Without a doubt, it’s extremely difficult to show your emotions via text messages or emails. Much of the time, people will misinterpret what you send them. This can happen whether you’re sending mass emails to potential customers or personalized messages discussing issues with colleagues. The solution? What you can do to avoid email miscommunications is understand how you are likely to be misinterpreted or misunderstood. This way, you can eliminate the factor of communication issues.
Especially from a business perspective, if you are sending emails to your remote workers or your clients, you’ll often come across this issue of email miscommunication. Remember, it’s not just you. This problem is faced by many people running a business.
When you meet a person face to face, it’s easier to read facial expressions, gestures, emotions, and messages. How can we effectively send an email? Here are certain measures you can take to avoid miscommunications.
1- Consider if it would be relayed better in a phone call
When you are emotional, pick up the phone and dial the number instead of sending an email. There is a big chance that if you do send an email, your message will be misinterpreted, as well as your emotions. For example, if you’re asking the other person about their thoughts… “This is what my stance is, and this is what I want to do. Thoughts?”. In such a case, set up a phone call or Skype meeting.
2- Always start in a pleasant way
You don’t want your email to be perceived as negative, right? Add a pleasant greeting at the start of the email. “I hope you are having a great day” or “I hope you had a great weekend” are nice phrases to begin with. This will keep you coming off as negative or rude. This tip is especially important if you are sending an email to a client.
3- Use the right number of words
Whether it’s to your client or employee, try to be specific with what you want to say, and don’t let the email become too long. The longer your email is, the higher the chance it will be misinterpreted or misunderstood. Use the right words and the right number of words to convey your message and your emotions in a clear way.
4- Highlight the main point
If you think “highlight” means “write in capital letters”, you are wrong! When you write in capital letters, you are automatically sending the impression that you are shouting at the other person. Avoid this. Bold the words or the sentence that you want the reader to pay attention to.
5- Use emoticons but carefully
Adding emoticons is quite useful, but only if you are using the right ones. If it’s a formal email, you can still put a simple smiling emoji at the end of the email to be polite and positive.
Conclusion
These are solid ways to avoid email miscommunications. Use these tips and avoid customer complaints or disgruntled employees!
