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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.