E-mail: Rights, Risks, Responsibilities

Chapter Seven: Technology

J. S. O’Rourke, IV
University of Notre Dame / USA
 Overview
• The problem with e-mail.
• Eight deadly sins of e-mail.
• Seven reasons to love e-mail.
• Eight reasons to select another
channel.
• Six reasons to send a letter.
• Three reasons to send a fax.
• Seven reasons to use the telephone.
• Five reasons to IM and TM.
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 Overview
• Addressing an e-mail.
• Replying to an e-mail.
• The subject line.
• Attachments.
• Flags, fonts, sizes, and color.
• Salutations and closings.
• Signature blocks.

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 Overview
• Writing an effective e-mail.
• Six essential types of e-mail.
• Writing when you’re angry.
• Making e-mail work on your behalf.

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 Where Does This Come From?
• D. Shipley and W. Schwalbe, Send: The
Essential Guide to Email for Office and
Home. New York: Alfred Knopf, 2007.
• J. S. Fielden, J. D. Gibbons, R. E. Dulek,
Throw Me The Bottom Line: I’m Drowning in
E-mail. Ft. Pierce, Fl: Pioneer River Press, 2003.
• C. Cavanagh, Managing Your E-mail. New
York: John Wiley & Sons, 2003.
• D. Hartman and K. Nantz, The 3 Rs of E-mail.
Moncton, NB: CRISP Publications, 1996.

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 The Problem with E-mail
• Office workers in the U.S. spend 25% of
each day on e-mail.
• In 2009, the Bush Administration turned
over 100 million electronic messages to
the National Archives.
• The Clinton Administration left behind
32 million in 2001.

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 The Problem with E-mail
• If you don’t consciously insert tone into
an e-mail, it will have none. The
message written without tone is a blank
screen onto which the reader projects
his own fears, prejudices, and anxieties.
• We use e-mail for both personal and for
professional purposes.
• There are very few nonverbal cues in
an e-mail to tell us how to react.

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 The Problem with E-mail
• E-mail can be easily misused, misread,
misinterpreted, misdirected, misapplied,
and misunderstood.
• The real problem with e-mail, though is
that it works. It works exceptionally
well, exceptionally fast, and with
exceptional power to convey
information.
• It can become addictive.

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 The Eight Deadly Sins of E-mail
• The e-mail that’s unbelievably vague.
– “Remember to do that thing.”
• The e-mail that insults you directly.
– “WHY DIDN’T YOU DO THAT THING?!!!!”
• The e-mail that puts you in jail.
– “Please tell them that I told you to sell at 70”
• The e-mail that’s cowardly.
– “We’re restructuring and you no longer have
a job here. Please leave immediately.”

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 The Eight Deadly Sins of E-mail
• The e-mail that won’t go away.
– “Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: That thing”
• The e-mail that’s sarcastic.
– “Smooth move on that thing, bonehead.”
• The e-mail that’s too casual.
– Hiya! Any word on the admissions thing?”
• The e-mail that’s inappropriate.
– “Want to come to my hotel room to discuss
that thing?”

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 Seven Reasons to Love E-mail
• It’s the best medium ever created for
exchanging essential information.
• You can reach almost anyone on e-mail, not
just businesspeople.
• E-mail knows no timezones.
• E-mail allows you to craft your message on
your own terms and your own schedule.
• You have the choice of preserving and
presenting parts or all of an e-mail string.
• E-mail lets you attach and include additional
information that the recipient can retrieve when
and if she chooses.

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 Eight Reasons Not to E-mail
• The ease of e-mail encourages
unnecessary exchanges.
• E-mail has largely replaced the phone
call, but not all should be replaced.
• You can reach everyone, and everyone
can reach you. It’s very egalitarian.
• The fact that e-mail defies time zones
also means that it can defy propriety.

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 Eight Reasons Not to E-mail
• The fact that e-mail always provides a
searchable record means that you can
be held accountable for your electronic
correspondence.
• The ease with which an e-mail can be
forwarded poses a danger.
• With e-mail, your words can be
changed.
• E-mail attachments don’t just come with
baggage – they are baggage.
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 When to Write a Letter Instead
• When you want a document that can be filed,
archived, or framed.
• When you want to create something the
recipient can savor.
• When you don’t want to interrupt someone.
• When you want to take up a complex subject.
• When you really mean business: a subpoena,
registered letter, or policy memo.
• When the material is so confidential you can’t
take any chance it might be forwarded with
one click.
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 When to Send a Fax
• A fax can come with what is considered
a true copy of an authentic signature.
• Because you can send important hard
documents – a contract, a schematic, a
child’s drawing – rapidly.
• Because it’s more secure. A fax is less
likely to be sent to multiple addressees,
forwarded, or misdirected.

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 When to Make a Phone Call
• When you need to convey or discern
emotion.
• When you need to cut through the
communication forest.
• When you need to move fast.
• When you want a remote
communication to be private.

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 When to Make a Phone Call
• When you need to reach someone who
doesn’t have (or check) e-mail.
• When you want to engage people and
get an immediate response.
• When you need to send a harsh e-mail,
you can soften it with a phone call.

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 Five Reasons to Prefer IM and Text
• Unlike e-mail, they always work in real
time.
• Perf 4 shrt msgs.
• They make it possible for small, self-
directed teams to talk and brainstorm.
• They’re ideal for mobile, silent, and
surreptitious, instantaneous
communication.
• They still provide a record.

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 Problems with the “To” Line
• Misdirected e-mail.
• Too many people on the “To” line.
• Not enough people on the “To” line.
• Confusing “To” with “CC.”

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 Some Advice
• Reply to the address the message
came from.
• Don’t send anything to a business e-
mail address that the recipient would be
embarrassed to have the entire
company read.
• Anyone with actions to complete is on
the “To” line. Others go on the “CC”
line.

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 Some Advice
• Never hit “Reply All” unless you know
the identity and job title of every person
in the “CC” field.
• If you’re running a group discussion,
advise people to “Please reply all.”
• Use “Bcc” with great care.
• Pay considerable attention to the
“Subject” line.

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 Useless Subject Lines
• What to do? • “ “
• ??????? • Status
• Re: FYI • How is this?
• Two things • Quick Question
• Great news • We would like
• Urgent your assistance
• Tomorrow • Your e-mail

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 Helpful Subject Lines
• Are you available for dinner tonight?
• Join us on Monday at 10:00 a.m.
• Mom’s surprise birthday party.
• Missing program review documents.
• Your coursepack is ready.
• Next semester’s teaching schedule.

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 Some Advice
• Always use a subject line.
• Make sure it says something
informative.
• Make sure it reflects not only the first
item in your message, but its entire
content.
• Make sure you use specific names
identifiable to the recipient.
• Update them with each message.

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 Fonts
• Compare the Times New Roman:
– “I have arrived”
• The Broadway:
– “I have arrived”
• The Dauphin:
– “I have arrived”
• The Bernhard Modern:
– “I have arrived”

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 Some Advice
• As tempting as it is to play with all the
fonts available, it is wise to do so only if
you are in a very creative field and
writing to people who relish eccentricity.
• The medium should never overwhelm
the message.
• Black typeface is simply easier to read.
• Backgrounds or electronic wallpaper are
inappropriate for a serious message.

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 Some Advice
• Use a salutation in a business e-mail:
“Dear Mr. Hemphill:”
“Dear Mary Ellen:”
• Use an honorific if you don’t know the
recipient well enough to use first names,
or if the recipient’s rank or age demand
a greater level of respect.
• Go without only in highly familiar,
personal e-mails.

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 Some Advice
• It’s both smart and courteous to include
your contact data at the end of your e-
mail text:
– Full name
– Title
– Organization
– Address
– Phone number
– Fax
– E-mail address

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 Writing an Effective E-mail
• Pay attention to grammar, syntax, and
the rules of composition.
• Use capital letters where they are called
for (beginning of a sentence, proper
nouns).
• Use proper punctuation.
• Spell each word correctly.
• Avoid abbreviations.
• It’s not IM. It’s not TM. It’s e-mail.

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 Writing an Effective E-mail
• Words can be formal or informal; literal
or figurative; precise or vague;
understated, correct, or exaggerated;
simple or complex; common or rare;
prosaic or poetic; contracted or not.
• Ask yourself this: What’s my
relationship to the person I’m writing?
• Then, make sure your word choice is
appropriate.

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 Writing an Effective E-mail
• Make sure the language in a business
e-mail isn’t too slangy (“bummer”),
familiar (“dude”), or bizarre (“right-a-
roony”).
• Also, don’t use words if you don’t know
what they mean.

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 Writing an Effective E-mail
• Simple, short, repetitive grammar
intensifies the message.
• Complex, clause-filled, rhythmically
varied sentences generally soften the
message.
• Keep paragraphs brief: never extend
beyond one screen.
• Don’t be afraid of contractions.
• DON’T WRITE IN ALL CAPS!!!!!!

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 Writing an Effective E-mail
• Emoticons, cute as they are, are
generally ineffective in adding emotion
or tone to an e-mail. Skip them in
business messages. ☺

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 Six Types of E-mail
• Requesting
• Replying
• Informing
• Thanking
• Apologizing
• Connecting

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 Requesting
• Danger in both directions:
– If your request is inappropriate, you may
lose an ally.
– If your request goes unheeded or
unfulfilled, the person to whom you made it
will have burned a bridge with you.
• Before you ask, make sure it’s
something you really need.
• What’s your relation to the person
you’re asking something of.

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 Requesting
• Consider combination strategies:
introduce yourself by letter, follow-up by
phone, use e-mail to continue the
conversation.
• Ask for one thing.
• Be brief, but say enough so that the
recipient understands the request.
• Be reasonable; don’t ask for too much.
• Be up-front.

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 Requesting
• Be persistent but don’t pester.
• Be polite.
• Give your reader a graceful way to say,
“no.” Providing an out – telling people
they don’t have to do something –
makes them more likely to comply with
a request.

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 Replying
• Answer at the top, not at the bottom of
the message.
• If you’re interlacing your response
between paragraphs of the original e-
mail, make sure your reader can tell
your words from hers.
• Check to see that your date / time
stamps are correct.

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 Replying
• It’s always worth replying promptly and
cheerfully to people with whom you’ve
had a misunderstanding or difficulties.
• It’s a good idea to respond quickly when
someone is clearly experiencing anxiety.
• E-mail invitations somehow seem less
important than those we get in the mail.

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 Informing
• Write a useful, descriptive subject line.
• Come directly to the point.
• Consider boldface headings in the text,
along with bulleted lines.
• Tell your addressees if you do not
expect a reply. “For your information
only. Please don’t reply.”

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 Thanking
• Be personal.
• Be specific.
• Be brief.
• Be proportional to the deed for which
you are thanking someone.
• Be sure to thank the right people.
• Don’t ask for something else. Just say,
“thank you.”

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 Apologizing
• Be sincere.
• Use first person singular: “I goofed,”
“My mistake,” “I am sorry.”
• Write actively: Rather than write,
“Mistakes were made,” say, “I made a
mistake.”
• Consider apologizing in person or on
the telephone.
• Don’t “Cc” anyone.

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 Apologizing
• If e-mail got you into trouble, keep in
mind that it probably won’t get you out.
• Don’t blame the e-mail system for the
problem. Accept responsibility for what
you did.
• Hope that the wounded person has
made a similar error and is willing to
forgive.

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 Connecting
• E-mail is perfect for staying in touch with
distant, hard-to-reach friends and
colleagues.
• Make the message useful, fun, or
interesting.
• Don’t pass along dumb jokes, lists, idle
chatter, porn, or other inappropriate
content.
• Be brief, be sincere, don’t ask for
anything.
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Men and Women Use E-mail Differently
• Many men use aggressive language
because they find it funny. Because
women don’t use aggression in this
way, they often interpret messages at
face value and can feel attacked.
• More women than men want to feel
there’s a personal relationship before
diving into the matter at hand; they
expect at least a pleasantry or two at
the start of an e-mail.
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Men and Women Use E-mail Differently
• When women complain to a peer in
face-to-face conversation, they tend to
want empathy, not advice. When men
hear complaints, they don’t often want
to empathize, they want to fix the
problem.
• Men are more likely than women to
send and forward jokes.

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Men and Women Use E-mail Differently
• Men often think teasing is funny.
Women, not so much. They tend to
take it personally.
• Men are far more likely than women to
think that an e-mail apology is sufficient.

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 Last Thoughts
• Sarcasm, cynicism, and irony are often
lost in e-mail because of an absence of
tone cues.
• If you’re going to be mean, it’s best not
to do it on e-mail.
• If you’re going to discuss illegal activity,
it’s likewise best not to do it on e-mail.
• E-mail is a tool, not a way of life.

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