I’ve been reflecting recently on professional communications here at work, and I thought it would be good to jot down some notes. Remember that communications is a two part process: sending, and receiving. This part just talks about the sending part, not the receiving/listening end.

Face-to-Face/Video chat

This is the best form of communication. Responses are immediate. It’s most effective if the conversation is followed up with documentation afterwards, especially if action items are defined.

Following are some rules of etiquette to keep in mind:

• If you suspect your conversation will take longer than 5 minutes, schedule a meeting/time where they can plan to be prepared to talk about your topic. Be prepared for your meeting. Prepare an agenda if you are discussing multiple issues.
• If stopping by someone’s cubicle/office, ask them if they have a minute. If they say no, then ask when would be a good time to chat about the subject. If they are in a conversation already , do not interrupt.

Telephone

This is the next best form of communication (sans body language). Face-to-Face rules apply here too.

Email

Email should always be addressed to a person or persons. Mass communication is mostly ignored. If you send an email blast out to everyone, chances are many of them will simply ignore it. Especially if you do this frequently. How to address your email:

• Directly addressed (To:) – These are the people that must read this email. They are expected to reply (if asked them to reply) in a timely manner.
• Carbon copy (Cc:) These addressees SHOULD read the email, but may not. Do not expect them to reply, but only to be informed.
• Blind carbon copy (Bcc:) – Use this to inform someone without other addressee’s knowledge. It is a way to secretly keep others aware of the communication. I like to call this email feature “bringer of certain cursewords”. I strongly urge that you do not use this email feature as it infers deception and may backfire on you. For example, you send a message to Joe that he has done something incorrectly. You BCC: Joe’s boss. Joe’s boss immediately ‘replies all’ and hammers Joe for doing something wrong. Joe inspects the original email and notices that his boss was not on the email list, but knows intimate details about Joe’s failure. Now Joe is angry with you for (what looks like) secretly trying to get him in trouble. It’s just not worth the hassle.

The following are some points to remember when composing your email message:

• Addressing – TO: the people who must have the information. CC: the people that might need to be informed. Do not BCC: anyone. Ever.
• Use a meaningful and descriptive subject line (e.g. ‘Meeting minutes from Product X meeting on January 4, 2012’)
• Write clearly and concisely. Do not leave room for interpretation.
• Use appropriate headings, fonts, bolds, underline, lists.
• Proofread your email. Check for the implied tone your words convey. For instance, when I got someone else to proofread this read this message, I found out that my tone was originally a bit terse.

Generally speaking, email requests should not be expected to be returned in less than 24 hours. Some people on check email only twice each day. Also, email is not a guaranteed form of delivery. It could be caught by a SPAM filter or mistakenly deleted. If you need a guarantee that someone has read your email, call them to confirm.

When responding to an email, you should consider the following:

• Read the entire message. There may be additional context in the forwarded messages.
• Will your reply contribute substance to the conversation?
• Use ‘Reply All’ sparingly. Does everyone really need to know what you are about to say?
• Proofread your response.
• It is never appropriate to write an inflammatory or derogatory email, whether provoked or not. Never. Remember that your email communication becomes part of the permanent record of the company, and according to new laws, must be retained for several years. Would you want your flaming email to be viewed by a lawyer 5 years from now?

Blog/website

This is communication to no one person in particular, but to everyone. Assume that it will be consumed by everyone, even those that may not be familiar with the subject matter. Most good blog entries are informational. They contain the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, HOW, and WHY of a specific point. I think the best blog entries are also entertaining. They include personal stories exemplifying the subject matter.

Snail mail/FedEx/UPS/USPS/Fax

I almost lumped all of these methods together in a category called ‘No longer effective’, but there are still some uses:

• permanent legal documents;
• documents that require signature;
• Documents that require a certification/guarantee of delivery.

Note: Faxes are not a guaranteed form of communication. Faxes get lost. People are not always around to pick them up. Faxes should always be followed up immediately by confirmation of delivery.