefully numbered and bolded get lost in a thread that somehow spawned twelve different conversation branches. The person who needed to respond was on vacation, came back to 200 emails, and yours got buried in the archaeological dig of their inbox.

The Meeting Trap

So we schedule the meeting. Finally, we think, we'll get this sorted out. Except now we're in a conference room (or Zoom square) with six people, and somehow the 15-minute decision-making session has turned into a 45-minute brainstorming session about tangentially related topics. The person who actually needs to make the decision isn't there. We end with "let's circle back on this" and a promise to send out action items via... email.

The cycle continues.

The Slack/Teams Spiral

Enter the "quick Slack about this" solution. It starts innocently enough - just a fast ping to clarify something. But context is hard in chat. Messages get misread. Tone gets misinterpreted. What should have been a two-minute clarification becomes a 20-message thread that somehow makes everything more confusing. Someone suggests we "hop on a quick call about this," and we're back to square one.

The Uncomfortable Truth

Here's what we don't want to admit: there's no perfect communication method because communication itself is inherently imperfect. We're all just humans trying to share ideas, make decisions, and move work forward, and sometimes that's messy regardless of the medium.

The "that meeting could have been an email" crowd isn't wrong - some meetings really are unnecessary. But the "why didn't they just email me" crowd isn't wrong either - some conversations really do need real-time back-and-forth.

What If We Just Owned It?

Instead of pretending we're all communication chameleons who adapt seamlessly to every situation, what if we just... owned our quirks? Imagine if corporate badges came with little icons next to our names:

📧 "I live in my email - seriously, send me a novel, I'll read it"

💬 "Text me or die - if it's not in Slack, it doesn't exist"

📞 "Call me, maybe? I think better when I can hear voices"

📅 "Meeting enthusiast - I schedule 15-minute calls to discuss scheduling other calls"

🏃‍♂️ "Drive-by decision maker - catch me in the hallway or lose me forever"

🧌 "Response troll - I live under the bridge of your inbox and may or may not emerge"

Okay, maybe HR wouldn't approve the troll badge, but you get the idea. What if instead of fighting our natural communication styles, we just made them visible? Your colleague who never responds to emails but will answer a text in 30 seconds? That's not a character flaw - that's just how their brain works.

The Communication Style Decoder Ring

Picture this: instead of playing guessing games, we actually tell people how to reach us effectively. A little signature line that says "For urgent matters, call me. For everything else, email works great, but give me 24 hours." Or "I'm a visual processor - screenshots and bullet points are your friend."

It's like having a user manual for humans, which honestly, we could all use.

The Two-Way Street

Here's the thing though - communication isn't just about getting your message out there. It's about getting your point across in a way that actually lands. That means taking just a little time upfront to think about how to engage with the person you're trying to reach.

If you know Sarah processes information better in writing, don't corner her in the hallway for a complex discussion and then get frustrated when she seems scattered. If you know Mike is a verbal processor who needs to talk through ideas, don't send him a dense email and expect an immediate thoughtful response.

This isn't about catering to everyone's every whim - it's about recognizing that effective communication is a two-way street. You want your message to get through? Meet people where they are, not where you think they should be. It takes an extra 30 seconds to think "how does this person best receive information?" but it can save you hours of follow-up and frustration.

The goal isn't to become a mind reader. It's to become someone who cares enough about being understood to pay attention to what actually works.

Finding Your Peace in the Chaos

Instead of searching for the perfect communication solution, what if we embraced a more nuanced approach? Here are some gentle guidelines for the perpetually fragmented:

For the Email Purists:

Accept that some people think out loud and need verbal processing
Build in buffer time for the inevitable follow-up questions
Remember that your well-crafted email might be someone else's overwhelming wall of text

For the Meeting Enthusiasts:

Honor people's time by having a clear agenda (even if it's just in your head)
Accept that some people need time to process before responding
Remember that not every conversation needs to be consensus-building

For Everyone:

Match the communication method to the decision-maker's preference when possible
Use the "two-ping rule" - if something goes back and forth more than twice in chat, escalate to a call
Remember that urgency is often in the eye of the beholder

The Real Goal

The goal isn't to eliminate all meetings or perfect our email game. The goal is to be more intentional about how we connect with each other to get work done. Sometimes that means accepting that a 10-minute call really will be faster than a 15-email chain. Sometimes it means acknowledging that your colleague who asks for "everything in writing" isn't being difficult - they're just wired differently.

Embracing the Messy Middle

Maybe the answer isn't choosing between meetings and emails. Maybe it's accepting that good communication often requires multiple touchpoints across different mediums. The important email that gets a Slack follow-up. The meeting that ends with written action items. The quick call that prevents a misunderstanding.

The chaos isn't a bug in the system - it's a feature of human collaboration. We're not robots optimizing for efficiency; we're people trying to understand each other and move work forward together.

So the next time you find yourself in a meeting that could have been an email, or reading an email that really needed a conversation, take a breath. You're not doing it wrong. You're just human, trying to navigate the beautifully imperfect world of workplace communication.

And that's okay.