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maybe they're doing that to not leave any kind of trail.
I'm thinking the same thing.
If it's through email you have documentation of everything the person has said. So if they ask too many questions or don't know how to do their job, that is documented in the emails they are sending.
It's this same woman who always manages to ask me a question by coming to my desk expecting an instant answer. Even after I told her to just send me a email when she has a question she still comes and ask me directly. Do you agree it's better to just send a email if you are looking for answers to a work related question? Now this doesn't apply to your supervisor but when it comes to a coworker they should not be coming to your desk. And anything that you are being asked is going to require some researching anyway so why not just send a email?
Agree or Disagree?
I worked in a computer center for twenty years, people coming in personally to ask questions was not that unusual. For one thing, people like to get up and get away from the screen and their work station.
Back when I worked in the corporate world, I experienced the "shoot me an email" all to often.
It was as if these people were being paid by the number of emails read per day.
As an example: "Hey Boss, the Smoker's Outpost by the loading dock is on fire". Boss: "Really? Can you shoot me an email".
Or: "Hey Kirt, this is Rick. A lady slipped on the ice in the parking lot. Can you get Miguel to hit it with some ice-melt?"
Kirt: "No s#it! (You guessed it) Can you send me an email"?
So somehow an email has replaced an actual response to an issue. So glad I don't have to abide by such rules anymore.
What needs to be considered, is if the OP is sent an email, how quick does one get an answer. It may be that he/she takes so long to answer emails, that the other people have learned the only way to get the answer needed is to go see them in person.
This is very common, with the people that say, "send me an email instead of going to my desk". They take so long to get the information by email, you won't send them an email when you need the information quickly. To them asking them questions by email, is just a way to postpone having to give someone an answer.
I extract information from engineers and software developers for a living. Here's what happens a lot:
Q. Should this be A or B?
A. Yes
Q. Does X do Y?
Q. If so, then how will this work?
Q. If not, then how will that work?
A. X
Some people read the first five words of the message and fire off a response. I know who does this, so I skip the email and corner them at their desk.
So a software developer on a tight deadline with 100% focus on the problem at hand is supposed to drop everything to answer your questions? This is why the corporate world has had calendar-scheduler software for many decades. It's to prevent this inefficient interrupt-driven behavior. Schedule a 10 minute meeting. If you're developing code, every context switch kills 30 minutes. Get 10 of those per day and the project goes off the rails.
Before the open office floorplan nonsense, an office with a door could fend off this kind of behavior. Door closed means to only interrupt if it's urgent.
It's this same woman who always manages to ask me a question by coming to my desk expecting an instant answer. Even after I told her to just send me a email when she has a question she still comes and ask me directly. Do you agree it's better to just send a email if you are looking for answers to a work related question? Now this doesn't apply to your supervisor but when it comes to a coworker they should not be coming to your desk. And anything that you are being asked is going to require some researching anyway so why not just send a email?
Agree or Disagree?
I agree in that I prefer emails for work related questions. But I am not averse to human contact. This is not a big deal. Coworkers can and should approach each other. Emojis or not, you can't really smile in an email. There is no replacement for human contact. You can form a work relationship through email. You can't tell what a person is really like through email. You can't see facial expressions or tone or inflection in an email. Conversation is better than email, but slower. So I like email for work, but I prefer conversation occasionally so I can gauge what a person is like and build a working relationship with him/her. It makes a difference.
If there's some reason you want the question memorialized for work reasons, you can send HER an email after the conversation, confirming your conversation.
This habit that some people are getting into of not wanting any human contact, because we have electronic communication now, is getting out of control. Work places are teams of people, first and foremost. You cannot do your job in a vacuum. It requires interaction with others of your team. Sometimes it's by email (usually, in fact), but sometimes it's by face to face contact.
This is a minor thing, in my book. However someone wants to communicate isn't a big deal. It just isn't.
I agree in that I prefer emails for work related questions. But I am not averse to human contact. This is not a big deal. Coworkers can and should approach each other. Emojis or not, you can't really smile in an email. There is no replacement for human contact. You can form a work relationship through email. You can't tell what a person is really like through email. You can't see facial expressions or tone or inflection in an email. Conversation is better than email, but slower. So I like email for work, but I prefer conversation occasionally so I can gauge what a person is like and build a working relationship with him/her. It makes a difference.
If there's some reason you want the question memorialized for work reasons, you can send HER an email after the conversation, confirming your conversation.
This habit that some people are getting into of not wanting any human contact, because we have electronic communication now, is getting out of control. Work places are teams of people, first and foremost. You cannot do your job in a vacuum. It requires interaction with others of your team. Sometimes it's by email (usually, in fact), but sometimes it's by face to face contact.
This is a minor thing, in my book. However someone wants to communicate isn't a big deal. It just isn't.
I don't think it's the face to face contact I have a issue with, it's the coworker expecting a instant answer like I am a walking computer. It would be different if they wrote it down on a piece of paper and allowed me to follow up and get back to them later. But sometimes they come off as a supervisor and want a answer on the spot and I am like...."excuse me?
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