{"id":58926,"date":"2021-08-20T23:57:38","date_gmt":"2021-08-21T03:57:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=58926"},"modified":"2021-08-20T23:57:38","modified_gmt":"2021-08-21T03:57:38","slug":"its-all-too-easy-to-be-offended-by-an-innocent-work-email-but-there-are-ways-to-avoid-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/its-all-too-easy-to-be-offended-by-an-innocent-work-email-but-there-are-ways-to-avoid-it\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s all too easy to be offended by an innocent work email \u2014 but there are ways to avoid it"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nMost people use email frequently in their work, even more during lockdowns and with increased working from home. And all of us have heard tips for \u201cnetiquette\u201d \u2014 those helpful hints for avoiding offence or miscommunication in the messages we send.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the thing. Offence is taken as well as given. Neither good intentions nor perfect email etiquette will necessarily avoid problems.<\/p>\n

This is because email readers are often subject to what\u2019s called \u201cnegative intensification bias\u201d. They often read into messages negativity the sender didn\u2019t intend, or they exaggerate even a hint of negativity.<\/p>\n

Office workers spend about\u00a02.5 hours a day<\/a>\u00a0reading, writing and responding to email. The vast majority report at least occasionally receiving emails they\u2019d describe as offensive or disrespectful \u2014 in\u00a0one study<\/a>, 91% reported receiving such emails from their boss.<\/p>\n

Given the volume of workplace emails, an occasional negative exchange is probably inevitable. However, certain features of email\u00a0may make matters worse<\/a>, increasing the likelihood of miscommunication and conflict escalation.<\/p>\n

For example, compared to face-to-face communication, email entails delayed feedback. In face-to-face communication we\u2019re better able to monitor and repair misunderstandings in real time.<\/p>\n

Emails also involve reduced \u201csocial presence<\/a>\u201d \u2014 the perception the other person is real and \u201cthere\u201d in the interaction. Delayed feedback increases the chances of misunderstanding, and low social presence can lower inhibitions and encourage angry replies or \u201cflaming<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

The risk of unintended meanings<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Everyone who sends and receives email at work knows the problems that can arise. A Google search will find hundreds of articles about how to avoid them. And there\u2019s good reason for all that attention.<\/p>\n

Workplace emails that people consider rude, insulting or impolite\u00a0create stress<\/a>,\u00a0detract from productivity and affect wellbeing<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 even outside the workplace.<\/p>\n

Perceiving negativity<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In\u00a0our research<\/a>, we asked 276 adults in New Zealand and Australia who used email regularly at work to provide an example of an email they had received that either conveyed or prompted negative emotion.<\/p>\n

We asked them questions about the email and then asked objective observers to read the same messages. We found people who had received the emails directly rated the messages far more negatively than did the observers.<\/p>\n

The difference was even greater when the participant\u2019s organisation had a climate in which negative communication was common and when the email sender was in a higher position of power.<\/p>\n

This shows a negative intensification bias \u2014 that is, an inclination to \u201cread in\u201d more negativity than is apparent in the objective features of the message. It shows context and relationships can influence just how much negativity we perceive.<\/p>\n

Power dynamics matter<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Some of the examples would be seen as negative by nearly everyone: \u201cF*** you and your performance assessments!\u201d<\/p>\n

But many were outwardly civil and even polite: \u201cWe acknowledge that our request has a very short timeline and certainly appreciate that you are very busy.\u201d Or, \u201cJust wondering why no update has been received. No news is good news hopefully!\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, a lack of overtly negative features in a message was a poor predictor of people\u2019s negative perceptions.<\/p>\n

Hyper-negative interpretations were most likely to come into play with ambiguous messages that could be interpreted in multiple ways.<\/p>\n

This was especially true when the messages were short and impersonal and when the messages were from higher-ups in the organisation making requests or issuing directives, or when there was already tension in the relationship.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, people\u2019s awareness of the need for email etiquette seems to raise their expectation of what is acceptable. The participants\u2019 explanations for why an email was seen as negative often cited rules for appropriate email behaviour.<\/p>\n

Making email safe again<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Because as a society we have developed views of what\u2019s acceptable, a hastily written or abbreviated message can be read as an intentional slight.<\/p>\n

If organisations want to reduce the likelihood of conflict over email communication, training in writing effective emails needs to be matched with similar attention to receiving email messages and the likelihood of negative intensification bias.<\/p>\n

It is impossible for even the most sensitive writer to anticipate all potential causes of offence. Communication training should aim to heighten awareness of the many opportunities for misinterpretation in email and the tendency of receivers to read unintended negativity.<\/p>\n

Acknowledging the role of power dynamics and the general climate in an organisation will also help. Demonstrating how internal tensions can be perceived in something as seemingly \u201cinnocent\u201d as a brief email can also help improve workplace relationships in general.<\/p>\n

Author Bio:<\/strong> Theodore E. (Ted) Zorn is Professor of Organisational Communication at Massey University<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most people use email frequently in their work, even more during lockdowns and with increased working from home. And all of us have heard tips for \u201cnetiquette\u201d \u2014 those helpful hints for avoiding offence or miscommunication in the messages we send. But here\u2019s the thing. Offence is taken as well as given. Neither good intentions […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[421943],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-58926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-politics","tag-work-email"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIt\u2019s all too easy to be offended by an innocent work email \u2014 but there are ways to avoid it - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/its-all-too-easy-to-be-offended-by-an-innocent-work-email-but-there-are-ways-to-avoid-it\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It\u2019s all too easy to be offended by an innocent work email \u2014 but there are ways to avoid it - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Most people use email frequently in their work, even more during lockdowns and with increased working from home. 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