WEBVTT

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Now I thought I'd talk a bit about empathic 
communication and the role of communication

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when using e-mail. Why e-mail? Some 
students are not used to e-mail, 

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but it is still the case that e-mail is 
'lingua franca', a kind of

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least common denominator-tool of
work life. Many are tired of e-mail and

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use collaboration tools like Teams to 
minimise e-mail. But everyone has to use

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some e-mail with external customers and partners, 
so you might as well learn the basics

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and the who, what, where and when of e-mail. 
WHO? You should always have a signature

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in an e-mail in the form of a signature 
field, not just sign your first name

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That signature field should have 
information 

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about who you are,
your role in the organisation,

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and other necessary contact info, 
with phone number

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and address. So, it's important to establish 
"who" writes and sends the e-mail.

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It is, of course, sent to someone, 
and e-mail has different addressee fields such as

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CC or "Carbon copy", referring to 
the old blueprint technology of letters.

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You can also use BCC to copy to a hidden addressee. 
The CC field is addressed for people who

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want to keep oriented, but do not need to take 
action on the information. Many do not read

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e-mail carefully when they are 
only CC-ed in. If you want

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them to do so, mark this in the text,
for instance, mentioning them by name

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in the text in bold face.

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Who are you addressing an e-mail to?
Is that the King? Is it a colleague?

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Is it addressed to an external customer? Vary 
the tone and courtesy level accordingly. 

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Read up on the netiquette at your job. 
Some workplaces are more formal

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tone, other are less formal and straight to 
the point. And remember, be careful with

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"reply all". It was pretty common in the early 
years of e-mail, to get mail sent by

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mistake in a “reply all” to 50,000 on the same 
e-mail list... And do not put too many

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in the CC field if it is not strictly necessary.
WHAT? Every e-mail must have a subject, and 

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most software will notify you if you forget 
to fill in the subject field.

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A subject field is important because it is 
shows threaded responses, the reply thread

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and turn taking between people in a mail thread. 
It is important that you do not 

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change subject field or title in replies, because 
you break the thread and makes it difficult to search.

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So, do not alter the subject field. And find out 
how "reply" is used in turn taking at your work place.

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Do they write new information on the top in a reply? 
Some mix old text with the new, 

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but make it clear to the reader and write, 
for instance "I'm replying in the message below".

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So it is clear where new information 
is added. If you are using links in email, 

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create links rather than copy very long URLs
that may break across multiple lines of text.

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When it comes to universal design and
accessibility

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do not use links that just says "here", 
but include some context

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so it becomes easier to understand what a link 
points to. WHERE? Where or in which software

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will your e-mail be read? This is 
out of your control.


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In e-mail "what you see is NOT 
what you get". Sometimes I receive e-mail

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from students writing a paragraph, then stating
"inserting attachment", and then a new section,

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and a new attachment or image. But in many 
software, all attachments are

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added at the bottom. And if you have not
given a self-explanatory name for the attachment,

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it will be hard to make sense of. So know that 
what the recipient of your e-mail sees may not 

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be the same as you do. Therefore, it is also 
important with proper document names.

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Where will your recipient read your email? At work, 
on a mobile, on the road? This affects what you can

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add as an attachment. If you include a huge file, 
it is not given that it is delivered quickly, 

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for instance if the addressee is travelling 
or on a poor mobile network.

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Often it is better to post a link to a 
document instead of attaching

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a large, heavy file.

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WHERE is also something to consider. Is the e-mail
private or work related? Do not forward work mails

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to private accounts. It needs to be searchable
and recoverable. And don't send work emails

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from your personal account to external customers or 
people at work. People may not find it later,

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and documents that belong to your company should 
not be sent from your private e-mail account.

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Presidential candidates have gotten into 
trouble for this, and you may do too. WHEN?

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All e-mails will have a time stamp when it 
leaves your outbox. But usually you will not know

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when the recipient receives it. 
Heavy attachments take time. 

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And you don't know when the recipient
reads email they have received.

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Think also about what subtle signals 
you are sending when you send mail. 

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If you are a manager, do not send e-mail in the 
middle of night if you wish to communicate to the

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employees to work within office hours, 
and practice Work Life Balance.

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So, when you send e-mail may have consequences 
for the signals you communicate. And don't send

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a angry e-mail in the middle of the night. 
Wait till tomorrow.

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You are responsible for your own e-mail 
practice and Work Life Balance.

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So turn off alerts at night and set a "quiet time". 
But you can't control when email arrives, people

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work in other time zones...  So you have to 
take responsibility for your own use.

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Again, think about empathetic communication: 
Who, What, Where, and When. What does it mean

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to others what I do, and the way 
I use e-mail.