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It’s changed the way we think and behave
Who do we thank (and curse) for email?
by John Graham
Email may be the most significant communications advance since the telephone.
Setting aside what may be coming next, email has totally changed the way
we exchange information.
How dependent are we on email? Perhaps it’s not an exaggeration to
suggest that if email were taken away, business would come to an instant
halt and catapult us into a worldwide depression.
While email technology deserves endless praise, the abuses are just as notable.
The quantity of junk email explodes faster than a pair of rabbits. And there’s
no end in sight.
Who would have thought that anything could possibly exceed the volume of
junk mail we found in our mailboxes? Yet, looking back just a couple of
years, it was nothing compared to the amount of junk emails that fill our
computer mailboxes. Even the delete button is small comfort.
Certainly, the promise of junk email is dazzling! How can anyone resist
the endless possibilities?
“Eliminate your debt.” The
dream comes true.
“Burn your own DVD videos!” Eat your heart
out, Blockbuster.
“Stop hair loss this week!” Another dream
comes true.
“You have been chosen…” What am I going
to get for free?
“You can own an adult web site and make huge
$$$.” So exciting, daring, and naughty.
“Win a Mercedes!”
Just what I’ve been waiting for.
“FREE Viagra.” Maybe
email is not so bad after all.
“Reach 1 million prospects.”
Just think of all the money that will come rolling in.
“Get two
FREE airline tickets!” That vacation is in reach, finally.
“Bridging
the gap.” I wasn’t aware of one, but now I’m concerned.
“Your prayers for a unique annuity have been answered.”
We know all this is too good to be true––but we hope that just
maybe it is.
At the same time, there’s another side to the email frenzy, one that’s
darker and less friendly. It’s also one that’s having a negative
impact on the business environment. That’s why it is helpful to consider
the impact of email as a form of communication. While the benefits of email
are enormous, it’s worth avoiding its negative aspects.
1.
Email tends to encourage interpersonal dueling. Because email messages
are often “dashed off” and less well thought out than a letter,
for example, they can be curt or even misleading. At times, perhaps both.
One manager received an email from a client who had received the wrong email
attachment. “I asked for this last week.” Reading between the
words, the implication was clear. The sender was somewhat irritated and
outraged. While the attachment was incorrect, he had “forgotten”
that certain work was necessary before the document could be sent to him.
Perhaps because senders tend to use as few words as possible, emailing tends
to encourage abruptness, something most people have learned to avoid in
face-to-face or even telephone conversations. And since the recipient is
unseen, it is easier to be blunt.
2. Email often confuses
action with act. Notable changes in communication began taking
place with the introduction of the fax machine. Like leaving a note or mailing
a letter, faxing only separated the message sender from the recipient. But
unlike them, faxing was almost instant. Fax messages could be dashed off
and delivered in a few moments to another office or another country. Voicemail
escalated the process even further. Pick up the phone and “just say
it,” often with minimal thought. Email has ratcheted up the process
even further.
A by-product of more efficient communication, particularly email, is the
errroneous belief that sending a message is all that’s required. In
other words, an act (sending an email message) is confused with action (resolving
a problem, for example). When asked about a particular situation, we often
hear someone say, “I sent her an email” as if sending the message
absolves the sender from further responsibility.
3. Email
seems to encourage third-rate thinking. Half the messages don’t
make sense. How many times a day do you hit the “reply” button
and ask the sender what he or she meant?
Because it is designed to be quick, email seems to foster off-the-cuff,
shoot-from-the-hip thinking. Or more to the point, a lack of thought. Whatever
comes into someone’s mind at the moment is sent. Out of sight––and
gone! Move on to the next one and repeat the process. It’s as if getting
the message sent is more important than the message itself. If this sounds
crazy, just read the emails you received yesterday. And, sent.
4. Email often encourages “dumping” on the people we need to
help us. Friday afternoon is the worst, but the end of any day
of the week is bad. And then there’s the day before a three-day holiday.
There’s nothing like it. This is the time for “email dumping”
and it has quickly become the essential business skill. Get it off the desk.
Don’t get caught on Monday with someone saying, “Hey Toni, did
you take care of the Anderson job?” And you say, “Don’t
worry about it. I sent it on to Joe.” Dumping. Don’t get caught
with the ball in your court. That spells trouble. And email is the answer.
What makes “dumping” insidious is that the messages are often
incomplete. The administrative assistant sends the printer an order by email––but
half the specs are missing. Who cares? It’s gone until next week!
Unfortunately, “dumping” encourages miscommunication, mistakes,
and a loss of time.
5. Email can depersonalize communication.
Face-to-face communication is not necessary much of the time. Besides, it
often takes up valuable time. Email, however, seems to change the nature
of the communication process. For example, we say things in an email message
that we probably would not say either on the phone or face-to-face. It’s
not uncommon to open an email and discover something like this: “I
need the job done tomorrow before 9:00 a.m.” Now, that may not be
a problem most of the time, but generally this type of message involves
a complicated task. And the request would never be expressed so blatantly
by phone, for example, where a sense of negotiation would take place.
Being warm and fuzzy all the time is far from necessary. In fact, being
a little less “chatty” is often in order. At the same time,
email makes it easier to depersonalize communication and to disregard the
recipient.
6. Email seems to encourage stupid behavior.
It’s far easier to be stupid with email than it is with junk snail
mail, broadcast faxes, or telemarketing. It takes extra effort, of course,
but it seems as if a lot of people are determined to prove the point. The
culprit––of course––is price. Anyone with a computer,
an email address list and a telephone line salivates at the thought of reaching
a quarter of a million “prospects” on the cheap.
To reach so many people so fast and for so little is almost too good to
be true. Although those sending you the 159 emails that greet you on Monday
morning don’t seem to realize it, it is too good to be true. They
can save you from bankruptcy or help you get there. They will increase your
bust size or your virility, depending on who you are. Someone you don’t
even know is waiting to pay your bills. And a free vacation is just a click
away. Talk about heaven on earth.
With emailing so cheap, everyone comes out of the woodwork at midnight.
How could anyone be so stupid as to expect it to work? It’s not surprising
that all this is happening. “Blast faxing” has slowed down with
the explosion of broadcast emailing.
The genius of email is primarily as an incredibly effective and efficient
form of communication that deserves the same high standards as writing any
thoughtful letter or memo. To abuse it is to abuse those who receive our
emails.
© 2004 Graham Communications
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John R. Graham is president of Graham Communications,
a marketing services and sales consulting firm. Mr. Graham is the
author of four books on marketing and sales, including Break the Rules
Selling: Success Strategies that Beat the Competition (Superior Books).
Mr. Graham writes for a variety of marketing and sales columns for
business and trade publications and he presents his Magnet Power presentations
at company and association meetings. He can be contacted at 40 Oval
Rd., Quincy, MA 02170; by telephone at 617-328-0069; by fax at 617-471-1504;
or by email at j_graham@grahamcomm.com. The web site is grahamcomm.com. |
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