Conversation Page 3
Electronic mail or email is an area where the conventions are a bit up for grabs—should you say, “Dear X” or “Hi X?” Is closing with “Sincerely” really necessary? Yes; when in doubt, be a bit conservative. To start, write an email with a descriptive subject line. Keep it to less than ten words, and make sure it relates to the email body’s content. This shows the recipient what the email will be about and allows them to prioritize when they respond accordingly. Many people will not even bother to open an email with no subject. He or she will assume that the email may not be very important if the sender could not even be bothered to write out a subject line. Therefore, always include a helpful subject in your emails.
Another important part of emails is appropriateness. Avoid gossip or arguments over email. For one thing, emails are written, meaning that a message is preserved and can be used against the sender or recipient if a conflict arises. If you do not want the content of a message to be overheard if it is in verbal communication, avoid including it in an email. Gossip and arguing can be reserved for verbal communication in person or over the phone. Email is written, meaning that an unintended recipient may gain access to an email account that is not there or stumble upon a computer which is not password-protected. Do not send an email whose content would embarrass you if an extra set of eyes were to view it.
“Reading the room,” so to speak, is also absolutely imperative when sending an email. When sending an email, know your audience, and address them appropriately. If you are sending an email to interview for a job or a college professor, lean on the side of formality. Open with “Dear Dr. /Professor/Mrs. /Mr. X,” and check the grammar and spelling of the body of the email. Having typos or using over-colloquial language may strike the message’s recipient as being unprofessional or even disrespectful. Write professionally and without slang.
If the recipient of a message is a close friend or a sibling, however, feel free to have some more fun. If you are close with the person, emojis can be a fun way to add humor to a message. Linguistic shortcuts such as “ttyl” or “luv u 2” may also be acceptable and appropriate. When emailing a close friend, it’s okay to be a little bit more casual. You are probably not trying to impress this person, and your paycheck does not depend on his or her good favor; your level of intimacy is high enough with this recipient that formality is unnecessary.
Another good rule for emailing is to sense a timely response. Responding quickly shows the sender that you are respectful of their time and needs. Keeping someone waiting on a response is considered rude because emails often contain important questions or information. Especially in professional settings, emails often require a response in order to proceed on a project.
With respect to material, the content of an email should be focused and concise. If an email is meant to be about a work project, do not include extra info about the beach you went to over the weekend or how much you love your new workout plan. Nobody wants to search through an email that is paragraphs long to find the important information; it should be clear, straightforward, and easy to refer back to should someone needs to.
Knowing these easy guidelines will make your future emails more effective and clearer. Writing a well-crafted email is essential in keeping relationships healthy and polite while still being able to share necessary information or being productive. Emailing is the backbone of communication for many professions. Knowing this skill may improve your likelihood of getting an interview for a new job and may keep you in good favor with colleagues.
How to Write Good Text Messages
Even more intimate than email is a text message. They have become a vital part of written communication and perhaps the most commonly used method. Text messages allow nearly instantaneous communication and entire conversations. People are near their cellular devices almost constantly, so quick communication to share a lot of useful information is possible. This is why people often make plans over text message; all the important details of a plan can be in writing and the conventionally quick response time allows for discussion of logistics.
With that said, text messaging can often be a minefield of written communication mistakes. Because a text message often elicits an immediate response from the recipient, many people fall under the impression that text message is an appropriate medium for sensitive discussions or conflict resolution. In addition, people often send text messages at inconvenient times under the impression that they are entitled to a response right away. Text messaging is an extremely useful way to engage in fast, fun communication, and knowing proper etiquette can be a lifesaver.
One of the most important things about sending a text message is identifying an appropriate time to text. Unless it is an emergency, refrain from texting someone you are not very close with at odd hours. Avoid 5 AM or midnight text messages. If you know a friend is at work, text them when you know that they are not that busy or after they get out of work. Choosing the right time when he or she will be more likely to respond will let the conversation can flow more easily. In terms of safety, never send a text message while you are driving or even stopped at a street light. Not only does it endanger you, other drivers, and passengers in your car, but it also shows others that you do not care whatsoever about their safety. Avoid texting while driving to show others that you care about their life.
In addition, do not bombard someone with text messages if they do not respond immediately. They may be busy or not checking their phone. If someone does not respond to a text message, just wait. If the question is important, and this person still has not responded after a few hours, feel free to give them a call. You can also politely ask the question again. Because people are so attached to their devices, receiving a bunch of text messages at once from a person may come off as intrusive or pushy.
Like email, be aware of what is appropriate content for a text message. While communication using text messages may seem more personal than email and more reserved for close friends, try to ensure that disputes are resolved through verbal communication. Without nonverbal communication, written communication can make it more difficult to gauge others’ emotions and control our own. It can be easy to unconsciously take for granted that cell phone screens shield us from the most intimidating parts of interpersonal communication, such as emotions and body language, but try to be brave. Expressing important emotions and resolving conflicts is worth the price of fear for the positive outcome of a verbal interaction.
With respect to safety and confidentiality, the same rule applies in sending emails—do not share extremely sensitive information over a text message. Avoid gossiping and namedropping, and do not send explicit sexual messages or photographs through text. You cannot control who sees a text message, and when text messages reach unintended recipients, they can wreak havoc on careers and relationships. In addition, the audience is important; use correct grammar and no emojis when texting a boss or superior, but bring out your humor and spunk when texting a friend.
In general, follow similar etiquette for texting when you send emails. Know your audience, know what’s appropriate, and keep healthy boundaries in mind.
Chapter 4: Formal and Informal Communication
C ommunication in the workplace can exist in two modes—formal and informal. Formal communication is when information is passed on officially or according to a specific protocol. Examples of formal communication include legal contracts, memos, and bills. Most importantly, formal communication often travels through specified channels throughout an organization. It can include emails if the institution in question views email as an official mode of communication.
Informal communication is a more casual form of communication between coworkers in the workplace. It tends to be unofficial and nonbinding but can still lead to productive work. An example of informal communication would be coworkers bouncing ideas off each other over email before they begin a project. It also includes the communication resulting from social relationships in the workplace, so the messages exchanged may not often
be work-related information.
All about Formal Communication
The purpose of formal communication within an organization is to streamline and properly document what happens there. By using pre-specified channels of communication, organizations can keep track of important exchanges and ensure that operations run smoothly. Formal communication is the easiest way to disseminate information from higher levels of authority to their subordinates and share official policies to be followed by employees.
Formal communication is often used in businesses to file and respond to complaints or to keep track of finances. For the most part, formal communication in the workplace is used for anything worth documenting and keeping track of.
Despite how useful and important it is, formal communication often poses some obstacles in the workplace. Formal communication can often seem a bit too formal to subordinates or impersonal and arbitrary. In addition, formal communication can often be a bit inflexible. To ease some of these challenges, this section will offer some tips to make formal communication generous and painless.
A common complaint about formal communication is how rigid its information often is. If a bunch of company employees receive an email of a new policy or are informed of it in a workplace meeting, they may feel as though a bunch of new rules has been imposed upon them arbitrarily or without any consideration to their own needs. Formal communication often comes off as rigid because it may require the input of many higher-ups within an organization before its message is distributed, and employees’ responses may take a while to reach these higher-ups. In addition, negotiation through official communication may often seem cumbersome and unfair to employees; they may not feel as though their input has been considered, and once rules are made in an organization, it can be hard to change them.
To address this concern, if you are in a position to do so, treat lower-level employees the way you would like to be treated if you held a similar position as them. Help create rules, regulations, and plans with their well-being in mind. Create the sort of workplace you would have liked as a lower-level employee in the workplace.
Another issue with formal communication is the strict and authoritarian tone it can take. Employees often have questions or suggestions regarding how a workplace ought to operate, and the tone of formal communication may seem uninviting to them. To avoid unreasonably intimidating employees or making them feel powerless, treat employees respectfully. Make eye contact when speaking to them, thank them for accepting workplace guidelines, and make it clear that their input is appreciated. A happy workplace is a productive workplace.
In addition, good formal communication practice is to know what you want and act decisively. Because formal communication may require decision making and official procedures to allow a project to move forward, try not to waste employees’ time. Many projects have tanked because formal communication did not occur in time for deadlines and scheduling issues. Be considerate. Formal communication is meant to help an organization run smoothly. It is not simply a ritual.
With that said, if you are a lower-level employee, use formal communication to your advantage. Meet deadlines on time, respond to formal communication respectfully, and devote time and effort to anything that will be documented in formal communication. Formal communication is, in some ways, documentation of your occupational performance. Make sure you leave a good impression. It may make the difference between a promotion and a raise, which is always welcome.
Informal Communication Methods
On the other opposite end of formal communication is informal communication. Informal communication is any mode of communication occurring between members of an organization through unofficial channels. It could be a chat about an upcoming deadline or simply emails about scheduling a quick meeting with someone. While informal communication may seem the fun part of the workplace, it is, in fact, vital to its health. Informal communication is what creates a healthy workplace environment; it allows social relationships to facilitate professional relationships, and it can actually increase productivity.
Given that informal communication is all about nurturing workplace relationships, it is often the place where relationships are made or broken. To ensure that your informal communications proceed smoothly, keep a few of these ideas in mind when engaging with a coworker.
One of the most important parts of informal communication is discerning truth and fiction. What does this mean, you might ask? A common issue of informal communication is that, because of its unofficial and through-the-grape-vine transmission of information, there is much room for misinformation to spread throughout the workplace. This means that it is important to take extra precaution when engaging in informal communication. Be straightforward about what you do not know and only pass on information if you know it is certainly true. Keeping track of how valid informal communication may be is absolutely crucial. If untrue information and rumors spread throughout the workplace, they can cause mass confusion and lead to decreased productivity and disagreements among members of the organization.
While informal communication may be less reliable than formal communication, one of its advantages is its flexibility. Informally communicated messages are often more open to discussion and input. While formal communication is “sets in stone” company protocol, informal communication is a little bit less binding and less codified. In other words, it often facilitates more back-and-forth communication between higher-ups and their subordinates.
With this in mind, there are a few ways to make informal communication do its best work for you. While it may be less binding than official channels of communication, bear in mind that your word still represents you. In other words, keep to promises, appointments, and deadlines you suggest in informal communication. Informal communication is an opportunity to build rapport with coworkers and bosses in a more personal way than formal communication. Becoming known as a dependable person is crucial in workplace environments. It increases the likelihood that others will want to work with you in the future, and informal communication is an important step in building a reputation to obtain positive references for job applications.
Another important step toward building up your reputation through informal communication is to go above and beyond the minimum of expectations. Participate in meetings, attend those workplace softball games, and convey your commitment to the workplace. While formal communication often involves simply following orders, informal communication has a lot of running room. It is where most judgments of character are made. Thus, do not lose sight of the fact that informal communication makes or breaks workplace relationships.
This chapter should be a good jumping-off point for building positive workplace relationships through the two main modes of communication. Knowing how to prove yourself in the workplace is an indispensable skill for career advancement. With these tips and principles, you can approach your career with promotions and raises closer than you might have thought.
Chapter 5: Visual Communication
H uman beings get eighty percent of their incoming information through sight. Messages bombard us constantly to tell us how to look, what to do, and how to think. Clearly, sight is a powerful medium for a message, and it can affect us emotionally and intellectually. If this were not the case, human beings would not have produced such quantities of brilliant artwork, including the Mona Lisa or Michelangelo’s David.
We learn a lot about the world through visual communication. Small children learn about humor and social conventions by watching television, and as adults, we learn all about the world from watching the news on television. Visual communication is the transmission of messages through visual mediums such as typography, graphic design, video, photograph, digital media, signs, illustration, and advertising—basically anything that leaves a manipulatable visual impression.
Visual communication is a bit like public speaking because the message contained is usually meant to reach many people, and it may not allow for very much cross-talk betwe
en the communicator and the message recipient. One of the defining characteristics of visual communication is its ability to push powerful messages relentlessly. Despite the intensity of a visual message, it can often contain only a limited amount of information. After all, all movies end, and people only want to spend so long looking at a poster with pictures and words.
This method of communication is so important because people absorb and retain visual information with relative ease. While someone may make a powerful speech or give a lecture on a topic, it is unlikely that most listeners will remember very much of it after they leave. Visual messages often pack a punch, though. They can be aesthetically pleasing and crafted precisely to leave a lasting impression to viewers. Remember that human beings absorb eighty percent of their information visually, so it makes sense that we remember visually transmitted information more than verbal communication or written communication.
Visual communication is also so effective because of the entertainment and pleasure it can provide to those who view it. People constantly scroll through Instagram feeds and consume images; it makes our brains feel good to like pleasant and visually striking images. Given this, an intended recipient is much more likely to see and pay attention to a message simply because it looks pretty. The aesthetic component captures his or her attention, and then they focus on the actual message being conveyed.
This chapter will discuss visual communication and how to use it most effectively. The uses and advantages of visual communication will be covered, and there will also be tips on how to maximize the effectiveness of your message through visual media. Knowing how to affect your audience intensely will allow you to reach more people with greater ease and spread your word.