DON’T YELL AT ME!

5 TYPICAL COMMUNICATION PITFALLS IN E-MAILS

E-mails are probably the most frequent form of communication in business. This makes it all the more important to avoid the following traps.

Trap 1: (Too) short 

Understandably, anyone who has to write a lot of e-mails would like to save work. Therefore, many limit their e-mails to the essentials. Sadly, that way the friendliness gets lost. Short and crisp sometimes seems rude and short at the same time. Exception: If you know your recipient very well and they also send e-mails that are extremely short and perhaps even without salutation, you can adopt this style.

My tip: Always take time for a personal sentence, a smiley (if it suits the recipient) or a friendly farewell. After all, that’s what you would do on the phone anyway. 

Trap 2: “Scream”. 

We automatically translate every sentence, every punctuation mark and every typographic subtlety into a tone of voice when reading e-mails. And we tend to interpret it more negatively than it is meant to be. Underlining, bold type, exclamation marks or capital letters for example are interpreted as “raised voice” or “shouting”.

My tip: Use highlighting sparingly. If sentences or words are particularly important, it might be useful to use emphasis. In this case, soften them with polite phrases such as “please”, “thank you in advance” and the like.

Trap 3: E-mails in case of conflict 

If you have the slightest suspicion that a topic is causing a conflict, e-mails are an absolute no-go. As mentioned in the previous point, we tend to interpret the voice and mood with which an e-mail is written. As soon as the topic brings conflict with it, that is dangerous. Sentences are immediately read as “reproachful” or “aggressive”. And in the next moment your addressee is angry and you don’t even know why.

My tip: Reach for the phone more often – especially in critical situations. You can demonstrate with your tone of voice that you are calm and objective or friendly and understanding. You hear the reaction of your conversation partner and can respond to it. For more extensive topics, meet in person.

Trap 4: Too casual 

I’m truly a fan of a casual tone in e-mails. I like to make joke, to write creatively and show my personality. I am that type of person. But if you don’t know your communication partner that well, such confidentiality can backfire.

My tip: If in doubt, adapt yourself to the style of your counterpart. If they write formally, you should also adhere to it. You can also adapt to a more casual style. If you don’t even know your communication partner yet, stick to common forms. As mentioned before, it is better to use one more polite sentence than to miss one, that was necessary.

Trap 5: Send without control 

Everybody got into the trap of autocorrection before. A word or name was changed automatically. They didn’t detect it and sent the mail out like that. This is embarrassing and unpleasant. But also orthographic or grammatical mistakes make a negative impression. Of course it depends on who is reading it – but it never makes a good impression.

My tip: Always take the time to read through mails before sending them. Also pay attention to the above mentioned Traps 1-4. Read the mail consciously as if you were the receiver.

And one more point: If you have the feeling that all this costs far too much time, please consider how much time it costs you if a mail leads to a misunderstanding. Usually it’s a multiple of what it takes to check your e-mail properly.

The above tips apply not only to clients, but also to e-mail correspondence with friends and colleagues. It is always worthwhile to make a little more effort when communicating with others. 🙂