E-mail is one of the most often used form of business communication. E-mail, as

Question

E-mail is one of the most often used form of business communication. E-mail, as we all know, have multiple advantages, but it can also be quite detrimental when written in an emotional state-of-mind. There are many times where we may have actually done so, or have thought about writing an e-mail in anger.

For the discussion, please share us 1 example of where you actually wrote an e-mail in angry-state-of-mind. As a manager, that can be quite detrimental since it can bring down the e-mail recipient's moral, performances, etc. It can even have a ripple effect if that e-mail gets forwarded to other employees or even published to the entire company. It can even cause a lawsuit from that employee against you.

Instructions:

For 20 points -

(1) Briefly explain the background of what prompted you to write the e-mail in angry-state-of-mind
(2) Briefly explain what you wrote
(3) Briefly explain the consequences of that e-mail you have sent; and
(4) List at least 5 methods of successful e-mail communication. Please be thorough in your response to (4).

E-mail is one of the most often used form of business communication. E-mail, as we all know, have multiple advantages, but it can also be quite detrimental when written in an emotional state-of-mind. There are many times where we may have actually done so, or have thought about writing an e-mail in anger.

For the discussion, please share us 1 example of where you actually wrote an e-mail in angry-state-of-mind. As a manager, that can be quite detrimental since it can bring down the e-mail recipient's moral, performances, etc. It can even have a ripple effect if that e-mail gets forwarded to other employees or even published to the entire company. It can even cause a lawsuit from that employee against you.

Instructions:

For 20 points -

(1) Briefly explain the background of what prompted you to write the e-mail in angry-state-of-mind
(2) Briefly explain what you wrote
(3) Briefly explain the consequences of that e-mail you have sent; and
(4) List at least 5 methods of successful e-mail communication. Please be thorough in your response to (4).

Explanation / Answer

Email serves as an effective way to send one-way messages or engage in two-way interaction that doesn't have time urgency. When employees send emails to colleagues or customers, the recipients can access and respond to the email when they have a chance. Sending emails when a fast response is needed isn't a good move. Email has enabled companies to have more spread-out and diverse work teams. Employees can interact and collaborate without the need of face-to-face conversation at times.

There may be many reasons which might have prompted to write email in angry state of mind. They may be related to personal or professional.

Someone just said or did something so unimaginably bad (or at least that is how it seems to you) and you are overtaken by anger.

“I am so going to send him an email and give him a piece of my mind…. he’ll see…”

You sit on your computer (or take out your phone) and start pouring your feelings into an angry email. Once done, you hit the send button and, with a feeling of a temporary accomplishment, you sit back and relax in your chair. You are starting to feel better. At least for the moment.

This person has wronged you, they deserve what’s coming to them, right?

Wrong.

In about 10 minutes after you’ve blasted out that email, your anger starts fading away and doubts start creeping in your mind. Did you go a tad too far? Did you say some things that you wish you didn’t? Was it all so bad or did you overreact a little bit?

You start to realize that maybe you should’ve calmed down a little before you sent that email. Unfortunately, it is too late. The email is sent. The relationship is ruined.

In any relationship you are eventually going to experience some level of anger. It might be a mild irritation, it might be pure rage and anything in between. It is natural. Different people see things differently. Mix in some human emotions and occasionally characters clash leading to some level of anger from one, or both, sides. It happens at home, at work, with friends or even with pets.

The next time this happens to you, before you do something irreversible that you’ll end up regretting later, follow this process instead:

Step #1 – write the email

Let it all out and don’t hold anything back. This will help you process all your negative emotions and greatly reduce your anger. If you try to suppress it and deal with in internally, it will take you a lot of effort and time to do so. Externalizing it will help you deal with it much faster. Don’t enter the TO field. Notice how I said to “write”, not to “send” the email. A very important distinction to remember. To make sure you don’t send it unintentionally or just by habit, do NOT enter the TO field at all. Just start composing a brand new email and enter only the body.

Step #2 – sleep on it

Now that you have it all out of your mind and into an email, step away and sleep on it. Give yourself some time to cool down and see if you feel differently about the situation and especially about your email. Chances are the next morning you will see things much more clearly and you’ll be able to reassess the situation better.

Step #3 – make a decision

After the cool down period, it is time to make a decision.

Do you still want to send that email?

No? Great. Print it out and delete it from your inbox. This way you are not tempted to send it in the future if a similar situation with the same person arises. The goal of the print-out is to have a memory of how you felt in the particular moment which can be helpful later and can be used to learn from the entire situation.

Yes? Do the following first:

Still want to send it? Here is how to turn your email into a professional constructive criticism piece of communication instead of a personal stream of accusations:

After you write it, re-read your email a couple of times. Take a break of 15 minutes. Re-read it again and if still want to send it, press the “Send” button.

METHODS OF EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS

SUBJECT LINES

E-mail subject lines are like newspaper headlines. They should convey the main point of your e-mail or the idea that you want the reader to take away from your e-mail. Therefore, be as specific as possible. One word subjects such as “Hi,” “Question,” or “FYI” are not informative and don’t give the reader an idea of how important your message is. If your message is time sensitive, you might want to include a date in your subject line, for example, “Meeting on Thurs, Dec 2.” Think about the subject lines on the e-mail messages you receive. Which ones do you think are most effective? Why?

GREETINGS AND SIGN-OFFS

Use some kind of greeting and some kind of sign-off. Don’t just start with your text, and don’t stop at the end without a polite signature. If you don’t know the person well, you may be confused about how to address him/her (“What do I call my TA/professor?”) or how to sign off (From? Sincerely?). Nonetheless, it is always better to make some kind of effort. When in doubt, address someone more formally to avoid offending them. Some common ways to address your reader are:

If you don’t know the name of the person you are addressing, or if the e-mail addresses a diverse group, try something generic, yet polite:

Your closing is extremely important because it lets the reader know who is contacting them. Always sign off with your name at the end of your e-mail. If you don’t know the reader well, you might also consider including your title and the organization you belong to; for example:

Mary Watkins
Senior Research Associate
Bain and Company
Joseph Smith
UNC-CH, Class of 2009

For your closing, something brief but friendly, or perhaps just your name, will do for most correspondence:

For a very formal message, such as a job application, use the kind of closing that you might see in a business letter:

CC: AND BCC: (‘CARBON COPY’ AND ‘BLIND CARBON COPY’)

Copying individuals on an e-mail is a good way to send your message to the main recipient while also sending someone else a copy at the same time. This can be useful if you want to convey the same exact message to more than one person. In professional settings, copying someone else on an e-mail can help get things done, especially if the person receiving the copy is in a supervisory role. For example, copying your boss on an e-mail to a nonresponsive co-worker might prompt the co-worker to respond. Be aware, however, that when you send a message to more than one address using the Cc: field, both the original recipient and all the recipients of the carbon copies can see all the e-mail addresses in the To: and Cc: fields. Each person who receives the message will be able to see the addresses of everyone else who received it.

Blind copying e-mails to a group of people can be useful when you don’t want everyone on the list to have each other’s e-mail addresses. The only recipient address that will be visible to all recipients is the one in the To: field. If you don’t want any of the recipients to see the e-mail addresses in the list, you can put your own address in the To: field and use Bcc: exclusively to address your message to others. However, do not assume that blind copying will always keep recipients from knowing who else was copied—someone who is blind copied may hit “reply all” and send a reply to everyone, revealing that he/she was included in the original message.

SOME ADDITIONAL TIPS FOR WRITING MORE EFFECTIVE E-MAILS

Think about your message before you write it. Don’t send e-mails in haste. First, decide on the purpose of your e-mail and what outcome you expect from your communication. Then think about your message’s audience and what he/she/they may need in order for your message to have the intended result. You will also improve the clarity of your message if you organize your thoughts before you start writing. Jot down some notes about what information you need to convey, what questions you have, etc., then organize your thoughts in a logical sequence. You can try brainstorming techniques like mapping, listing, or outlining to help you organize your thoughts.

Reflect on the tone of your message. When you are communicating via e-mail, your words are not supported by gestures, voice inflections, or other cues, so it may be easier for someone to misread your tone. For example, sarcasm and jokes are often misinterpreted in e-mails and may offend your audience. Similarly, be careful about how you address your reader. For instance, beginning an e-mail to your professor or TA with “Hey!” might be perceived as being rude or presumptuous (as in, “Hey you!”). If you’re unsure about how your e-mail might be received, you might try reading it out loud to a friend to test its tone.

Strive for clarity and brevity in your writing. Have you ever sent an e-mail that caused confusion and took at least one more communication to straighten out? Miscommunication can occur if an e-mail is unclear, disorganized, or just too long and complex for readers to easily follow. Here are some steps you can take to ensure that your message is understood:

Format your message so that it is easy to read. Use white space to visually separate paragraphs into separate blocks of text. Bullet important details so that they are easy to pick out. Use bold face type or capital letters to highlight critical information, such as due dates. (But do not type your entire message in capital letters or boldface—your reader may perceive this as “shouting” and won’t be able to tell which parts of the message are especially important.)

Proofread. Re-read messages before you send them. Use proper grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation. If your e-mail program supports it, use spelling and grammar checkers. Try reading your message out loud to help you catch any grammar mistakes or awkward phrasing that you might otherwise miss.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF BEFORE SENDING AN E-MAIL MESSAGE

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