Your Emails Deserve a Second Look—Before You Send Them
A recent article by Dana Knight of the The Indianapolis Star ("Workplace: Your e-mail leaves room for misunderstanding") reinforces one of my golden rules of communication.
**Never assume your email will be interpreted exactly as you intend.**
Research published in The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology shows there is a 50 percent chance the tone of an e-mail will be misinterpreted. One example given in the article occurs when a co-worker sends a congratulatory e-mail to another who was named Employee of the Month.
”Geez. You are so awesome. I’m proud.”
What was intended to communicate a sincere, humble sentiment could be interpreted as a mean jab, a sarcastic "you-didn’t-deserve-the-award" message.
Many professionals have given up e-mail as a casual form of communication altogether. Wouldn’t it have been better to walk over to the co-worker’s cubicle, offer a handshake, a smile, and a ”Congratulations on your award!” ?
With your facial expression, body language, and tone of voice to support you, your message can’t be so easily misinterpreted. With email, you have only words on the screen. If you haven’t given thought to how your voice inflection might be vital to the message, take care.
(Read the entire article stored here. http://www.adpi.org/newsdetails.asp?nid=1151&start=10)
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