In this era of Facebook, Twitter and email, crucial face-to-face communication skills have been lost or put aside indefinitely. There has been a sharp decline in face-to-face communication in favour of instant contact overload. Because of this, people are losing vital opportunities to connect and network.
Do you get annoyed when reading emails in your inbox? Do you feel frustrated when the writer rambles on and doesn't get to the point? Do you feel confused when the writer doesn't use paragraphs?
I have a good friend in Canada who sends me emails about things he finds interesting, and he always types 'memo' in the subject line. That's all – just 'memo'. I have no idea whether there was a flash mob of sharks off the coast of Australia or aliens landed in New Zealand or a penguin swam to Singapore.
You alter your tone of voice to convey messages in different ways. Much of what you say is also interpreted through non-verbal clues - eye contact, gestures, inflections of the voice, etc.
In personal relationships the conventions of behaviour are called etiquette. In email we have netiquette - a set of rules for email that have evolved from experience. All your emotions and subtleties have to be incorporated into what you write, so misunderstandings are easy to create.
When it first became possible to have email delivered directly to your mobile phone, I thought - Why would anyone want to do that? I swore I would never do it. Of course, it wasn't long before I gave in and joined the trend.
Email viruses make front-page newspaper headlines. They cost decent computer users a lot of money, they waste our time and energy, and they cause unimaginable distress to people all over the world. Could anything be worse? What about the damage that people are causing to themselves every day by taking email for granted? The familiarity and convenience of email is resulting in sloppy, careless habits that could ruin your business and your reputation just as surely as any email virus.
We're all busy. We all have overflowing in boxes. But lazy email habits could lead to misunderstanding, frustration, non-action, wasted effort, wasted time, damaged relationships and ruined reputations. Are you guilty of any of these lazy habits? If so, it's time to take action now, before it's too late.