One of the many ways for groups to communicate, verbally and non-verbally is through the use of e-mail. E-mail has many advantages for instance, it is convenient because it is fast and most people have access from work or home. Now that laptops are more popular with wireless internet connections people can access their email from just about anywhere. While stuck in traffic, on a plane or in a restaurant just to name a few. People can also access e-mail from cell phones or pda's. Individuals can send multiple e-mails at a time, read and respond to messages frequently. The turnaround time can be fast and email is more conversational than traditional paper communications.
To pursue an important act of influence, group members should always try to meet face-to-face. A disadvantage to e-mail is that it takes away from the face-to-face communication between group members. Certain points may be missed or misunderstood if not effectively communicated in an e-mail. Not to mention, e-mail can be so impersonal. It only takes just one inefficient, misunderstood, or unclear e-mail to create a lot of extra work for other group members. Even though e-mail can have a fast turnaround, there is the risk that certain members of a group are not as speedy in reading and responding as others are. So if there is something that requires immediate attention, it may get overlooked. Even though e-mail is a great communication tool, it should not be used as the only source of communication in a group when possible. It is an excellent means to communicate non-urgent items, requests that do not require feedback right away, or information that needs to be distributed to a large group.
One of the latest trends in group communication is the use of discussion forums. This is a great way for group members to communicate. One advantage to it is that its through an intranet that is not open to the public like a blog so only members of the discussion forum has access to the threads....