What Message Is Your E-Mail Really Sending? - casual nature is deceptive - Brief Article

Nation's Business, May, 1999 by Michael Barrier

That "e" in e-mail could almost stand for "easy" rather than "electronic." Knock out a message and send it on its way-what could be easier?

Or, sometimes, less productive?

Observe the rules for using e-mail, experts in business communication suggest, and you'll get better results. Some pointers:

Remember that it's written. E-mail's apparently casual nature is deceptive. Written communication carries more weight than spoken words, but it is also vulnerable to greater misunderstanding because it doesn't come with the cues provided by tune of voice and gestures. Proofread and check your spelling; the very fact that e-mail is written will magnify any trivial errors.

Think about the recipients. Here again, e-mail can encourage a casualness and spontaneity that may be damaging. "Consider who will be reading your message-not by their name but by their company title, so that you can decide on the correct tune for your message," advises Executive Communications Group, a consulting firm in Englewood, N.J.

Don't print it. Save matters serious enough to be printed for carefully composed letters or memoranda. Treat e-mail as a more efficient means of conveying what otherwise might be communicated through a telephone call (or, especially, multiple telephone calls).

The Harvard Communications Update newsletter advises that the best use for e-mail is as "a substitute conversation where the information being exchanged is not controversial." The newsletter, put out by Harvard Business School Publishing, costs $99 for 12 monthly issues. To subscribe, call 1-800-988-0886.