As essential as it is to our working environment, email can be the source of many a crossed wire. Annie Lawler offers some basic tips to consider before pressing the “send” button.
As a stress management specialist, I'm aware that effective communication is very important. Email is a wonderful tool but communication with it can be very tricky. A few things I find which may be helpful to you are as follows:
1. As Mehrabian tells us, words are only a small part of the communication we receive. In email, we don't have the ability to analyse the meaning of the words by tone of voice, body language and so on and so it's very easy for the intention of e-mails to be misunderstood. It's a really good idea therefore to read e-mails over a couple of times before pressing the 'send' button.
2. We often respond quickly to emails without really thinking about our response and it's potential effect. Therefore it's a good idea (particularly when emotions are involved) to think about a response and wait until you can think about things calmly and rationally rather than to crash out a quick response and create the wrong impression or worsen a situation.
3. We also often think that because we have sent an email, it has been received. if it's something really important, it's a good idea to follow up with a phone call to make sure your message has been received as this can save time and confusion in the long run.
4. It's good to recognise when email is appropriate or when it would be better to walk over to somebody's desk or to pick up the phone.
View the original posting:
E-mail Etiquette - Help Needed
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