Miscommunication via E-mail
I recently told a friend of mine about my blog. His first reaction was “so an example would be when you e-mail someone to diffuse a potential argument at work.” My response was one of surprise. I've encountered, more times than not, when e-mail can cause miscommunication rather than solve a communication issue. For example, a person's tone can easily be misread in an email. My friend went on to describe how he uses e-mail for clarification after a meeting or other encounter to dissolve a potential argument.
This got me thinking how different people view e-mail communication to solve and mitigate problems in the workplace. As people become more reliant on e-mail, I am still a believer that the best way to create relationships and diffuse tense situations is the good old-fashioned way–to talk in person. Whether it's to clarify a situation or schedule an appointment, talking is becoming less and less of a used source of communication. I am definitely going to try to go against the grain and try talking rather than emailing more often when possible.
Note: Talking doesn’t require spellcheck!
Category: communication | Tags: email, miscommunication One comment »
August 5th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
[...] or a co-worker misread in an email and then had to deal with the consequences? See my blog post: Miscommunication via Email And one last gem, not related to the internet. A good way to assess an organization or detect [...]