Wednesday, March 12, 2014

What's Up with that E-mail that You Sent?

E-mail.   The double-edged sword of communications.  On an average day, a person will receive about 121 e-mails according to research done by Radicati Group.  Here are some observations on what is now working with e-mail communications.

Babbling On - E-mail should ask what is needed and not babble on with 30 line paragraphs that are noise.

Mixed Messaging Styles - If the views and styles of the manager and employee are very different, e-mail might be the worse mechanism to use since the engagement will not create value and will provide confusion.

One Word Response - One word response e-mails are really annoying.  'Thanks' - 'Noted' - 'Yep' provide very little value and serve to confuse.  If a Yes or No is asked for, provide it, else the one word will come across as rushed, arrogant, and rude.

Silence - Silence is never good.  E-mails that are not responded to should be at least noted as a group reply to a person so they are not left wondering and wondering and wondering.

Mobile - Most e-mail is reviewed on mobile devices during the day that allow for minimal typing.  At that point,  just use SMS or some texting thing to communicate a simple message but leave the details for a laptop completion.



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