Vmail

As I was driving back up to Winter Park late last night from Denver, I was reflecting on what I learned from talking with my mentor earlier in the day.

We had a great chat about hiring and how he's hacking the process to get 5 star recruits from other large companies to come join their startup. It was pretty interesting stuff.

Thinking of doing an article about what I learned in regards to hiring in the near future...

But, as I was reflecting, I was thinking about the concept of "going above and beyond" as he mentioned the concept several times yesterday.

One way he went above and beyond in the process was by filming a quick video response to candidates who he didn't hire.

He quickly thanked them for their time and also explained what the candidate did well in the interview, and some ways the candidate could improve for their next interview.

Most people (myself included) just send a quick email saying, "Hey, thanks for interviewing with us. We ended up going with someone else." Or something along those lines.

He told me about the crazy cool responses he got from the candidates saying how much they appreciated him taking the time to video a personal tailored response instead of sending the typical short email.

Why did the candidates respond so well?

Simply put, I believe sending a quick video is more human than sending an email.

This sparked an idea...

Problem:

Email is arguably one of the least human ways to communicate, yet we use it on a daily basis for work related items.

Now, don't get me wrong, the email inbox has great benefits.

I'm a proponent of separating my work and personal items. I work hard to keep texts for friends and family while housing all work related items in my inbox.

This allows me to time block my email. Essentially, I take roughly 1 hr out of my day to crank through my inbox. It's really easy to get caught in the trap of sitting at the computer answering emails when they come in.

But that tactic is only valuable if you're in a full time customer support role.

If you're in a leadership position responsible for moving the business forward, answering emails all day allows for zero productivity towards "important" items.

I don't want to waste my whole day replying to "urgent" items via text either. I'd rather keep all of my work related items in one place so I can productively work through the items on my time and not someone else's.

This allows me to spend the bulk of my day on "important" items to move the business forward.

Alright, back to the problem. While I like the use of the email inbox to house all work related items, I don't like how impersonal the conversation is.

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Solution:

We started with e-mail. Now gmail is a common term.

I believe in the near future we will have "v-mail."

Essentially, video formatted email.

Think of Snapchat, but within the realm of a professional inbox.

Only conversations that are work related. All housed in an inbox like email, but with video conversation capabilities.

This would offer all the same benefits of email. You'd have the ability to:

1. View messages at your convenience
2. Think through and plan out your responses
3. Reply on your own time

No need for typing responses. Just click record, start talking, and hit send.

Much quicker, much more personal. Saves time and adds a human element :)

What do you think?

Would love to hear your thoughts and feedback. Send me a reply on Twitter and let me know