I think we have more choices today than ever before and people select the medium that best meets their needs.
I find texting to be the most flexible because it can easily perform asynchronous as well as synchronous communications. I can respond quickly in real time or put off a response (or read) until later.
Email is great for longer messages and, while it can be synchronous, in my experience, it is awkward and clumsy to have an interactive conversation. Great for sharing documents and more complex ideas, however.
Phones can be asynch as well as synch but voicemail is even more awkward as asynch communications than email is for synchronous. I once got great advice from a provost who, observing a long string of email back and forths, counseled me to call the person and get everything out in one conversation.
Finally, in my experience, interactive video really enhances voice communications but people are not yet comfortable or familiar with it. I find most people are fine with viewing others on a call but are reticent to put themselves on video. I think it’s the "I don’t look good enough to be on video; my hair may be out of place…" syndrome. 🙂 Whether people will get over that or not, time will tell. I am hearing of more uses of video communications for distant family communications, so that may lead the way to making it more normal to use in the office.
Just my two cents…
