E-mail Communication

at Work

Terese Thonus, KU Writing Center

Staff Leadership Summit

February 26, 2015

Overview of workshop

• The big picture

•How to be effective

•How to be efficient

•How to be clear

• Tips and tricks

The big picture:Writing in the workplace

• Lacks visual, auditory, or spatial cues

•Does not permit “real time” revision

• Is “set in stone” – difficult to take deny or take back

The big picture:Alternatives to writing

Under what circumstances is it better to…

• Use the phone?

• Schedule a face-to-face meeting with an individual?

• Arrange a meeting of the department staff?

• Arrange an inter-staff meeting?

The big picture:When to use e-mail?

E-mail when your message is…

•Brief

• Informal

•Sent to a number of people (not personal)

•Timely

•Urgent

•Must be documented

The big picture: University policies

• The University provides email for use when engaging in activities relating to instruction, research, clinical and public service, and management and administrative support. KU also permits incidental personal use provided that such use does not interfere with KU operations, does not generate incremental identifiable costs to KU, or does not negatively impact the user's job performance.

• The University supports a climate of trust and respect and does not ordinarily read, monitor, or screen electronic mail. However, complete confidentiality or privacy of email cannot be guaranteed. 

How to be efficient:Organize your e-mail

• Triage messages by importance

•Use multiple addresses or folders to organize messages

• Schedule e-mail response times and “times away”

•Multitasking increases stress and reduces accuracy and productivity by up to 40%

How to be efficient:Create reusable e-mail templates

•Organize these into folders

• Share with supervisor and colleagues

•Update periodically

How to be effective: Know your audience

•Know primary audience(s) and expectations

•Recognize secondary audience(s)

•Organize message to address their needs

How to be effective: Know your audience• Style of doing business?

•Regard for me professionally and personally?

• Purpose for reading?

• Interested or involved in the subject?

•Knowledgeable about the topic?

• Special concerns or strong views about the topic?

How to be effective:Consider status differences

superior

inferior

peer

peer

How to be effective:Avoid the vicious cycle

Indirection

Ambiguity

Politeness

How to be clear: Write for a diverse audienceThink of diversity in language, dialect,

nationality, gender, education level, socio-economic status, etc.

•Define key terms

• Illustrate with concrete examples

•Begin or end with a summary

•Avoid slang, jargon, and other figures of speech

How to be clear: Take advice from PlainLanguage.gov

•Use short sentences.

•Use the same term consistently for a specific thought or object.

•Use must to show requirements.

•Minimize abbreviations and acronyms.

•Don’t use slashes (/).

How to be clear: Cut the fat

• Structure sentences around active verbs.

•Avoid it is … that… and there is/are structures.

•Avoid very, many, really, and other “empty” words.

•Never use a five-syllable word when a two-syllable one will do.

•Use repetition for emphasis only.

How to be clear:Use a readability calculator

Available in both Outlook and Word

Calculated on average sentence length and average number of syllables per word.

Flesch Reading Ease

100-point scale. The higher the score, the easier it is to understand the document. Target: 60-70.

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level

U.S. school grade level. For example, a score of 8.0 means that an eighth grader can understand the document. Target: 8-11.

How to be clear:Format messages for on-screen

reading•Black on white background

• Sans-serif fonts (Arial, Calibri, Garamond, Helvetica)

•Block paragraphs separated by white space

•Bullets for list items, numbers for steps in a process

•No digital stationery, colors, highlighting, varied fonts, or emoticons

How to be clear: Combine text and visuals

•One topic per e-mail

•Unambiguous subject line (~ 10 words max)

•Use charts or graphs for complex information

• Present items for comparison side by side

• Include pictures and screenshots

Tips and tricks:Observe appropriate use guidelines

•TO: Implies that the communication is private and will not be revealed to others.

•FWD: Don’t use unless the person who sent the message TO you knows and agrees. You can also FWD if it’s a broadcast message to the public of which the addressee is a part.

Tips and tricks:Observe appropriate use guidelines

•CC: Informs additional addressees of the communication. How to decide: Does it affect more than one person? Why do other need to know? The original addressee must know that you are CC-ing and understand why you are CC-ing.

•BCC: Use when sending to multiple addresses to preserve the privacy of individual addressees or to avoid long lists.

Tips and tricks:Drop the disclaimer

• E-mails are not considered “private communication”

•No one reads disclaimers

•Use e-mail encryption offered through DigiCert (KU IT)

Tips and tricks:Create a variety of signature blocks

What information does your reader need?

Create different signatures for…

•Department internal

•University internal

•University external

Sources:Financial Times Press Delivers Elements (series), Natalie Canavor & Claire Meirowitz (2010). http://proquestcombo.safaribooksonline.com/9780132159654/Cover

How to Measure the Quality of Customer Service E-mail, Leslie O’Flahaven (2008). http://www.digitalgovernment.com/media/Downloads/asset_upload_file122_2312.pdf

National Public Radio (2013). The Myth of Multitasking. http://www.npr.org/2013/05/10/182861382/the-myth-of-multitasking

Plain Language: Improving Communication from the Federal Government to the Public (n.d.). http://www.plainlanguage.gov/

Relative Importance, Strength of Evidence: Research-Based Web Design & Usability Guidelines, Michael O. Leavitt & Ben Shneiderman (n.d.). http://www.usability.gov/guidelines/guidelines_book.pdf