SHORT WORKPLACE MESSAGES

AND DIGITAL MEDIA

Business Communication – Dr. Garamvölgyi Judit
E-mails

■ The most effective digital tool for Internet-using workers

■ E-mail has replaced paper memos for many messages inside organizations and some
letters to external audiences
■ The main and most often official means of communication
■ Can be reached from computer, phones
E-Mail Overload

■ The sheer amount

■ The average worker receives 121 e-mails per day or more than 44,000 e-mails per year
■ Checks e-mail 77 times per day; some people peek at their inboxes as often as 373 times
daily
■ Reply all
■ Spam
■ Funny messages
■ Several accounts
E-Mail—Everlasting
Evidence
■ Dangerous - After deletion, e-mail files still leave
trails on servers within and outside organizations.
Messages are also backed up on other servers, making
them traceable and recoverable by forensic experts.
■ Incriminating e-mails in court cases as damaging and
costly evidence
■ Organizations can legally monitor their staff’s
personal e-mail accounts if the workers access them
on the company’s computer network.
■ Be sure that you know your organization’s e-mail
policy before sending personal messages
Knowing When E-Mail Is Appropriate

■ Short, informal messages that request information and respond to inquiries

■ Effective for messages to multiple receivers and messages that must be archived
(saved).
■ As a cover document when sending longer attachments
■ As a summary of things discussed in a meeting or a phone conversation
■ Not a substitute for face-to-face conversations or telephone calls.
■ Messages that “require a human moment” should be delivered in person
Composing Professional E-Mails

■ Professional e-mails are well-considered messages that usually carry nonsensitive

information unlikely to upset readers
 Draft a Compelling but Concise Subject Line
The most important part of an e-mail.
Avoid meaningless statements such as Help, Attention,
or Meeting.
Summarize the purpose of the message clearly and POOR SUBJECT IMPROVED SUBJECT LINES
make the receiver want to open the message. LINES
Presentation Need You to Prepare a Sales
Try to include a verb (Need You to Prepare a Sales Presentation
Presentation). Division Meeting Pacific Division Meeting
Remember that in some instances the subject line can Rescheduled for May 18
be the entire message (Meeting Changed from May 3 Important! Please Respond to Employee
Satisfaction Survey
to May 10) <EOM>.
Parking Permits New Employee Parking
Adjust the subject line if the topic changes after a Permits Available From HR
thread of replies emerges.
Subject lines should appear as a combination of
uppercase and lowercase letters—never in all
lowercase letters or all caps.
Greeting

■ The greeting sets the tone for the message and reflects your audience analysis
■ For friends and colleagues, try friendly greetings (Hi, Sandy; Thanks, Sandy; Good
morning, Sandy; or Greetings, Sandy)
■ For more formal messages and those to outsiders, include an honorific and last name
(Dear Ms. Richards).
Organize the Body for Readability and
Tone
Things to check:
■ Did you start directly?
■ Did you group similar topics together?
■ Could some information be presented with bulleted or numbered lists?
■ Could you add headings—especially if the message contains more than a few
paragraphs?
■ Do you see any phrases or sentences that could be condensed? - Get rid of wordiness,
but don’t sacrifice clarity
■ Does the messages sound curt (rudely brief)? - Read the message aloud to check.
Close ■ Include an action statement with due dates and
requests.
Effectively ■ Include a friendly closing such as Many thanks or
Warm regards, Yours sincerely.
■ Include your name because messages without names
become confusing when forwarded or when they are
part of a long string of responses.
■ Include full contact information in a signature block,
which your e-mail application can insert automatically.
Controlling Your Inbox

■ In the business world e-mail writing IS business writing.

■ Use time-management strategies to control your inbox.
■ Two-minute rule: If you can read and respond to a message within two minutes,
then take care of it immediately. For messages that require more time, flag and
add them to your to-do list or schedule them on your calendar. To be polite, send
a quick note telling the sender when you plan to respond.
Replying Efficiently With Down-Editing

■ Inserting your responses to parts of the incoming message. After a courteous opening,
your reply message will include only the parts of the incoming message to which you
are responding.
■ Delete the sender’s message headers, signature, and all unnecessary parts. Your
responses can be identified with your initials, if more than one person will be seeing the
response.
■ Another efficient trick is to use a different colour for your down-edits.
 Best Practices for Better E-Mail
Observing
Getting Started Replying Closing Effectively
Etiquette
• Send only content • Scan all e-mails, • Obtain approval • End with due dates,
you would want to especially those before forwarding next steps to be taken,
be published. from the same • Soften the tone by or a friendly remark.
• Add your full contact
• Write compelling person. Answer including a friendly
within 24 hours or information including
subject lines, opening and social media
possibly with say when you will closing addresses.
names and dates: • Change the subject • Resist humour and • Edit your text for
Jake: Can You line if the topic sarcasm. Absent readability. Proofread
Present at January changes. facial expression for typos or unwanted
10 Staff Meeting? • Check the threaded and tone of voice, auto-corrections.
messages below humour can be • Double-check before
yours. misunderstood hitting Send.
• Down editing • Avoid writing in all
• Start with the main caps, which is like
idea. SHOUTING.
• Use headings and
lists
Workplace Messaging and Texting

■ Instant messaging (IM) and text messaging have become powerful communication tools
beyond teens and twentysomethings.
■ IM enables two or more individuals to use the Internet or an intranet (an internal
corporate communication platform) to chat in real time by exchanging brief text-based
messages.
■ Companies large and small now provide live online chats with customer service
representatives, in addition to the usual contact options, such as telephone and e-mail.
■ Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, WeChat, Skype, and Snapchat—provide consumers
and small businesses with features such as IM, voice and video calls, and photo sharing
Text messaging

■ Text messaging, or texting, is another popular means for exchanging brief messages in
real time.
■ Usually exchanged via smartphone, texting requires a short message service (SMS)
supplied by a cell phone service provider or Wi-Fi access.
Impact of Instant Messaging and Texting

■ Convenient alternatives to the telephone and are replacing e-mail for short internal
communication.
■ French IT giant Atos reduced e-mail use by 70 percent after shifting its in-house
communication over several years to a Facebook-style interface and instant messaging.
■ More than 3.2 billion IM accounts worldwide.
■ Sixty-seven percent of business professionals use IM in the United States.29
Benefits of IM and Texting

■ Low cost, speed, and unobtrusiveness

■ Immediacy and efficiency
Risks of IM and Texting

■ Another distraction in addition to the telephone, e-mail, and the Internet

■ Some organizations also fear that employees using free consumer-grade IM systems will
reveal privileged information and company records.
■ Large corporations are protecting themselves by taking instant messaging behind the
firewall where they can log and archive traffic
■ Liability burden - A worker’s improper use of mobile devices while on company
business can expose the organization to staggering legal liability
■ Security and legal requirements – phishing, viruses, malware
Best Practices for Instant Messaging and
Texting
■ Follow company policies: netiquette rules, code of conduct, ethics guidelines, as well as
harassment and discrimination policies.38
■ Don’t disclose sensitive financial, company, customer, employee, or executive data, and
don’t say anything that could damage your reputation or that of your organization.
■ Steer clear of harassment and discriminatory content against classes protected by law
(race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, and disability).
■ Don’t forward or link to inappropriate photos, videos, and art.
■ Don’t text or IM while driving a car; pull over if you must read or send a message.
■ Separate business contacts from family and friends; limit personal messaging.
■ Avoid unnecessary chitchat and know when to say goodbye.
■ Keep your presence status up-to-date, and make yourself unavailable when you need to
meet a deadline.
■ Use good grammar and correct spelling; shun jargon, slang, and abbreviations, which
can be confusing and appear unprofessional.
Collaborating With Wikis

A wiki is a cloudbased tool that employs easy-to-use collaborative software to allow

multiple users collectively to create, access, and modify documents.
■ Advantages of Wikis
– crowdsourcing, which can be defined as the practice of tapping into the combined
knowledge of a large community to solve problems and complete assignments.
– working on the same content jointly eliminates the infamous problem of version
confusion
Blogging for Business

■ A blog is a website or social media platform with informal posts and articles on any
imaginable topic usually written by one person, although most corporate blogs feature
multiple contributors.
■ Typically, readers leave comments.
■ Businesses use blogs to keep customers, employees, and the public at large informed
and to interact with them.
How Companies Blog
■ Public Relations, Customer Relations, and Crisis Communication
– provide up-to-date company information to the media and the public.
– An organization’s blog is a natural forum for late-breaking news, especially when
a crisis hits
■ Market Research and Viral Marketing
– most blogs invite feedback, they can be invaluable sources of opinion and bright
ideas from customers as well as industry experts.
– viral marketing refers to the rapid spread of messages online, much like infectious
diseases that pass from person to person
■ Online Communities – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
■ Internal Communication and Recruiting - Blogs can be used to keep virtual teams on
track and share updates on the road. Members in remote locations can stay in touch by
smartphone and other devices, exchanging text, images, sound, and video clips.
Social Networking for Business

The key to all the social media is that they thrive in a mobile, interactive, and
hyperconnected environment.
■ Connecting Far-Flung Workers
■ Crowdsourcing Customers - Social networks and blogs also help companies invite
customer input at the product design stage
Potential Risks of Social Networking for
Businesses
■ incurring productivity losses,
■ compromising trade secrets,
■ attracting the wrath of huge Internet audiences,
■ facing embarrassment over inappropriate and damaging employee posts
Using Digital Media Like a Pro: Don’ts
Avoid questionable content, personal documents, and file sharing

Don’t spread rumors, gossip, and negative defamatory comments. Because all digital information is
subject to discovery in court, avoid unprofessional content and conduct, including complaints about your
employer, customers, and employees.
Don’t download and share cartoons, video clips, photos, and art. Businesses are liable for any recorded
digital content regardless of the medium used.

Don’t open unfamiliar attachments. Attachments with executable files or video files may carry viruses,
spyware, or other malware (malicious programs).

Don’t download free software and utilities to company machines. Employees can unwittingly introduce
viruses, phishing schemes, and other cyber bugs.

Don’t store your music and photos on a company machine (or server) and don’t watch streaming
videos. Capturing precious company bandwidth for personal use is a sure way to be shown the door.

Don’t share files, and avoid file-sharing services. Clarify whether you may use Google Docs and other
services that offer optional file sharing. Stay away from distributors or pirated files such as LimeWare.
Using Digital Media Like a Pro: Dos
Learn your company’s rules. Some companies require workers to sign that they have read and
understand Internet and digital media use policies. Being informed is your best protection.
Avoid sending personal e-mail, instant messages, or texts from work. Even if your company
allows personal use during lunch or after hours, keep it to a minimum. Better yet, wait to use your
own electronic devices away from work.
Separate work and personal data. Keep information that could embarrass you or expose you to
legal liability on your personal storage devices, on hard drives, or in the cloud, never on your
office computer.
Be careful when blogging, tweeting, or posting on social networking sites. Unhappy about not
receiving a tip, a Beverly Hills waiter lost his job for tweeting disparaging remarks about an
actress. Forgetting that his boss was his Facebook friend, a British employee was fired after
posting, “OMG, I HATE MY JOB!” and calling his supervisor names.
Keep sensitive information private. Use privacy settings, but don’t trust the “private” areas on
Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and other social networks.
Avoid pornography, sexually explicit jokes, or inappropriate screen savers. Anything that
might poison the work environment is a harassment risk and, therefore, prohibited.