Website design By BotEap.comI bet you didn’t realize that you may have another personality. Or maybe two or three. But do not worry; You can make them go away by recognizing this possibility and following a few simple guidelines. The “disease” you may have is
Multiple Email Personality Disorder (MEPD) – assumes a different personality in your organization based on how some people perceive it through their email communications. Today, many people end up with MEPD without realizing it, and it often appears as a side effect of excessive email use. MEPD is obviously a fictional disease, but its side effects can be harmful.
Website design By BotEap.comHere is an example of how this can happen. You receive an email from someone in your organization describing a proposal for a new project. The person asks if you agree with the proposal and if you would be willing to participate in the project. You think the project is a great idea and you want to support it. Therefore, you would like additional details on the general plan and more details on what is requested of you. Also, you would like to inform the person that you will need to submit a request for a quote and get their approval before you can proceed.
Website design By BotEap.comSounds simple, right? It will only send a reply back simply stating these points.
Website design By BotEap.comWell, it turns out he was out of the office yesterday and he’s late on his email. So you’ve turned to checking email on your PDA during one of your many meetings throughout the day and replying to as many as you can. There are so many in your inbox that you want to receive their responses as quickly as possible.
Website design By BotEap.comNotice that the distribution list for this particular email has twelve people. Since you are only receiving clarification on the request, you would like to reply only to the original submitter plus three members of their staff who can help with the project. But since you are using your PDA, narrowing down the distribution list is time consuming. So you decide to hit the ANSWER ALL button assuming the eight people who don’t really need the information in their answer will simply delete it. He wants to get his reply quickly to access his other remaining emails, so he writes the following on his PDA:
Website design By BotEap.comWow! What are you asking 4? Give me a plan, without resources or money without this.
Website design By BotEap.comThe problem is that the person receiving your message (and some of the 8 of the other 11 on the distribution list) interprets your response as:
Website design By BotEap.com“Wow! How can you ask me for something like this? And you’re asking me without any detailed plan? Do you think I’m going to give you people or funding without a plan?!?”
Website design By BotEap.comSo instead of the caring, understanding, and helpful person that you really are, you are seen as rude, concise, resistive, and critical.
Website design By BotEap.comThis is a pretty extreme example, but I bet you’ve seen cases where something like this has happened in your organization. You’ve probably seen poorly written emails that were misinterpreted and received incorrect responses or emotional reactions. You have probably also seen emails like this with excessively long distribution lists. This multiplies the negative impact of the poorly worded message as more people read it.
Website design By BotEap.comWhat are the causes of MEPD? They are usually associated with excessive use of email. Sending an email for something that needs to be handled with conversation can often lead to misunderstandings. Not reading your email from the recipient’s perspective can make the message sound insensitive. Writing an email that is too concise or cryptic can lead to significant misinterpretation. Even something as simple as not asking a request as a question or not including the word “please” can make people feel demanding, not asking.
Website design By BotEap.comIf you’re sending a message to someone you know well, a cryptic email may be fine, as the person will likely know how to “read” you. But be careful, people tend to read emails from a negative as opposed to a positive perspective. Also, as the example demonstrates, the risk of getting MEPD is higher when it comes to PDAs, as they make it difficult to compose effective emails. You can think of it this way: If overuse of email is for MEPD like cigarette smoking is for lung cancer, then overuse of email
via PDA it’s like smoking cigarettes without filters. Risk increases.
Website design By BotEap.com— WARNING: Excessive email use, especially with PDAs, can be dangerous to your productivity! —
Website design By BotEap.comHere are some tips to help minimize the risk of emails being misinterpreted. Also, if you have any doubts that the recipient of your email may misinterpret your message, please speak to them directly.
- With written communication, the verbal and visual elements that are used to help explain a point are missing and there is no immediate two-way clarification. Therefore, the ways in which words can be interpreted are much broader.
- Take the ‘worst case’ perspective of the email reader and avoid any ambiguous language. Make sure that requests are not misinterpreted as commands by typing them in the form of questions and using words like “please”.
- Due to the greater difficulty of composing messages on PDAs, use extreme caution when using these devices. If you’re not careful, your messages will end up being short and overly concise. These are often interpreted negatively in ways like being demanding, uncooperative, critical, etc.
Website design By BotEap.com If you receive a “cryptic” message, contact the sender for clarification before responding or jumping to conclusions.
- Instead of misinterpreting, take the time to understand what is actually being said. Answering or assuming a wrong interpretation can cause even more problems.
- Due to the difficulty of writing with PDAs, messages sent from these devices run the risk of being too concise.
Website design By BotEap.comRead your message from the recipient’s perspective before hitting the SEND button. Retype if necessary.
