Poll: Best way to chat with the boss is face-to-face

Despite the business world becoming increasingly technology-dependent, it seems that face-to-face contact is still the preferred way of communicating at work. In the latest Silicon.com poll, 58 percent of respondents said face-to-face communication is the most common method they use to interact with the boss. But despite the recent fuss surrounding instant messaging, or IM, only 7 percent of respondents said this is their most common way of communicating with the boss.

Gartner has predicted that IM will be the de facto method of business communication by the end of 2011. IM etiquette lessons are even available. But if the Silicon.com poll is anything to go by, few people need such lessons just yet. E-mail was the No. 2 ranked mode of workplace communication, with 23 percent of respondents saying they use this method most often. In third place is the relatively old-school use of the telephone, which got 11 percent of the vote. Meanwhile, video conferencing--much touted for its travel prevention credentials--garnered just 2 percent of the vote.

Tim Ferguson of Silicon.com reported from London.

[mpotter28]

chat with the boss

Never mind the polls do what works best for YOU

[wiarumas]

No suprise really

Even in technological jobs, people should realize that technology is NO replacement for face to face communication. It simply aids it.

We cannot stress this enough at my company. People will simply send an email or enter some data into the ERP system and expect people to read it and realize its urgency.

If you want to be heard/noticed/recognized, you have to make yourself visible. To use a simple analogy for this, deciding what to order at a restaurant is hardest when its a text description, easier when its a picture, and easiest when you see someone else have it.

[libertyforall1776]

Sometimes remote is only option

If you work out of state from your boss, sometimes IM, email and
phone are the only options most of the time...