With the technological advances we've made in the area of communication, I'm consistently shocked by the degradation of communication protocol in the workplace. It seems that, while we are sending and receiving information more quickly and frequently, we are losing the art of clear and respectful communication.
I'm not advocating a return to formal English sent via handwritten mail post. I fully embrace communication technology, experimenting and using various platforms from text to Twitter, email to Prezi. However, I believe that for every communication platform we use, there is a set of intuitive and generally accepted rules of engagement. The problem is that we've become lazy and are beginning to apply the easiest set of principles from one platform to another. This may be somewhat acceptable when communicating with casual friends but it is often unacceptable in the office environment.
In most offices, there will be a set of unspoken acceptable rules for email engagement that all employees should be conscious of. If you aren't sure about the situation in your particular office environment, ask for the opinions of a couple colleagues you trust.
As a starting point, consider the following recommendations for business email communication and honestly ask yourself how many of these rules you bend or break each day. If you do, it may be at the annoyance of your customers and coworkers.
APPROACH: When it comes to email communication writing style, with both coworkers and clients, be concise and avoid long sentences. While email communication should use proper English grammar and punctuation, brevity is always encouraged. Business people are busy and will scan your email from top to bottom so be sure to put the most important info at the top of the email right in the first paragraph. When replying to emails, answer all questions and pre-empt further questions to avoid a back and forth email conversation. In order to do this, it is necessary to re-read your entire email before sending, checking for spelling, grammar, brevity and thoroughness.
WRITING TECHNIQUES: The biggest rule is to always use proper spelling, grammar and punctuation. There are no shortcuts here. The structure and layout of your email should match what you would use in a business letter with acceptable paragraph length and at least a sentence or two of general introduction. Do not write email text in CAPITAL LETTERS AS IT TRANSLATES INTO SHOUTING or alternatively using all lowercase text when uppercase letters are appropriate. Use abbreviations and emoticons carefully and strategically. Save abbreviations such as 'LOL' or 'OMG' for text messaging and ask yourself whether the emoticon may fall short in delivering the emotion you desire :)
While an email may be more emotionally comfortable for you to send as the messenger, it could be better to deliver your message content face-to-face or by telephone. Don't use e-mail to avoid an uncomfortable situation or to cover up a mistake. If you do, this will most certainly backfire on you at some point in time. Likewise, use designations such as 'High Priority', 'Urgent' and 'Important' very carefully. You don't want to be the one crying 'Wolf' too often, otherwise no one will pay attention when you actually need them to. Don't send emails without a specific and meaningful subject line. Also important is to always use a contact signature for initial emails which contain, at the very least, your full name, position, phone number and website address. If you want to reach a list of people with a single email, either create a distribution mailing list, so that the name of the list will appear in the 'to' field, or learn to use a mail merge. Emails sent using the Bcc: field, blind carbon copying everyone on your list, could end up being blocked by mail servers without an occupied 'to' field.
RESPECT: Finally, remember to respect your coworker's time. Most employees suffer from email overload so respect looks like: not overusing 'Reply to All', using the cc: field (carbon copy) sparingly, not forwarding chain letters, not requesting delivery and read receipts for every email, not copying a message or attachment without permission of the original sender, and not using email to discuss confidential information.
By following the generally accepted rules of business email engagement listed above, your coworkers and customers will feel satisfied, respected, and thankful.
Until next week, stay in the black and keep coming back.
