We all use email, but few of us manage to do it effectively. Are you lost in electronic translation? Is your e-mail causing frustration?
Frustration leads to stress and these are both conduits for conflict. Conflict impedes productivity and negatively impacts on your culture in the office. Mix this all together and soon you will see the decline in your bottom-line. Ineffective communication adversely affects your required outcomes and further impacts on how you are perceived or how you perceive others.
Have you ever misunderstood the tone of an email? Many make the mistake in their approach. Finding the right balance between being collegial and not coming across to officious, whilst also avoiding the mimic of a status update to your friends on facebook, is not as easy as it sounds.
Majority of times it is unintentional and we tend to send emails when we are under pressure or when we are experiencing emotion, such as excitement or anger. People interpret messages differently and we must therefore understand our audience and adapt our style accordingly while being aware of our frame of mind at the time of composing e-mails. In order attract the desired outcomes we require, especially for those instances when we need to communicate difficult or unpleasant subjects, here are a few pointers to keep you in the clear:
- Determine your outcome. Once you know exactly what you need from the interaction you will be able to express your needs better in a coherent and non-threatening way. This is draft one. Save it in the draft folder and read it with a fresh eye in an hour.
- Revisit the draft. Almost everytime I return to a draft email or a document, I have made changes. This is your opportunity to remove any emotions or excessive information that may create confusion or lead to misunderstanding. This may be your final draft for emails, but I would suggest a repeat for larger documents.
- Confirmation. Cultivate a habit of confirmation, by confirming your interpretation of a senders request or needs. Most miscommunication occurs when the sender assumes the intended recipient understood what he or she received. It is your duty as the sender to ensure the recipient understands your message. Allow your recipient the opportunity to confirm their interpretation of what they received by inviting them in a sincere way to do so. If you are unsure yourself, ask for clarity in a courteous manner.
- Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Stephen Coveys fifth habit of highly effective people. In taking the time to understand the other correspondents position the dynamic of the communication changes. If the response makes you angry, formulate your reply as brief as possible and reiterate your required outcome.
- Acknowledge receipt. Circumstances permitting, you don't need to respond to an email immediately, but you should acknowledge receipt as soon as possible. A "thank you for your email. I will respond to you before close of business" as example is sufficient.
- Keep your promise. If you said you will respond by close of business make a point of doing so. Slipping up on a promise to reply is not only counter productive it could create the perception that you are not interested or don't care, which could create a barrier. If you do forget to respond, reply at your first opportunity with an apology and short explanation to help the receiver understand the circumstances. This can happen to anyone.
- Less is more. Shorter emails require less concentration and minimises the chances of confusing your recipient with too much information.
- Clarity in lay-out. How you compose the lay-out of your email's can also make a huge difference between what information is actually received vs information that may be missed, create confusion, or may be perceived as threatening . Use the "sandwich" method to ensure optimum clarity. The opening sentence or paragraph should establish open communication and reinforce the relationship in a positive tone. The second sentence should start as a new paragraph, this is your opportunity to be as candid as possible in a professional way. Use bullets or numbering if you need to list more than one thing. The closing sentence or paragraph should focus on your required outcome. Ensure you end the communication in a positive tone to rule out the possibility of your recipient misunderstanding the "tone" of your email.
