Electronic

Electronic

• Hit Send and it’s gone• Hit Reply All and your career

may be gone• Deleted emails live on• Messages can be forwarded

without your knowledge or consent

Tip: Electronic

• Colonel David Russell’s rule: Never say anything in an electronic message that you wouldn't want appearing, and attributed to you, in tomorrow morning’s front-page headline in the New York Times.

More Tips: Subject

Double-check the address line before sending. Insulted by a general email from the boss,

an employee sent an angry comment to a colleague (she thought): “Does she think we’re stupid?”

The reply (from her boss): “Yes, I do.”

Body

Write so emails are easy to read Make paragraphs 7-8 lines Insert a blank line between paragraphs Use headlines, bullets, and numbers AVOID ALL CAPS; THAT’S SHOUTING If a message is longer than 3 screens,

send an attachment

Tip: What not to do

• One of the officers convicted of beating Rodney King sent this email:

Oops. I haven’t beaten anyone so bad in a long time.A transcript of the message was used at his trial.

Anatomy of an email: Body

Before you hit Send, review and delete Negative comments about management Criticisms of staff or performance issues Bonuses or salary issues Product or liability issues Gossip Humor or other ambiguities

Booher

Tip: Email is never private

• Pillsbury assured employees that emails were private.

• Michael Smyth was fired after sending an email calling his bosses “backstabbing bastards.”

• A court held that he had no reasonable expectation of privacy.

To: Female employees From: H. HonchoRe: Dress codeDate: 1 July 2006

Clients will be visiting next week. Halter tops and jeans will not make the right impression. It’s time you started dressing for the office instead of the beach. Leave your flip-flops at home!

TONE

- BAD

To: All staffFrom: H. HonchoRe: Reminder about what to wear to work Date: 1 July 2006

During the summer, our dress code is business casual. We think “business casual” means clothes that feel comfortable and look professional.

Men Women•khaki pants •casual pants

and skirts•leather shoes… •leather or

fabric shoes…

TONE -

GOOD

Tips: Tone

Avoid terseness, which can be misinterpreted

Use face-to-face communication if issue is sensitive

Read your emails aloud, looking for ambiguity

Humor: Often misinterpreted

Participants [in recent studies] were able to accurately communicate humor and sarcasm in barely half -- 56 percent -- of the emails they sent.

Louise Dobson (2006)

Humor: Riskier

Nearly a quarter of employees have suffered problems with colleagues or clients because their use of humour in an email has not been understood or appreciated, according to a survey.

Robert Jacques, “Email Jokes Backfire

for UK Workers” (2004)

Tips: Humor

If in doubt, don’t send it.Chevron was forced to pay $2.2 millionto settle a harassment case based in part on emails with such subjects as “Why beer is better than women.”

Reread for ambiguities. Signal the joke.

One emoticon or <grin> per email is plenty.

Subject: Funded speaking engagement at Optimum UniversityMessage:Dear Dr. Smith,My name is Dan Craig and I am the office manager for the Department of Biology at Optimum University. I am contacting you at the request of Dr. Brown, the chair of the Department of Biology to arrange for a speaking engagement at our university.We bring in some of the best minds in the field of Biology each year to speak to our graduating seniors. This year we hope that you will be able to join us.The session will take place in the afternoon on Friday, May 10. If you are interested please let me know at your earliest convenience. We can further discuss funding, travel arrangements, and other specifics at that time.

Sincerely,Dan

Daniel CraigOffice Manager

Department of BiologyOptimum University3423 Ninth St.Glen Falls, NY 00232

Office: 321-243-5343Fax: 321-233-2564dcraig@optimum.edu

Replying Example

Subject: RE: Your February conference presentation

Message:

Hi Dan,

I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed the presentation. I am happy to provide you with a copy of my presentation. Please see the attached PowerPoint document.

Other people working in this same area are John Smith at Johns Hopkins and Paula Brewer at the University of Minnesota. I suggest starting with Smith’s, “What you can’t see can hurt you” in the journal Nature (April, 2005).

If you have any questions, let me know.

Sincerely,

Taejin

Taejin Park, Ph.D.Associate ProfessorDepartment of BiologySears University

Biology Bldg6666 Eastern Ave.Robuck, AZ. 32232

Phone: 416-555-7543Cell: 416-555-8245Fax: 416-555-2456

Email: tjpark@sears.eduWeb: http://www.sears.edu/~tjpark

Direct vs. Indirect

Direct

Mr. Smith,

Send me all the information you have on patient 10000453.

Roger Barnes, M.D.Chief ResidentIllinios Public HospitalsSuite 500666 Wish St.Chicago, IL 60062Office: 312-555-5555Fax: 312-555-5556rbarnes@ilpubhosp.com

Indirect

Dear Mr. Smith,

Could you send me all the information that you have on patient 10000453?

I need his files in order to carry out a consultation with him later this week.

Thank you very much.

Roger

Roger Barnes, M.D.Chief ResidentIllinios Public HospitalsSuite 500666 Wish St.Chicago, IL 60062Office: 312-555-5555Fax: 312-555-5556rbarnes@ilpubhosp.com

Requesting Information Example

Subject: Your February conference presentation

Message:

Dear Dr. Park

My name is Daniel Morgan and I am an Associate Professor at Cobalt University. I attended your presentation, “Microbiology in the modern hospital” at the International Association of Physicians conference in February and I am very interested in your ideas.

Would it be possible for you to send me a copy of your presentation for me to show to me colleagues here at Cobalt University? Also, could you suggest some other authors writing on this topic?

You can email me at this address (dmorgan@cobalt.edu) or you may call me at my office (213-555-5566).

Thank you very much for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Dan

Daniel Morgan, Ph.D.Associate ProfessorDepartment of Physical SciencesCobalt University

Administrative Bldg3000 West St.Quincy, CA. 90033

Phone: 213-555-5566Cell: 213-555-5443Fax: 213-555-5556

Email: dmorgan@cobalt.eduWeb: http://www.cobalt.edu/~dmorgan

Tip: Spelling still counts• Sloppiness is one of “seven deadly e-mail sins”• Bad grammar, misspelling and disconnected

arguments gave 81 percent of the survey sample "negative feelings" towards the senders.

• 41 percent of senior managers said badly worded e-mails implied laziness and even disrespect.

CNN.com

The simple answer is it is “definite” + “ly”.

Although people invent many spellings, there is one definite spelling. Remember “definite” and add “ly” to change the word into an adverb. But don’t remove any letters or edit the spelling. “DEFINITE” + “LY”

A finite list of one correct spelling. “DE” + “FINITE” + “LY”

Confused?

Try using a different verb in place of affect. If the sentence still makes sense, it’s correct.

Another easy trick is to remember that "a" comes before "e" in the alphabet, and, at least in the case of affect the verb and effect the noun, you must affect something first to achieve an effect.

Please remembering that lose is a verb: you lost the prize. Loose is an adjective: her pants were very loose.

Know when to use each word, according to their definition.

Correct: "I always lose my cell phone." -- a lost phone.Incorrect: "I always loose my cell phone." -- a loosened phone(?). When you are close to defeat in a competition, use "lose".

Correct: "I think Bob is about to lose the race." -- a lost race.Incorrect: "I think Bob is about to loose the race." -- a loosened race(?). When an object has free movement and is not restricted by

restraints, use "loose". Correct: "Mary likes her hair loose and not in a ponytail." -- loosened hair.Incorrect: "Mary likes her hair lose and not in a ponytail." -- lost hair(?).

Their cow runs so much faster

than mine!

They’re excellent

ranchers and farmers.

The finish line is way over

there!

There are so many reason to compete

in cow races.

First we went to the

restaurant then we went

to movies.

The food was much better than the last

time we went.

A sequence of actions

indicates time.

Use the word than when drawing a

comparison.

I believe you dropped your

wallet.

I don’t believe you’re capable

of stealing.

I believe the weather station predicted heavy fog this morning

I wonder whether or not I have a

choice.