Business E-mail: Seeking Key Points is as Important as Conveying Them

It's like when a drill sergeant shouts a set of instructions to a private and the private responds by completing only half of the instructions. It's not because he doesn't have enough time to complete all of the tasks. The problem, unfortunately, is that he actually thinks he's completed all of the tasks. The consequences of not acknowledging and following all of his drill sergeant's instructions can be quite drastic, in this case, and may create a backlash of concerns for the soldier and his platoon, battalion, etc.

But e-mail communication seems to be the thing of the past. Could that be why people may not be gathering all the necessary information adequately from e-mails these days? Some think we may have lost sight of our focus and reading abilities, which could then be evident in the way we speak and relay information.

Businesses have adopted better, more systematic processes, to communicate rapidly by using internal platforms such as live instant messaging, which can easily be tied to a mobile phone application. So, if a colleague halfway around the world is not sitting in front of his computer, he can still be reached. We can't omit current popular methods such as texting or push-to-talk service, which is often used in industries requiring critical responses. Even the basic form of connecting with someone, the plain old telephone service, remains to be at the top of the list.

Because our communication habit is more rapid and brief, we may tend to communicate in the same manner in our e-mail through selective reading and writing. Obviously, this could result in a misunderstanding, or worst, chaos. In a business setting, particularly, this could mean compromising productivity or the bottom line.

Too often I find recipients of my business messages missing important elements. It then becomes another e-mail with questions and another with answers, and so on. First thought is, could it be my writing and that perhaps I'm not as clear enough as I think I am? In most cases, my messages are quite elementary as I "bullet" key areas of focus. Furthermore, I keep my language simple. I'm not perfect, and some responses justify clarification. But it's the messages that paint the clearest of pictures that make me want to go "hmmmm!"

Here's an example:

A colleague had left me a voice message late on Tuesday to see if he and I could meet on Thursday. His call, which went straight to my voice mail, was made while I was driving back to my hotel at around 7pm. It wasn't until I had gotten to the hotel and settled in when I had the chance to retrieve all of my messages. Since it was late, I figured I would call him the following morning to inform him that I wouldn't be back in town until the following week. And that's what I did. The next morning I called his number a few times but there was no answer. Either his voice mail was full, wasn't set up, or a voice mail box didn't exist. I then pulled out another number from my contacts list and attempted to call him there but again no voice mail. At this point I'm thinking should I just wait for him to call me again or take a few minutes out of my time to write an e-mail. Since I was going to be on the road again and may miss calls, I thought best to write him. My message was clear and straight to the point. Take a look:

Hi, John! (real name omitted)

I tried to call you but your voice mail boxes are either not working or set up. So, I'm sending you an e-mail instead.

Unfortunately, I'm traveling and won't be back in the city until next week. My schedule is free then, therefore, please let me know which day you are available to meet. I also have the documents you asked for and will bring them with me when we get together.

Regards,

David

Some time that afternoon I received a call from John and instantly assumed we would be making arrangements to meet next week. I say hello but rather than return the simple greeting he immediately informs me that he got my e-mail and asks if I could bring the documents tomorrow. I was a bit surprised.

My e-mail, which was rather short in length, specifically stated that I was out of town. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he's having a rough start to the day. So I proceeded to repeat what I stated in my e-mail by simply saying I couldn't. When he asked why not was when I questioned how this fellow could hold a company position at all. Seriously, I have seen my share of folks fired for poor communication skills. Nevertheless, this example illustrates how a simple situation may require some time to resolve.

I try not to write lengthy e-mails. Being brief is important since there are far too many e-mails to go through in a day. It helps me! So why not try to respect the recipient's load of work by keeping messages simple and to the point as possible. But again, it's just as important to seek and understand all of the key points in the messages you are receiving. It simply reduces unnecessary time asking questions, and the basic communication cycle is acknowledged and understood.