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Business Communication

Chapter 5
Communicating Electronically
Electronic Communication
Advantages
 Electronic communication – now about 70% of all
communication -- has fueled the cheap, efficient,
broad sharing of information.
 Email:
> Facilitates fast, convenient flow of information
to different time zones and locations
> Eliminates “telephone tag”
> Saves telephone and postage costs
> Saves trees (read, don’t print)
Email Etiquette
 As with any communication, decide what
you want to achieve before you begin.
 Use a revealing subject line in order to
facilitate the receiver’s “sorting” activities.
 Amplify subject in message’s opening
sentence.
 The best e-mails are brief, single-subject
communications.
Email Etiquette
 Avoid the temptation to overload the system with
“see-how-smart-I-am” copies to the entire world.
 Most often, you are communicating within your
level so use of jargon and verbal short-hand is
acceptable since the recipient is likely to
understand it. But don’t use it to a superior.
 Check e-mail several times a day and
acknowledge each message even if you don’t
send a full reply until later.
Email Etiquette
 Don’t address an “action-requested” email to more
than one person without spelling out who is
responsible for which part.
 Don’t send attachments containing complex
graphics, clip art, etc. They slow the system and
soak up storage capacity. Email is all about speed
and simplicity.
 Be suspicious of emails with attachments from
people you don’t know (viruses).
 Don’t communicate in anger!
Email Etiquette
 Beware of email hoaxes. Here are hoax-
tracking websites for checking authenticity:
> hoaxbusters.ciac.org/
> www.urbanlegends.com
> www.snopes.com
> www.truthorfiction.com
Email Etiquette
 If you get three or more screens a day, consider
purchasing an email handler to sort and prioritize
messages.
 Check, sort, delete, file daily or you’ll be overwhelmed and
people will become angry with your unresponsiveness.
 Don’t forward a sensitive email without the sender’s
permission.
 Instant-messaging and text-messaging are even more
informal and convenient forms of email that enable easy or
real-time, on-line conversation between users. Example:
my wife and son – and most of you -- via cell phones.
Email and the Law
 The fact that email is more informal than paper communication, doesn’t
absolve you from responsibility for what you send.
> As the WorldCom and Enron lawsuits made eminently clear,
email never dies. Nevertheless, when tempted to file an email,
ask “do I really need to keep this?”
> Don’t be seduced by convenience: “Should I send this
or talk face-to-face (more secure) instead?”
> Email also is subject to copyright laws.
> Encrypt sensitive messages and attachments so they
cannot be forwarded.
> Email is not private; most employers monitor it.
> Have all communication equipment checked periodically.
> Always log off when you leave your desk.
Web-page Communication
 Layers: intranet, extranet, public web page
 Avoids complications of software/hardware
interface by providing a common
environment (the web).
 Good for company-to-company virtual
product-development teams and other inter-
company cooperative projects that require a
virtual “obaya” (big room).
Website Writing
 Even more than usual, stress simplicity, clarity and
reader convenience.
 For English-speakers, use inverted pyramid style
with most important words and phrases closest to
top-left corner.
 Use more lists, bullets, and eye-catching headings
than usual to facilitate searching and aid quick
information assimilation.
 Don’t use too many slow-loading graphics.
 Same legal considerations as email.
 Be brief!
Voice Mail Communication
 Keep your greeting current with frequent updating and
include your email address and fax number to facilitate
further contact.
 Encourage callers to leave detailed messages to minimize
the necessity for a callback.
 Check voice mail regularly and call back within 24 hours.
 When calling someone, mentally compose a message
ahead of time so you are ready in case you need it.
 Always try to sound upbeat, organized and energetic.
 Voice mail is discoverable in a lawsuit.
Call Phone Communication
 Try not to use a cell phone in public. Put it
on vibrate and retire to somewhere more
private to hold your conversation.
 If you have to use it in public, keep your
voice down.
 Turn them off in meetings (and class).
 Cell phones are wireless and, therefore, not
secure.
 Only an idiot uses a cell phone while driving.
Need for Face-to-face
 Technology always combines boon and burden.
 Electronic communication amplifies quantity by
transmitting more faster– saving time. But it is
best for simple -- not complex -- information.
 It also can’t increase the quality of information.
Puzzling, pondering, analytical, face-to-face
teamwork still is best for that.
 Electronic communication also is very intrusive.
Even on vacation, you can’t escape anymore!
 Finally, it should never be used as a way to avoid
face-to-face management.

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