Thoughtlessness, structural irresponsibility and a lack of awareness of what is being done through communication, and sometimes also a lack of training, have led to a largely rotten email culture. The typical signs of illness for an organization that is no longer performing are therefore worrying: “I receive so many emails that I can no longer read them all – let alone answer them. I wait until it is so important that people call me or the topic is discussed in meetings.” This is humanly understandable from the perspective of the person concerned. The impact on culture and motivation is fatal, but is underestimated. Responsibility for transparency in all types of your communication ultimately represents an essential value in dealing with each other. The culture of values is one of the intangible values in the company – without it, you will be in poor standing with all employees whose heads and hearts are important for the company’s results.
5. The smartphone sins
A smartphone that you use to check your emails on the go can be a tool for improving performance – or a devil’s instrument that increases stress through constant availability. All the pitfalls that exist in email communication are also present here. This is increased by the sender’s desire to respond quickly and briefly. This is where abbreviations occur, which make misunderstandings very likely if you don’t think carefully about what the recipient needs to understand the answer.
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Understanding email chains on your smartphone? Never!!! You have to scroll so much that you’ll probably give up beforehand.
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Open and read attachments? Yes, you have to be very tough in accepting the unreasonable demands.
The email from the boss, who is currently abroad, says: “Yes, of course”. You know she wrote that on her smartphone. Unfortunately the reference email is missing. You rack your brains over which decision template you sent her via email. You search your emails. This takes a long time. At some point you stumble across an email from a colleague who had copied you as a CC and who asked the boss if he could exceptionally go on vacation at the end of the month. It has also become common practice here to forego capitalization – because switching is quite laborious. This is also widely accepted among users of this technology. Nevertheless, you have to think about who you are writing to. To the colleague who knows that you are currently standing at the airport in Japan and have to answer quickly before checking in? Or to the CEO of the customer you just acquired?
6. The SMS sin aka WhatsApp sin
And the same applies to SMS as to WhatsApp messages: Great for short messages (the first S also stands for short!) of the type: “The train is two hours late” or “Please call me back urgently about the Swiss offer”, but unsuitable for more complex issues in a business environment. And please don’t use abbreviations taken from youth language in a business context! How you communicate with your friends or children is another matter.
E-mail etiquette on the intranet is of no use
Now a number of companies have an email etiquette on their intranet. However, very few employees know him. So it’s of no use because no one sticks to it. And no one sticks to it because managers in particular set a bad example and therefore non-compliance is not penalized. Your own example from above the hierarchy is more powerful than beautifully formulated rules. How did email become established as the common medium of corporate communication? By the boss inviting people to his meetings via this medium – and only this medium.
Email communication: The boss must become a role model
If you are of the opinion that transparency in communication significantly promotes efficiency and effectiveness in your company, i.e. you feel responsible for the clarity of your emails, then stop committing all of the sins listed. Convince your boss and your management colleagues by reacting (moderately) to your colleagues’ sins – especially with first-person messages about the sender’s self-disclosure and what his communication behavior means for the appreciation of the relationship.
With regard to your employees, you certainly have the opportunity to respond to sins with a clear statement – but please do so in private. That means it’s best not via email! Convince those responsible in your company who carry out training that email communication is actually a topic for training employees, perhaps even as part of value discussions. Your CEO may also be able to be won over as a powerful sponsor and give the issue the necessary importance from the top. But keep grinding your teeth if your customers commit all of the sins listed – unless you are the communications trainer paid to do so.
The biggest email annoyances
Spam
Foto: Warren Price Photography – shutterstock.com
Whether it’s giving away money to a Nigerian prince or promising dramatic weight loss, spam is unavoidable these days. However, spam can also open the door to identity theft, hacks and other security disasters. So make sure you have a reliable spam filter.
irrelevance
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How many emails do you receive per day? Even if there are “only” 50 per day, around half of them are probably completely irrelevant in terms of content. So: think twice before you click the send button yourself and also consider whether the content of the email is really relevant for each of the recipients.
Romantic exuberance
Photo: Theo Gaitaneris – shutterstock.com
“Best regards”, “Mandatory greetings”, “MfG” are an absolute turn-off for many people as farewell email greetings. So try to avoid sounding like a character from a 19th century tearjerker and instead let their message and punctuation speak for themselves. If you want to leave a farewell greeting, use the tried and tested “With kind regards”. Otherwise, it’s better not to say anything.
Answer Lag
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Did the email arrive? How does it look now? Has it been an hour and still no answer? Just because an email is sent in seconds doesn’t mean that a response will follow immediately. Many people find this extremely frustrating.
flooding
Photo: Pisces – shutterstock.com
On the other hand, a flood of emails – before you’ve even had a chance to read, understand and respond – can unleash at least as much unused anger potential as the reply lag. So before you send an armada of one-liners on your virtual journey, you should think about how you can pack all the content into one email.
Emoticons
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A major disadvantage of email is that the sender’s intentions can be misreceived by the recipient due to the lack of gestures and facial expressions. It can be tempting to fill this emotional void with emoticons. But you shouldn’t do that. Instead, try to express your intentions as best you can in written language.
Pack emails
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Are you working on a project and want to send all team members a status update? That’s okay. Even if you are planning a surprise birthday party for a colleague and want to inform a larger group about it, there is nothing wrong with that. However, before you write a group email, you should look for other means of communication – for example collaboration apps, video chats, online documents or the good old face-to-face meeting. In some circumstances, this can be much more productive and efficient than an email. If you do send one, make sure that the address field only contains those recipients who play an important role within the project/concern.
Screaming
Photo: Ollyy – shutterstock.com
When it comes to using exclamation points, exercise restraint. After all, you don’t want to seem like a barker or, worse, give the recipient the impression that you’re angry. Professional emails should be clear, factual and understandable. So without exclamation marks (and without all-caps orgies).
