Email. How could we live without it? Many of us are certain we could not. It has dramatically expanded our ability to stay in touch, share information, communicate instantly and reach broad audiences. It is perhaps the ultimate time-saving, capability-enhancing tool. But, it also has a downside. There are times when an email lacks the depth, dimension and texture necessary to convey the right message. Have you ever received a particularly terse email and thought the sender was annoyed or frustrated when in reality their brevity was misleading? Without the voice inflection and immediate interaction of a phone call or personal meeting, emails can be ambiguous. Many a misunderstanding has elevated into a caustic series of exchanges, all due to a misread or mis-conveyed tone. Email is great for a vast range of communications, but when it comes to sensitive or complex issues, get back to basics and pick up the phone. It might take a bit more effort and require personal contact, but avoiding the email trap is well worth it.