Email Communication

In today's day in age email is more common than ever. In some cases this is more popular than talking to people over the phone and can cause major problems. This can happen for a few reasons which I have outlined below:

1. The tone for the email is tough to determine. Depending on who is writing or who is reading it the tone can be perceived 2 different ways. For example if an employee just walked out of a tough meeting and was very frustrated, regardless of the content of the email, this employee will probably be viewed the wrong way. Although the author might not have planned this to happen it is a common mistake that happens in the work place.

2. Eliminate emotion and keep the email short and to the point. This is something that most people really seem to struggle with and make the emails much longer to try to get their point across. A best practice is to make sure the email is no longer than one page. The longer the email the less likely it will be read. It is very common for people to displace an email that looks time consuming. People today are very busy keep the email short, factual, and to the point.

3. Reply to ALL? This is something that can be blown way out of control and cause nightmares for the team. In most companies there are a few people that would be classified as reply to all bandits, feeling they need everyone to know their opinion. This usually take place because of lack of attention when reading the email. When reading the email make sure it states to please share your opinions with the group, if it does not say this then replying to the author individually is appropriate. There is nothing worse than opening your email and seeing the same name in the subject for 15 different emails. This wastes time and is rarely productive.

Lastly know your audience, who is going to be reading this? If you have not built a strong relationship with someone and you display a negative email you have just dug a whole you are unlikely to craw out of. Never give negative feedback in email this is gutless and is sure to lose respect quickly; on the other hand, positive feedback is fine and is usually very welcomed by any audience.