Preventing Email Wars

by Jonathan Jones

As any office worker knows, email wars have escalated over the last few years as colleagues inevitably pass emailed communications back and forth so rapidly and carelessly that soon everyone has something to be miffed about.

Sometimes the initial jab is unintended; often the sender is positive and the receiver, jaundiced by a bad mood, may respond with a zing. Smartphone warriors, multitasking through incomplete messages on small screens, are particularly prone to ill-informed, rapid-response attacks. To make matters worse, a sender may, to gain sympathy, copy his choice missive to others, who then pile on too. Soon the animosity has spread through the entire system like a virus, infecting all manner of relationships.  

Email warriors may stew for hours in unproductive time, thinking and talking about getting the other guy back. In recent years the number of late-night hours devoted to crafting the ultimate go-for-the kill grand soliloquy would surely be spent more productively. Very few win at email wars, which usually end up derailing business and decreasing production and too often end up damaging relationships. To avoid senseless, even silly, email wars, try adhering to these simple guidelines.
• Be proactive: Establish conflict management protocols.
• Ensure that your team members get to know each other as people. Meeting each other in person will help them know and like each other.
• Have standard and frequent face-to-face  meetings or teleconferences with your team.  Human touch matters.
• Set standards of tone, language and length for email communication. Quantity does not equal quality.

• When tension occurs, get the offending parties talking directly.

Eliminating the miscommunication from email can help your organization focus on your customers.

Jonathan Jones (jonathan@jonathanjonesconsulting.com or 314-608-0783) owns Jonathan Jones Consulting.