151 Quick Ideas to Improve Your People Skills

76

Beware of E-mail

E-mail. The younger generation swears by it—lives by it. And yet it is the most ineffective form of communication for building and maintaining relationships.

Take Michelle, for example. When her staff and another division found themselves with strained relationships, Michelle noticed that the vast majority of communication between their two groups was done via e-mail. And e-mail left a lot to be interpreted from mere words on a screen; most often the tone of those words was misinterpreted, and misunderstandings and hurt feelings ensued.

Assignment

Adopt Michelle’s policy: If it takes more than two e-mails to resolve a situation, or get clarity on it, then go have a face-toface conversation.

So, Michelle established a policy ...