Effective Email Communication

by Angela Gallogly
Vice President of USA Operations, Advanced Team Concepts
http://www.atctraining.com

It’s probably no surprise that the number of organizations that are requesting “Email” classes has grown significantly over the last several years. We use email all day, every day. For many of us, it’s a central component of our communication.

Unfortunately, through misuse, this tool that is designed to enable communication can actually impair our ability to communicate effectively.

Don’t misunderstand me. I’m a big believer in email. It’s a great tool for connecting us and allowing us to communicate with one another quickly. Our organizations often operate on a global scale, and email allows us to cross the boundaries of distance in seconds. It’s cheap, it’s fast, and it’s easy. So why do we encounter email problems?

You’ve all been in a scenario where email wasn’t used effectively:

- The thirty emails generated around a lunch meeting
- The emotional email that escalates a conflict
- The email that is really directed to one person, but is “copied” to everyone
- The email that’s so full of abbreviations and acronyms that it’s indecipherable

These are a few examples of the email misuse that takes place in our work environments every day. In my training classes, I often hear complaints about emails like these.

Communication Key #3:

Use email appropriately. My boss shared a great story about email. He observed two team members that were interacting in a hallway. They ran into each other on the way to their cubicles and stopped to share a brief greeting. One of the individuals shared, with some enthusiasm, “Hey, I need to talk to you about this new project. I’ll email you.” They each headed off to the safety of their cubicles, where I assume they started a lengthy brainstorming session via email. I can understand this type of exchange if you’re in Iowa and you teammate is in China, but when you’re cube neighbors?

It seems to me that we’ve begun to use email as our “default” communication choice, even when it’s not the best choice. We also use email in ways that aren’t effective. We create email overload with our habits of copying everyone and forwarding long email chains. I think we know better. But we do it because it seems that everyone else does, and that creates some contagious negative practices in our work culture.

Some organizations are creating “best practices” around the use of email. I think that’s a great idea.

Here are a couple of simple examples:

- Do use email to provide short bits of information.
- Do use email to end telephone tag.
- Do use email for administrative tasks.

- Don’t use email for time-sensitive messages.
- Don’t copy all unless it’s appropriate
- Don’t disclose confidential information without authorization.
- Don’t use email for discussions requiring dialogue.
- Don’t say anything in email that you wouldn’t want everyone to see.

These are easy steps that can make a real impact on your teams and organizations. The culture will change when individuals commit to emailing appropriately, or using proper “netiquette.”