Email Mishaps and How to Prevent Them

September 26, 2019 at 10:29 am (Effective Communication)
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A few years ago, if you had to send documents, contracts or any written form of communication, you had to send it by mail. This required an envelope, filled with sender and receiver addresses, stamps, a typed and printed document copy for each receiver. Finally, the sender would take the mail to the post office and wait a few days for a reply. At that time, there was a smaller chance of making a mistake.

With all the technology we have today, computers, internet, and emails, all make our lives easier, save us time, and form better professional relationships. However, they can also put our jobs at risk when the topic is business emails. Many things can happen after you click the send button, and there is no way to undo your action.

Such mishaps can send confidential salary information to the whole company, or maybe someone makes a bad comment about a supervisor and sends it to the supervisor by mistake. Or, you can open your mailbox in the morning and find out you got more than 50 “thanks” in response to an e-mail. This is not a good way to start a day. It is just a business routine, when a co-worker loves to respond to all.

Emails are the most used form of communication in the business world. Here are some simple tips that can prevent the most common mistakes:

  • Bad grammar/spelling: Proofread your emails at least once.
  • Wrong recipient: Check the recipients one by one before you click send.
  • Abuse of BCC: In the company’s own work environment it is not necessary to use hidden copy.
  • Reply to all: Unless the information is relevant to all users put in copy, you should not abuse this option.
  • Silence: Avoid a negative feeling in someone who is waiting for an answer.
  • To whom it corresponds: this expression creates less credibility.
  • The subject line: We focus on the body of the email and forget to change the subject line.
  • Long emails: Keep it clear and concise.
  • Late night emails: It is not a good idea to answer emails in a hurry or when you are tired. Answer them first thing in the morning.
  • Emotional emailing: never send an email when you are angry or upset. Take your time, read it again later, and reflect on the tone used.

Spending a few minutes to double check an email before clicking the irreversible “send” button may save you time and prevent any misunderstanding or conflict in the future.

By Karin Duro, Business Major – IUPUC

Work Cited

https://www.inc.com/betty-liu/11-worst-email-mistakes-everyone-makes.html

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Tweeting one’s self out of a job – how do you juggle social media and your career?

September 14, 2011 at 12:19 pm (Social Media in the workplace)
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The following is an article written by Will Brown for his x204 business class:

Facebook, Twitter and other social media are all freely used at the job site and during the hiring process. Even if you are searching for a job social media can be helpful. So, how do humans balance using them and actually working? I think it really depends on the type of job itself and whether you have the job or are searching. Do you really think fast food places actually take the time to look at a possible employee’s Facebook or twitter account? Lies! Those places are so busy and are always hiring that it probably doesn’t matter at all. I know from personal experience in my younger teen years working at McDonalds there were times I would walk in that place and post on my wall how much I hated it, or when someone dropped someone’s food and still served it. It happens all the time. Fast food restaurants simply do not care, in my opinion. As far as businesses like car dealerships, government jobs, sporting equipment stores etc. These companies care a little more about the kind of employees it hires. During the hiring process, from the time you fill out the application until about a week after the job applied for has been filled, these companies check people’s social media sites. As long as you know not to post degrading comments about the place you are looking to be hired by, DUH! Or post pictures with you holding alcohol or smoking weed and that drunk/high look on your face from the crazy night you had last night at a friend’s 21st birthday party. You will be fine.  Personally I work at Hibbets Sporting Goods in Greensburg, Indiana and I have known people to get fired over social media.  The kid just simply did not get the fact that they couldn’t have their phone in the store during their shift. Let alone be on Facebook posting and commenting to his friends about last night’s run from the cops. They would post dumb things like, “wish I was at the house with a beer in hand watching TV.” Come on man.  Then they were smart enough to add their boss, on Facebook, while at work. The boss knowing that we did not have a extra computer to get on Facebook, therefore knowing the employee was on their phone that they can’t have in the store. Not Smart!

                Let’s look at some instances that social media has literally cost someone. Chad Ochocinco, National Football League (NFL) wide receiver, was fined 25,000$ for using Twitter during a game in violation of the social media policy in the NFL, an actual policy that he broke and was fined for it.  The NFL and other professional sports have social media policies. What makes you think businesses don’t? Just about every big name in professional sports have twitter accounts, LeBron James, Drew Brees, Chad Ochocinco, Tom Brady, Alex Rodriguez, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Ray Lewis, even commissioner of the NFL Roger Goodell. All they are doing is providing entertainment for sports followers, not saving a life, fixing the economy, working in the government, working in a sport store or working at Wal-Mart.  They get fined big money for using them while they are at work. Social media is huge, very easily accessed and equally as detrimental to whether you get a job, or keep a job. Balance wisely possible employees.

                Now on the other hand social media could be good for the hiring process. If you fill out your bio page, and your profile and keep them updated employers have something else to look at when deciding whether to hire or not to hire. Always post up to date information on those pages and keep them updated. Also, in this world of technology we, social media users, know there are ways to keep people from looking at your pictures, posts, comments and statuses. It’s called the privacy setting or just not friending your boss on Facebook.

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To Agree or Disagree? Apparently, It Depends on the Chromasomes

August 4, 2011 at 2:08 pm (Diversity in the Workplace, Effective Communication)
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Below is a link to an interesting article from Inside Indiana Business regarding a University of Notre Dame study.

Not another double standard!

 The finding? “Disagreeable” men advance in the workplace while “disagreeable” women do not. 

According to the study, when men react in a disagreeable fashion, it’s because they’re viewed as being tough.  But not so with the opposite sex.  Disagreeable women are viewed as control freaks.

Can you say “Martha Stewart” everyone?  I think you can.

The article goes on to say that the “way women communicate their demands matters more than it does for men.”

Which is not exactly a news flash to any woman who’s labored away in the workforce for the last 30 or 40 years, but we’ll give it to them.

Read on for more:

http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?id=49071

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Strengths and Weaknesses in Workplace Communication

August 4, 2011 at 12:10 pm (Effective Communication)
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The following is an article written by X204 Business Communication Adjunct Lecturer Robin Fritz for Chron.com, the online business portal for the Houston Chronical:

Overview – When hiring, one of the first qualities managers look for in new employees is superior communication skills.  Smart managers recognize that creative employees with great ideas offer little value if they lack the communication skills necessary to adequately share those ideas in the workplace.  To improve upon communication in the workplace, managers build upon communication strengths while identifying and eliminating communication weaknesses.

Effective Communication – Most people are born communicating, thus it’s something many take for granted, but some people communicate more effectively than others.  Effective communicators recognize two vital aspects of communication – sharing both the intended information and the meaning of that information with their intended audience.  In fact, most communication errors occur because one of those two aspects of a message is missing.  For instance, if a supervisor instructs an employee to have a project completed by noon, but the employee hears 2:00, the message was ineffective because, while the proper meaning was communicated – have the project completed –  the correct information – have it done by noon – was not.

Communication Strengths in the Workplace – Skilled communicators recognize that effective communication takes forethought.  For example, smart managers first evaluate their intended audience to gauge such factors as the current mood, their education level, the context of the situation, etc., and they frame their message accordingly.  Effective communicators also evaluate all the possible channels available for communicating, such as face-to-face, over the phone, via email, etc., and they chose the channel best suited for that particular message and audience.  Also key to communicating effectively is learning to engage in actively listening as it takes two people – a sender and a receiver – to communicate.  

Important too, effective communicators avoid distractions and focus on more than just the spoken word, and they evaluate body language, tone of voice, etc. for clues to gauge whether their intended audience comprehends the message.  Skilled communicators in the workplace also encourage open feedback, recognizing that communication is a constant process.

Communication Weaknesses in the Workplace – Given its complexity, it is little wonder that most people, at some point, fail to communicate effectively in the workplace.  Typical weaknesses in communication include failure to adequately consider the needs of the audience.  For example, rushed employees trying to meet deadlines often overload their audience with information, and important details are often lost in the process.  Additionally, many communicators inadequately evaluate their audience and ignore the impact of such crucial details as cultural background or education level on the communication process.  For instance, industry experts who speak only in jargon will lose members of a general audience lacking experience with those terms. 

Ineffective communicators also underestimate the impact of physical distractions and emotional interference on their audience.  For example, audiences often discount a speaker’s message if that person uses bad grammar, appears sloppy, or lacks enthusiasm for the topic.

Building the Strengths while Avoiding the Weaknesses – Smart business managers encourage communication strengths in the workplace by modeling superior communication skills with their own messages.  Effective communicators educate themselves on the their employees’ individual frames of reference, and adapt their messages accordingly.  They recognize that meaning exists not in words, but in the people who use those words, and they use language that their audience will understand, for instance, using or avoiding slang, colloquial expressions or jargon based on their understanding of the audience.  Most importantly, though, smart business managers listen to their audience, and they seek to ensure that they fully understand both the intended information and meaning of a message by asking questions and encouraging feedback.

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/strength-weakness-workplace-communication-10946.html

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