Apologies for the spelling in the image – AI can’t always spell. There is hope for us all yet! In the context of continuing technology evolution we have witnessed seismic change in business communication. With old fashioned snail mail for business communications in letter form you mostly knew where you were with the correct form of address and conclusion to use. If you commenced the letter with “Dear sir or Madam” you conclude it with “Yours faithfully” whereas if you know the name of the recipient and put “Dear Fred/ Freda” you ended with “Yours sincerely”. Generally, the “named” letters were more personal and friendly. Formal notices or litigation letters often started with the more formal anonymous title. Nowadays with email and instant messages (IM’s) you might think all of this was history and irrelevant to our switched-on connected world where brevity and speed of response are the norm.
In reality I suggest that whilst there may not be the formal “rules” we used to apply, how we communicate effectively in the electronic professional world still really matters. For example, I have noticed that for most emails and IM’s the conversation starts with “Hi” and your first name. If this convention is not applied the note seems slightly unfriendly. Some IM’s start with “Good morning” or “Hello” which again are friendly. There does not however seem to be any convention about ending (or not) with your name perhaps because the sender is obvious from the address. Some emails end with “Best regards” or the more friendly “Kind regards”.
In this age of less formal communication there is a surprising amount of material available on what we should and should not do online. This blog Email etiquette: how can HR guide employees in effective remote communication has ten tips including:
While this Forbes article 10 Rules Of Email Etiquette has some good tips such as:
For a communication medium that is so informal there is also a lot of advice on the use of IM’s. This article Using Instant Messaging Effectively is a good example. It suggests the advantages are “it can reduce the amount of time that we spend on the phone or writing emails, and it's a fast, relaxed way to share information.” `on the other hand and I think this is really important from a welfare perspective “IM also promotes the "always on" culture, and encourages people to expect immediate responses. This can lead to stress and burnout, especially for those who send and receive out of hours work-related messages through apps on their personal devices.”
Intriguingly the Microsoft 365 Team has produced Your guide to chat etiquette in the workplace which observes “instant messaging in chat-based workspace apps is rapidly becoming the go-to business communication method.” However “Unfortunately, this explosion of communication options creates the potential for workplace misunderstandings, churn, or worse—including drops in productivity, low morale, and business risks.” Its rules of thumb include:
And maybe we are seeing IM’s take over from emails as they are increasingly used for more and more business communications including sending documents as attachments or links - which was the preserve of email. I have a senior colleague who has for the most part stopped using emails.
ChaGPT suggests that “Instant messaging (IM) and email serve different communication purposes, and it is unlikely that IM will entirely replace emails.” We will see what happens but as with the increasing rarity of a business letter, we do all seem to be using IM more and more.
As a good parting thought the author Trevor Carss said “If it doesn't feel right to receive what you're sending, don't send it.”
In reality I suggest that whilst there may not be the formal “rules” we used to apply, how we communicate effectively in the electronic professional world still really matters. For example, I have noticed that for most emails and IM’s the conversation starts with “Hi” and your first name. If this convention is not applied the note seems slightly unfriendly. Some IM’s start with “Good morning” or “Hello” which again are friendly. There does not however seem to be any convention about ending (or not) with your name perhaps because the sender is obvious from the address. Some emails end with “Best regards” or the more friendly “Kind regards”.
In this age of less formal communication there is a surprising amount of material available on what we should and should not do online. This blog Email etiquette: how can HR guide employees in effective remote communication has ten tips including:
- Include a clear subject matter
- Only use shorthand if you know your recipients
- Be wary of using humour or colloquialism across cultures
- Don’t hit reply all or CC everyone
- Always spell check.
While this Forbes article 10 Rules Of Email Etiquette has some good tips such as:
- Avoid all caps, exclamation points, and slang.
- Be careful when trying to be funny
- Create a professional signature
- Respond timely and appropriately
- Proofread, proofread, proofread. I particularly like this one as a lawyer!
For a communication medium that is so informal there is also a lot of advice on the use of IM’s. This article Using Instant Messaging Effectively is a good example. It suggests the advantages are “it can reduce the amount of time that we spend on the phone or writing emails, and it's a fast, relaxed way to share information.” `on the other hand and I think this is really important from a welfare perspective “IM also promotes the "always on" culture, and encourages people to expect immediate responses. This can lead to stress and burnout, especially for those who send and receive out of hours work-related messages through apps on their personal devices.”
Intriguingly the Microsoft 365 Team has produced Your guide to chat etiquette in the workplace which observes “instant messaging in chat-based workspace apps is rapidly becoming the go-to business communication method.” However “Unfortunately, this explosion of communication options creates the potential for workplace misunderstandings, churn, or worse—including drops in productivity, low morale, and business risks.” Its rules of thumb include:
- Use IM or chat for internal teams …but use email ….with external working groups.
- If written IMs prove unclear, offer to jump on a quick voice call. See my blog Walk the Week – Pick up the Phone for more thoughts on this.
- The thumbs-up button—often thought of as the “like” button—can help you close the loop on conversations faster.
- Respect your coworkers’ availability status. Never ping a colleague who’s set themselves as unavailable.
And maybe we are seeing IM’s take over from emails as they are increasingly used for more and more business communications including sending documents as attachments or links - which was the preserve of email. I have a senior colleague who has for the most part stopped using emails.
ChaGPT suggests that “Instant messaging (IM) and email serve different communication purposes, and it is unlikely that IM will entirely replace emails.” We will see what happens but as with the increasing rarity of a business letter, we do all seem to be using IM more and more.
As a good parting thought the author Trevor Carss said “If it doesn't feel right to receive what you're sending, don't send it.”
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