The Seven Deadly (email) Sins

Interesting article, by way of the folks from PalmOne and CNN.

The Seven Deadly Email Sins:

Intro
A poll of 750 office workers across Europe, commissioned by palmOne, has identified seven deadly sins of e-mail, including blitzing, tactlessness, sloppiness, ignoring e-mails and lying about them.

Ignoring
Seventy-nine percent of survey repondents said they resented having to chase up e-mail responses. A quarter said they did so for more than half the e-mails they send. Nearly two-thirds felt business decisions were delayed due to a lack of e-mail response.

Lying
This is most marked in Britain, where up to 11 percent of survey respondents said they lie about getting e-mails, more than twice the figure in the other surveyed countries. Denying e-mails breeds distrust because, unlike phone calls and letters, it's relatively easy to confirm whether or not a message has been delivered.

Presuming
Twenty-seven percent of survey respondents said they were annoyed when urgent e-mails were sent without an accompanying phone call to draw attention to it.

Waffling
Being sent pages of e-mail text when a few lines will do irritates one-fifth of office staff, particularly senior management, the survey showed

Blitzing
This is when the same e-mail is sent to "all and sundry" in a company. More than a quarter of the survey sample expressed frustration at being unnecessarily copied irrelevant e-mails. They said it was "like being spammed by your colleagues."

Sloppiness
Bad grammar, misspelling and disconnected arguments gave 81 percent of the survey sample "negative feelings" towards the senders, while 41 percent of senior managers said badly worded e-mails implied laziness and even disrespect.

Tactlessness
Getting the tone wrong is easy in e-mails. People can't read body language, voice intonation and numerous other cues. Casual comments or humor can easily be misconstrued. Ten percent of respondents said they thought short, sharp e-mails unintentionally damaged relationships. In Germany and Britain, 23 percent and 14 percent respectively admitted confrontations with colleagues because of e-mail misunderstandings.

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Which sins have you committed?

The solutions:

Intro
Communications expert Dr. Peter Collett blames a lack of e-mail etiquette for the problems created by electronic communication -- which lacks the established niceties of letter-writing, chatting on the phone or a personal meeting. Working with palmOne, Collett has developed seven techniques for combatting e-mail sins.

Respond
Always acknowledge receipt. Respond within 24 hours, even if only with a "holding statement." Use the "out of office" function religiously when away.

Don't lie
Don't embarrass yourself by denying receipt because you ignored an e-mail for too long. Confront the issue immediately.

Phone
Don't assume your urgent e-mail to someone else has been seen and dealt with. Make a phone call to back up your e-mail

Don't e-waffle
Get to the point. The more you say, the less likely it is that your e-mail will be read.

Don't e-blitz
If you need to "cc" an e-mail, include only those with an active interest in the subject. You'll get a more immediate response from all concerned if you write directly to each individual involved.

Be formal
Err on the side of formality. An e-mail should be properly spelled and should be grammatical, just like a letter -- otherwise mutual respect is at risk. Check for mistakes before pressing the "send" button.

Cool off
Avoid snap judgments. An e-mail may look offensive, but was probably just hastily or badly composed. Never reply when feeling angry or emotional -- embarrassing or bad-tempered e-mails can come back to haunt you.


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