If Intermountain Healthcare wants to facilitate horizontal communication among health care professionals and administrators at its 22 hospitals and over 300 clinics, it could promote the use of email for this purpose. What guideline would not be an appropriate part of the organization’s email policy?

a. Emails are the most efficient way to send information to many people at once. Because of a message’s potential broad impact, make sure to confirm that it is accurate and professional before hitting Send.
b. Email is the medium of choice for communicating disappointing or negative information, because using email avoids potentially heated personal interactions that may adversely impact the work environment.
c. Emails are best for short messages, so lengthy documentation of procedures or policies should be communicated another way, such as through handbooks or documents posted to the organization’s intranet.
d. Emails lack the nonverbal component of communication, so if it’s possible that one party misunderstands the other, employees should move the communication to a phone conversation or meeting.