How Not To Annoy Your Colleagues By Correspondence

It’s hard to imagine how people used to do without email. It is even more difficult to imagine how not to go crazy with her today. The average office worker scrapes nearly a hundred emails a day. And this is far from the limit. Here, as they say, a twitching eye is no longer enough.

And the most annoying thing about e-mail is not its quantity itself, but that manner of “business” communication, because of which one feels like some kind of a slave. “YOU must”, “Do it before _!”, “This is URGENT”, “WHERE is the answer?” … These “charms” in all their glory demonstrate disrespect for a person and his work.

Respect spelling and punctuation.

What amuses employees the most? Right! The ability to “wash the bones” to those around you. When we send them the next “pearls”, there is no doubt that the whole department, excuse me, laughs at our literacy. Even if age takes its toll and the school course of English is forgotten, today there is an automatic spell check, punctuation, and even stylistics. All this is necessary so that, at least, they do not laugh at us.

E-mail is a format of business communication, so you shouldn’t turn it into “scribbling on the fence,” thereby discrediting and devaluing yourself in the eyes of employees.

Do not apply formally.

“Colleagues” is an appeal that a boss can afford, and that, in extremely rare cases, applies to absolutely everyone. In all other (current) cases, it is necessary to directly indicate the person with whom you are communicating. If the appeal is addressed to several employees, then names will be appropriate. When there are many addressees, the following are perfect: “Friends”, “Guys”, “Department workers”, etc.

Targeting in correspondence is very important. It does not make employees feel like some kind of impersonal cards, on the contrary, it allows them to win over them, increase their involvement in the problem, and feel their importance.

Avoid disdain and liberties.

Neglect is the main demotivator and indicator of leadership competence. And not only guides. As for liberties in e-mail, it is generally not allowed in business correspondence. An email is a face and authority that should not be smeared with such things. But, unfortunately, most of us do not hesitate to get personal in e-mail, sort things out and put ourselves above others.

Such an attitude towards others will not add speed to solving something, on the contrary, it will only increase the degree of stress and internal resistance, which will only entail a chain of subsequent problems.

Don’t allow yourself to be insincere.

Hypocrisy and insincerity are what they hide behind in the most disgusting situations. When we bother a person on vacation when we want to burden with additional work when we write something that has no place in reality. Stretched politeness is visible to the naked eye, and it makes you terribly jarred. It would be better to speak directly and to the point, or generally, confine ourselves to only formality.

When we cannot but do something that will cause an objective negative in another, it is better to limit ourselves to an acceptable reasonable minimum. The fewer words the better. Better than, to apologize, in person.

Don’t kick employees with letters.

Bombarding employees’ boxes with reminders to do something is the most clinical case of all. Firstly, if it is so important, you can tell about it personally or call. Secondly, from the very first versions of office software, everyone has the ability to create tasks, assignments, etc. Everything is automated with prompts, reminders, and tracking progress.

We shouldn’t test people like that and use email the way we want. Instead, it’s better to spend the time studying its functionality, or learning how to plan the daily routine of subordinates.