According to the many surveys majority of all conflicts in the workforce stems out of miscommunication. When working in virtual teams or working across the region, miscommunication is magnified by the lack of proper writing skills, whether in emails, memos, instant messaging (IM) or even blogs and other social media.
These are few simple things that you can keep in mind when writing an email:
- · Simplify your messages. The more simple your message will be, the less misunderstanding it will cause. You should keep your messages short and to the point.
- · Use bullet points. Bring your main ideas to the front to help reader familiarize with your ideas quicker.
- · Never write full sentences in CAPS. Capital letters symbolizes shouting. Nobody likes to be yelled at.
- · Use calm colors: Using red font usually means anger or danger. Use calmer colors like green or blue unless you need to mark very important date or number.
- · Don't send emails without subject. Subject will help using search functions in email browsers. Also subject shows basic email content.
- · If you send an email at 1 am then you are implying: "you can call me anytime you want". Respecting Work Life Balance is extremely important. Unless it is urgent don't send emails after working hours, you can always schedule to send later.
- · Avoid the URGENT and (!)High importance/priority signs: Some people are used to overuse signs like HIGH IMPORTANCE or HIGH PRIORITY to a point that people just ignore them all.
- · And finally, read the email before sending it. We discover a lot of mistakes just by reading it again. If it is an email going to important person, try to get a colleague to read it as well. Some sentences might make sense to you but not to the reader.
References:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-help/12-tips-for-better-e-mail-etiquette-HA001205410.aspx
http://www.ehow.com/way_5286494_group-email-etiquette.html
http://www.ideasgrp.com/blog/blog-entry/9-tips-avoid-conflict-and-miscommunication-writing-emails
thanks for the tips. Most of them seem to come from the last link in your ref list.
ReplyDeleteIt is especially funny to say that you should send email only in office hours. Who would have time to take care of all things during office hours? Calling and sending email are not similar. I would never call anybody at 1 am but I have sometimes sent email at that hour.
I have not seen that recommendation of limiting email use to the working hours elsewhere. The source blog article claims that the data was collected from 60 companies in the Middle East. Is this a cultural issue? Other Finns, do you think this advice is relevant in Finland?