American Baptist Churches of the Great Rivers Region

E-Mail Tip: Do It Well

I co-led a workshop with an associate pastor of the church in whose building we were meeting. He mentioned that one of the best tools for staff communication is e-mail.

The GRR staff uses e-mail as a primary communication tool. Please note, I wrote "a primary." Our preferred tool is face to face interaction;however, schedules, distance, and stewardship mandate e-mail and telephone use.

"There is something about e-mail that causes people to adopt a more conversational style than they would use in a traditional business letter" (Whitney Beth Potsus, "Email Etiquette," PC for Business, April/May 2004, p. 25).

This observation reveals the good and bad. First, the good: "conversational style" reflects the fact that we are more ourselves. Second, the bad: being "more ourselves" means that our good traits and bad traits are amplified through communicating by e-mail. If we are careful to write well - not necessarily "formally" - the one(s) who receive our e-mail will be able to more easily understand what we are attempting to say. If, however, we are not careful, our message at best may never get across and at worst may send the wrong meaning.

Potsus notes that "Everyone we talked to said that their biggest pet peeve, not counting spam, is people who do not edit messages before they send them. Other people expressed disdain for abbreviations, Internet slang, "cutesie" shortcuts and emoticons" (p. 25).

Should we cut back in our use of e-mail?

No.

Potsus' recommends that when we write an e-mail we follow these 6 steps: I found them helpful.

1. Put important points first.

2. Write in complete sentences, using proper grammar.

3. Read you e-mail out loud and revise the parts where you stumbled.

4. Reread for tone.

5. Spell-check (Turn the checker on if you haven't done so.)

6. Proofread one last time.

I would like to add a 7th step, especially if the subject of the email is more than just factual:

7. Should I hit "Send?" Should I speak face to face with this person before I start sending e-mails? E-mail is one tool for communication. It should not be a substitute for face to face interaction.

I add this point because of what I heard recently in the midst of a groups' discussion about communication in the church. E-mail was described as one more way to criticize from afar. When the e-mail is part of an already-entered-into conversation via e-mail (that is, the sender and the receiver have mutually agreed to send and receive such substance) there may be merit in use of e-mail; however, if the e-mail critique is a one-shot blast, that may be quite another matter. Perhaps we should pull out that old question concerning letter writing, "Now that I have written this, should I send it or drop it in the waste basket?"

E-mail,like all communication tools can help us speak the truth in love, or not. Pray that God will help you discern how to do this in a way that helps others understand what you are saying.

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