Email Communication Must Be Clear

Today I received an interesting question in a survey - "When you send email do you relax your standards in regards to spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, more than you would using other means of communication?" The survey waned a yes or no response with perhaps some comments as to why.

Here was my brief response:

"I believe that email grammar and punctuation needs to be even more clear and precise than other kinds of writing. It's so easy to start a flame war or get someone incredibly upset with the wrong word or comma. Words written down are incredibly powerful compared with the spoken word, and words in emails are becoming even more powerful than other forms of communications. Also, your emails give the reader an impression of you, often a first and perhaps only impression, so you had better do a good job."

I decided the question is very important and deserved more than a one sentence response.

One rule that I live by is simple. Communication is the most powerful, most important tool available to anyone. You can do far more with a few well chosen words than you can with explosives, a bullet, a hammer, a rocket or anything else that man has ever created.

I know that a simple, hastily spoken sentence on the part of my wife can reduce me to a simpering, quivering, useless mass of protoplasm, crying my eyes out for hours. Fortunately, I'm very smart and spoil my wife so that she remains my best friend - otherwise I'd be in real trouble. I'll tell you, on those extraordinarily rare occasions when we have fought, I almost think I would have preferred a bullet over the words ...

Just look at the great books and the effects that they have had on human endeavors: the Bible for one, Dianetics is another, and consider the effects of something like the United States constitution. All of these and many other books have changed the world.

Add on top of that another simple fact - written communication is far more powerful than oral communication. Bill Gates can surely relate to that after his own emails were used against him in court. If he had not written those things, it would have been much more difficult for anyone to prosecute him.

So when you send an email you are not just sending a communication, you are sending a written communication. It will live on long after you sent the message, and it's very likely that many people other than the intended recipient will read it.

Even if the only person to read the email is the intended recipient, he or she will take what you say literally. Remember, there is no body language, no tones of voice and no facial expressions. The only thing the reader can base his conclusion on is (a) the email itself, and (b) a knowledge of the sender.

I've even found that sending a joke through emails can have serious consequences. I remember an instance at work when someone told a joke to our human resources person (a woman). The guy's body language and facial expression made it not only very funny, but it made it clear that he was indeed telling a joke. The human resources person laughed and forgot about it. Much latter, the same joke in a email produced a written reprimand regarding sexual harassment (this was not the intent, by the way)! The guy's entire career was put in danger by a simple, innocent joke in an email!

Now that's a demonstration of the power of the written word. So double check your emails to make sure it says what you are trying to communicate. Use your spell checker to correct simple mistakes. Remember that the person on the other end will not be looking at you, may not even know you, so will form a conclusion based upon the contents of the email message.

Courtesy of Richard Lowe, Jr.