Over the past decade, the Internet has revolutionized the way in which communication occurs in the workplace. One of the revolutionary communication means which has emerged is the use of emails. According to Isabelle (2009), electronic mail is now the most useful channel of communication across the globe.
As such, it is of uttermost importance that we, as professionals, equip ourselves with the knowledge of how to effectively utilize this technology to ensure effective and professional communication at the workplace.
This being the case, there needs to be standardized elements that govern the language, tone, and vocabulary used while composing an email to ensure that he message therein is concise and easily understood by the recipient. Below are some factors to consider while writing an email to fellow colleagues at work.
To begin with, one should make sure that the title of the message is compelling and guarantees the attention of the recipient. In many cases, people often delete messages without reading them simply by looking at the subject line.
Therefore it is important that the title be precise and straight to the point. In addition to this, the message should be rich in content, use simple language and vocabulary, well punctuated, and, most importantly, ensure comprehension.
When sending out emails, ensuring that the message provides a personal connection to the recipient is of importance. For example, sending an email with “no subject,” “Hi,” or general words like “information” as the subject line would yield fewer results as compared to using a title such as “urgent work for you!” The choice of words used makes a great difference as they can be used to emphasize urgency as well as the importance of the message.
Flynn, N & Flynn, T (2003) suggest that while emailing, each subject must constitute one message. This means that as a sender, one must avoid mixing unrelated questions and responses into one message. Each email you send must only tackle the intended subject. In addition to this, when forwarding a message to a fellow colleague, make sure that you provide a brief summary so that the reader knows what the message is about.
When emailing, the formatting of the email may mark the difference between efficient and inefficient communication. Being brief by putting the core points within the first lines and always specify who should respond and when are some of the marks of an effective email.
One should remember to include greetings and signatures in all emails as they reflect courtesy and good manners. In addition to this, always adopting the appropriate tone and not using uncommon abbreviations and pronouns are important to ensure that effective communication is achieved.
Clues of the authenticity of information
The Internet has been compared to an ocean of information. While some of this information is useful and beneficial in value, there exist volumes of useless information. According to Patterson (2000), one of the limitations of information on the Internet is the lack of standards, and as such, the authenticity of information is at times hard to prove.
However, there are clues that may help one establish authentic information. In most cases, authentic data always has information about the author, and contain proper citations as per the original source of the published materials. This information is also balanced and without bias and contains dates and is organized and easy to find even from other sources.
Sometimes the authenticity of information can be inferred from the website from which the information is obtained. For example, reputable websites such as www.fbi.gov can be relied upon to provide accurate information concerning criminals. The URL’s of most websites can also help in evaluating the authenticity of the information posted.
Kennedy (2001) acclaims that all websites end with a three-letter suffix indicating the domain of the host, for example,.gov= government institutions,.com= commercial entities,.edu= educational institutions. Therefore going into such websites shows to which parties they are affiliated to and can, therefore, be used to confirm authenticity.
References
Albanese, I. (2009). Effective Electronic Communication. Web.
Flynn, N. & Flynn, T (2003). Writing Effective E-Mail: Improving Your Electronic Communication. Cengage Learning.
Kennedy, E, G. & Montgomery,T, T. (2001). Technical and Professional Writing: Solving Problems at Work.USA: Prentice hall.
Patterson, A, D. (2000). Personal Computer Applications in the Social Services. Allyn & Bacon.