E-mail Essay -- Technology, Communication

Email is the most widely used communication tool within companies today. Email has been described as a curse and a blessing. Email reaches its recipients quickly and can be sent across the globe within seconds. Companies with multiple locations find this essential in communicating. Email can also reach a large number of individuals within a matter of keystrokes. Sending a mass email reaches many recipients with one consistent message. While there are many praises of email, its drawbacks must be considered as well. Email communication can financially impact an organization. Emails sent without a clear message can lead to misinterpretations which ultimately may cost the company money. Employees often complain of receiving up to and sometimes over 100 emails a day and often many do not pertain to them. For each email the employee must read to determine its value to them or spend time reading to perceive a clear message, it reduces the employee’s productivity. Managers and coworkers who use effective email techniques can increase communication accuracy, decrease frustration and increase productivity. BYRON, K. (2008). CARRYING TOO HEAVY A LOAD? THE COMMUNICATION AND MISCOMMUNICATION OF EMOTION BY EMAIL. Academy of Management Review, 33(2), 309-327. doi:10.5465/AMR.2008.31193163 This article provides a unique examination into how the emotion written in email affects its perception. Study results were measured on emails written with positive, negative and neutral emotions. Gender and relationship status were taken into account for this study. The conclusion results suggested that misinterpretations as a result of emotion written within email is inevitable and varies largely from the intended emotion of the sender and th... ...This article addresses the cost of email mistakes and the characteristics of an effective email. The charts provided not only indicate the cost of the mistakes but the hours lost in productivity. Accuracy, clarity, spelling, punctuation, grammar and conciseness were identified as characteristics of an effective email. While this article clearly identifies the cost of ineffective emails and the loss of productivity, it lacks solutions to improve efficient email writing. A source is referenced but lacks detail in study information. Studies within the literature researched support the thesis that the use of effective email techniques can increase communication accuracy, decrease frustration and increase productivity. Elements of a properly written email were identified. Training implementation and measurement proved to improve clarity and productivity.