In the digital age, it has become a reality that email, texting, and interactions over social media have replaced what would otherwise have been face-to-face communication in an previous era. Tens of emails are swapped back and forth over the course of a day and I think that it is important to remember context and to be mindful of basic social courtesies.
Do You Really Need To Say Thank You, a Harvard Business Review blog article written by Peter Bregman discusses best practices when dealing with email. It tells the story of a CEO sending an email to an employee several levels below to pay him compliment for his performance at a recent meeting. The employee doesn't bother to respond to the email and how later, when Tim was being considered for a promotion, his lack of response may have contributed to him not having received a promotion.
As a generation having grown up in the digital age, what can be said about the way we interact with others by email and online? Do you make a practice of acknowledging such emails and if so, for what reason? As soon-to-be graduates about to enter the workforce, what practices should be observed when interacting with others digitally?
-Patrick
Good post Patrick! I think that as a generation who has grown up in a digital age that it is important to communicate over email in the same way that you would in a face to face conversation. In the article above, I think that it is important for that employee to reply back to the email and acknowledge that he did in fact receive the email. This, in my opinion, is a sign of respect because if the CEO is taking the time out to engage employees they should also take the time to reply. If that CEO was to talk to that employee face to face chances are that employee would not have just ignored the CEO. Email and online chats offers convenience for us to communicate with others but I think it is still important to acknowledge the messages. I know that for myself I make the best effort to acknowledge emails because my process of thinking is that it is disrespectful not to. If someone takes the time out to send me a message whether it be to ask me to do something or offer congratulations I always try to reply just as a sign of respect and to thank them for taking that time to send it. I also think that it is good to reply in case you ever need something from them in the future you'd want them to reply to you and acknowledge your messages.
ReplyDelete- Mark Hogan
This is a very interesting post Pat. Personally, I make a conscious effort to reply to emails in a timely manner. I think that it is important, minimally, so that the sender knows that you have received the email, and because it is the courteous and professional thing to do. The person who has sent you the email may be waiting on your email to proceed with business. However, I think the standard to which we should hold each other accountable with regard to this issue is debatable, whether it be in our personal or professional lives. I think there are varying opinions on this matter. There are many factors that come into play. For instance some people, receive numerous emails every day and will tell you that if you want to ensure that they attend to your business that you contact them by phone. Also, different people have different levels of access to their emails. Personally, I only just got my first smart phone this summer, and before then I was not able to access my emails on my mobile. Therefore I only checked by email about once per day, and sometimes people got frustrated with me for not emailing them back right away. Although, I recognize that email has become the primary mode of communication, I also find that it has also increased our level of stress. I think that it is important to establish what the expectations are among co-workers and peers regarding the issue of email communication, especially in the workplace.
ReplyDelete- Rebecca Hebb
I believe that as we move on after graduation, it will be important to communicate appropriately in our new setting. Wether it be through email, text messaging or another mode of communication it is important to keep in mind who we will be communicating with. Fact of the matter is that most people in the workforce are from older generations than the graduating class. In order to be accepted by your future co-workers and earn their respect it will be important to communicate as they do. This means writing complete words in text messages and a formal style of writing in emails. So, yes i believe it is extremely important to reply to communications that warrant a reply. Like the example in the article shows, you never know how and to what extent this can be beneficial to your cause. As business students were are entering a very competitive workplace and it is important to do all that we can in order to position ourself in the best position to succeed. Failure to maintain a proper communication etiquette is an easy way to devalue your profile in the eyes of your future peers.
ReplyDelete- Marcel Dupuis
I think it entirely depends on the context of the message and who it is from. In the case of tim i think absolutely he should have responded. It is common courtesy to thank someone when they give you a compliment and when that someone is your boss that is even more so. Yes the way we communicate today is very different from 20 years ago but manners and common courtesy are still the same. whether the words come out of your mouth or off of your keyboard people should still be treated the same. We as the next generation of the workforce especially need to be mindful of the fact that for the next while most of our superiors will have come from the pre-email and texting era and thus will be used to recieving responses to things and having others be polite to them.
ReplyDeleteI think the employee should have replied to CEO. It is because CEO was contacting the employee personally and the context was not a type of announcement.
ReplyDeleteThe reason why people prefer communicating with others by email and online is efficiency. There are many kinds of efficiencies generating by the digital. For example, time efficiency and cost efficiency.
This post shows a bad aspect of email. In other words, it is hard to communicate feelings with email. So, many companies prefer to do face-to-face business when they do an important work.
When we interact others digitally, we should response in the kind manner. It is etiquette for ourselves and respect for others.
- Ki Cho, Jung
Good post pat, I believe in this day and age it is extremely important that employees make their best effort to respond to messages sent through text or email. I can empathize with those who sometimes forget because these messages don’t carry the same emotional significance as face to face communication. I also can understand that some people may be hesitant to reply to a compliment because they are modest and find it out of character to acknowledge their accomplishments. Or individuals may just be busy taking care of their primary work responsibilities that they simply forget. Just because someone doesn’t respond to these sorts of emails doesn’t mean they don’t care it could just mean that they are busy working hard to achieve the recognition that got them the compliment in the first place. However, that being said it is vital that we do our best to respond to these emails to avoid looking uncommitted and rude to employers or co-workers. These impersonal messages may not carry much significance to the person who receives the message but for those who send the message and don’t get a response it can feel like a slap in the face or a sign of disrespect.
DeleteGreat post Pat.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all I disagree with the fact that Tim did not respond to his CEO. It should always be in the best interest of an employee to respond to praises given to them by top management. In this day and age, improvements in technology have made it easier for people to communicate especially with the advancements of smartphones, which allow individuals to receive and respond to any type of digital message that exists. I also agree that if the CEO had come up to Tim in person then the situation might have been different, however the age that we live in, it is almost expected from us to be fond with communication via technology. CEO's may not feel the need to walk up to persons when there is an easier solution-email!. In my opinion it was disrespectful of Tim to acknowledge the email and not respond to it with a simple - Thank you. From personal experience, saying thank you can go a really long way as managers and CEO take all these personality traits into consideration.