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However, I don't think they fully addressed how to style emails, especially work emails. There are some good tips in this book and it was a quick, easy read, but I think most of the tips could have easily been summed up in a blog article.What I really wanted was more focus and tips on email tone. The authors nail it that people can have drastically different interpretations of emails based on their inner feelings and fears. I also wish they would have given some suggestions or case studies of how to get one's organization to improve email courtesy and management.
It's nice when a "business" book both is interesting to read AND can have the effect of changing your life. Which it did - It is definitely one of the best things I read as far as getting you to understand when NOT to email. I have both quoted from this book to family and friends and given the book as a gift to several people at work. This book will truly give you a better understanding both from the sender side and the reader side as well.
So in order to understand these offenders better I bought this book -- just as the subtitle of the book suggests.How would they not know these obvious things, I ask myself. It's like being a native speaker and trying to teach someone your language without knowing anything about grammar. If you are naturally good at writing good e-mails, how do you teach someone else to compose better e-mails. This book helps you to get back to basics. You would need a textbook and here it comes.I actually got this book because I receive bad e-mails way too often. Time after time I'm shocked by how many people do this -- customers, colleagues, you name it. It lays out things that sound trivial in a way which is never boring or dull. And as much as you think you know all this stuff already, you will certainly find a couple of useful advices from it.
In these days of constant email, anything that helps educate about good email use and etiquette is a good idea in my book. We immediately implemented some of the suggestions made in this book. But as with anything, rules are meant to be broken, so take it for what it's worth.This was so hot in my office that it made all the rounds - and I never got it back. It's a good, quick read and very actionable.
Once the message is out of your inbox, you ain't never taking it back. Like a letter, you have time to think about exactly what you want to say, and if necessary, you have time to calm down. My office keeps a copy in the bathrooms, because we're uncultured that way. (-:I do have a specific contradiction to one piece of advice in this book: if you send a message you didn't intend to, do NOT use Outlook's message recall service.
I personally prefer email for most of my communications, and I think my kind don't get a totally fair shake in this book. perhaps itself a bit like an email. Email also has the advantage of keeping a record of a long-past agreement. Most people have had at least one experience of unintentionally offending (or taking offense to) their fellow emailers.
It's not that email is a bad medium; it's a medium with no underlying context, which means even a neutral email serves as a screen onto which the reader projects his or her own anxieties. If you're struggling with strong emotions, your face and/or voice will probably show them; if necessary, you can keep these to yourself in an email. There's a reason most contracts aren't verbal. If you're like me and need to establish complex agreements with large groups of people, email is invaluable. .
My approach has always been to take extra care when writing about a potentially difficult subject. However, this book explains the fundmental cause of such difficulties. I believe that's why most of us try hard to make our messages friendly, and I, unlike the book, have no trouble with judicious use of smilies. A message can't be mean if it's got a smiley. And, unfortunately, here's another email indicating that you signed off. Email can have its advantages in charged situations. (1) All your recipients will receive the message anyway; (2) If they make the mistake of clicking on your recall message, it will tie up the host email program; (3) it will leave the original message in its place, just waiting to do damage, and (4) you have now called special attention to it with your futile attempts undo your mistake.
When that pesky IT guy comes back and swears that we promised him 100 hours of free service, we can say sweetly, no, if you look at the meeting notes we sent last month, there's no mention of it. However, I give this book four stars, because it offered up some surprise insights, even for a hardened emailer like me. Treat it like it's US mail. I must admit, this is a perfect book to dip into during a visit to the office loo.
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