The Evils of E-Mail
Stumble It!Count to three before you hit that send button
Alec Appelbaum, in The Evils of E-Mail, for CIO Magazine, discusses some of the silly things we do in email, the impact they have on the unfortunate recipients and what we can do about it.
Sometimes we just don't think...
Impetuous emails, smart 1-liners which cause offence, forgetting there is a real person at the other end and just getting carried away by the flow of our own language can all cause huge waste.
It is particularly important in virtually networked teams and the minefields of multiple locations, timezones, languages and business cultures.
So before you fire your next email out, just pause, count to three and check:
- How well do I know the recipient and the way they write and read email?
- Keep it short – the risk of misinterpretation is proportional to the size of the email - 2-3 lines is usually about right
- Am I using clichés or local expressions which will not travel well - any doubt take them out
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Bioteams Books Reviews
Team member responsibility problems
One of the main dilemmas for team leaders and members is the thorny issue of responsibility. We often fixate on the problem of leaders and members not taking enough responsibility but according to Dr Scott Peck they can also do damage if they try to take too much!
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