Treat email as a traditional printed document

Likely the ease to send e-mails also makes us feel that they are somewhat "informal", making us believe that this attribute "lightens" the weight of emotionally charged messages.

An e-mail can be perceived as informal and harmless but it is basically a document, and as such, it has the potential of becoming public.

We might not think about this when we write an e-mail, but it is in our unconscious and sometimes it emerges when we find ourselves in front of the computer thinking "Is this too strong?", or "How will they take these words?"

What we say verbally, face-to-face, or by phone almost never has a formal backup, but what we write always has. This is a potential risk that influences the way we read what we receive.

It may lack the formality of a memo with a company letterhead, but an email can be just as legally binding as a traditional printed document.

There is no "secret" messages on e-mail. Every word that can be printed has pottential to be public. So, if you feel a publishing risk -even the smallest- in your e-mail, be already warned.

Some people even believe that the "coldness" of "strong" messages helps recipients process them better, because they can analyze their content "without thinking that it is something personal". However, the results indicate otherwise.

What we say verbally, face-to-face, or by phone almost never has a formal backup, but what we write always has. This is a potential risk that influences the way we read what we receive. That is why the content of some e-mails can “echo” before our eyes, whereas spoken words "are carried by the wind".

If you consider this you will write as better as less e-mails. As a result, you will receive less messages, and you will win a lot of time.