“No, I don’t do calls,” mentioned the previous Shark Tank star and Dallas Mavericks proprietor in a TikTok video posted by Masterclass. “You understand, I’ll interact with you by way of e-mail, and belief me, I do that on a regular basis. I’m actually good at it.”
However Cuban’s logic for his proclivity towards e-mail over the cellphone may be very completely different from youthful generations. He mentioned conversing over e-mail offers him extra time to craft a considerate response.
“I’ll provide you with extra complete responses than if it was by way of cellphone,” mentioned Cuban, who’s value an estimated $6 billion. “And if we do it by cellphone, I’m going to overlook half the stuff that we talked about as a result of I’ve bought a lot occurring.”
Whereas Cuban is not starring on Shark Tank and bought off his majority stake within the Mavericks, he’s nonetheless loads occupied working Mark Cuban Value Plus Medicine Firm and serving as an investor and advisor to the handfuls of corporations he invested in throughout his time on the present.
In the meantime, Gen Zers favor e-mail or textual content as a result of they’re anxious about speaking on the cellphone. A 2024 research exhibits practically 1 / 4 of the era is so hesitant about speaking on the cellphone that they by no means reply calls. A university within the U.Okay. final yr even launched a category geared toward serving to Gen Z overcome its concern.
Whereas it’s at all times straightforward to poke enjoyable at youthful generations for his or her professional-life quirks, the hesitancy for some is definitely a deeply rooted concern referred to as “telephobia.” This type of cellphone anxiousness can result in elevated coronary heart charge, nausea, shaking, and hassle concentrating, in line with Verywell Thoughts.
“It speaks to a broader fatigue with immediacy and urgency, the place folks have grown uninterested in the trouble tradition and obsession with effectivity,” Zoia Tarasova, an anthropologist with shopper perception company Canvas8, beforehand informed Fortune. “Persons are quietly rebelling towards this immediacy by taking their time to reply to these calls.”
Different enterprise leaders even informed Fortune that this telephobia development has harm their backside line. Casey Halloran, CEO and cofounder of on-line journey company Namu Journey, mentioned within the 25 years he’s been in enterprise, administration has “by no means seen something fairly just like the generational divide” between older and youthful journey brokers in how they make cellphone calls. He additionally mentioned combating telephobia has been a “frequent, uncomfortable subject” at his firm, as administration has acknowledged that his youthful journey brokers register fewer than 50% of the calls in comparison with older staff.
“As to options, we’ve got been doing intensive coaching, incentives, name observing with our veteran reps, and even employed a enterprise psychologist,” Halloran beforehand informed Fortune. “After greater than two years of this battle, we’re practically to the purpose of throwing up arms and embracing SMS and WebChat versus persevering with to battle an uphill battle.”
Nonetheless, for his personal enterprise functions, Cuban says he prefers emails over cellphone calls as a result of he can return and reference what he’s mentioned.
“If we do it by way of e-mail, I can seek for it, at all times,” he added.
What analysis tells us about communication kinds at work
Identical to most enterprise approaches, emailing as a substitute of speaking on the cellphone has its professionals and cons.
Analysis by recruiting agency Robert Walters exhibits greater than half of younger-generation professionals discover prompt messaging or e-mail, as a substitute of calls or conferences, is one of the best ways to “get issues executed,” exhibiting how they consider speaking over the cellphone might be inefficient. That’s the “it may have been an e-mail” mentality.
“Youthful generations are much less inclined to spend hours in a restaurant or cafe after they can have a fast dialogue on-line,” Emilie Vignon, affiliate director of Robert Walters California, wrote within the 2024 research. To make sure, Vignon additionally mentioned there are additionally “downsides” to solely conversing by way of e-mail or textual content.
“Face-to-face interactions enable for significant connections and supply a possibility for non-verbal communication cues, constructing belief and rapport with shoppers and colleagues,” Vignon added. “The subtleties of physique language, facial expressions, and tone of voice contribute to a deeper understanding and connection that usually can’t be absolutely conveyed via textual content and even video chats.”
To make sure, different analysis from the College of Texas at Austin (UT) and the College of Chicago, in addition to research by McKinsey & Co., present calls may also help resolve points extra shortly than an e-mail, particularly as employees spend practically one-third of their time on e-mail. A 2022 research from DePaul College researcher David J. Bouvier additionally exhibits that e-mail allows straightforward info sharing and may scale back stress.
