Office workers have been told to solve issues face-to-face, as using emails to sort out problems or arguments can often be a painful experience, according to a communication training company.

It was noted by Bronia Szczygiel of the Impact Factory that the effectiveness of emails in dealing with dilemma resolution and the discussion of complex issues was minimal, and was a last resort at best.

She added that the lack of "soft" skills - in other words, the use of emotions and facial expressions to complement the message - are often lost in an email as only text appears on the screen.

Ms Szczygiel continued: "Email is a great tool for modern communication, but as a tool for resolving issues it's like using a hammer to drive in a screw - it will do the job but it's likely to be messy and might hurt!"

Research carried out by Dimension Data found that in its cross section of companies surveyed, 100 per cent used email for communication, with 80 per cent using fixed-line phones and 76 per cent using mobiles.

A recent Connect survey found that the two major concerns about outsourcing services like IT support were 'loss of control' (56 per cent) and 'budget over-runs' (43 per cent)