"Email at the workplace" on Amazon's Kindle

Now, you can read the book "E-mail at the workplace. Survival Guide. Solutions and Tips", on your Amazon's Kindle.

You only need this device, which let you read e-books (special formatted to Kindle). Then, you have to download the book electronic file on Amazon.com.

Beside you can see more information about the content of this book thanks to Google Books's service.

Personal marketing through e-mail

Your professional opportunities depend on your reputation.

If you want to improve your chances for professional growth, you need to be more aware of the importance of your permanent marketing as an individual.

The same marketing techniques companies use to create a commercial brand, so consumers perceive it in a positive light and prefer it, can be used by professionals when they look for a job or in their work experience.

Brands of products, services or companies create a unique image and use it in a planned manner to attract and maintain clients and consumers. Professionals can also plan their image to attract the ideal employers or to have better job opportunities.

Commercial marketing is the challenge brands face to communicate their values and benefits, presenting an image that differentiates them from the competition and makes them desirable brands.

Isn’t this the same challenge we face when we look for a job or when we want to improve our possibilities in our present positions?

The concept of “personal brand” is not common for people who are not in the arts, sports, or other professions where the public opinion is relevant. However, if people looking for a job or planning their professional development in a company don’t build a strong positive image, it will be more difficult to attract attention to their qualities, values, and particularly, the benefits they offer.

The personal brand is the quantitative and qualitative addition of your professional career in an integrated manner, and the image of the person that constitutes it. Therefore, planning and developing a personal brand has significant advantages:

* It helps us generate professional interest and positively catch the attention of clients, bosses, colleagues, friends, and potential employers.

* It allows us to focus on what we want people to remember most of our personal and professional qualities.

* It makes it easier to obtain trust and credibility, as a result of our coherent and consistent professional performance.

* It allows us to differentiate ourselves as workers.

Just as with the marketing of a product, if we don’t work on our own professional brand image, others will create one for us, and it is quite likely that it won’t be what we want or what we are interested in projecting.

Take care of the tone of your email at the workplace

Who hasn't experienced having someone we e-mailed misinterpret our intent or tone? An inappropriate tone can cause a reader to ignore, delete, or overreact to your message.

All business e-mail writers must be able to control the tone of their writing so their e-mail messages will have the results they intend. Using e-mail at the workplace, how you say
it is as important as what you say.

Tone is the quality in your writing that reveals your attitude toward your topic and reader. Tone comes from your choice of words, the structure of your sentences, and the order of the information you present.

Some studies show that people think they've correctly interpreted the tone of e-mails they receive 90 percent of the time. But they don't. When emotions are present they fail half of the time, because there are a lot of non-verbal clues involved on interpersonal communication.

For example, it is extremely difficult to identify the sarcasm in a written message. So, is better to avoid any type of irony in a professional email.

It's easy for e-mail writers to let their tone slip from professional to edgy or sarcastic. E-mail emboldens writers to express thoughts they would never say to a reader's face. And e-mail is written quickly, then sent.

Most e-mail writers don't review their messages as carefully as they should. When they do review messages before sending, they're looking at the content, not the tone.

But tone is important. A flippant tone that the reader doesn't find funny, or an angry tone can damage a relationship as well as progress on a company project. The key is to make sure that you do not contribute unknowingly to incorrect perceptions and inaccurate impressions.

Read more on MoreBusiness.com

How does functional illiteracy affects the effectiveness of e-mail?

Illiteracy is the condition of not being able to read or write. Even though, functional illiteracy refers to the inability of an individual to use properly reading, writing, and computational skills in everyday life situations.

One who is functionally illiterate has a basic grasp of literacy (reading and writing text in his/her native language), but with a variable degree of grammatical correctness and reading comprehension.

Since the computer and the Internet developed, some have asserted that the definition of literacy should include the ability to use and communicate in a diverse range of information technologies.

Illiteracy has long been viewed as a social and educational issue. But we have been challenged to understand the economic consequences of the lack of literacy skills. So, functional illiteracy has a significant impact on companies productivity.

A study done by the Northeast Midwest Institute and The Center for Regional Policy found that business losses, attribute to basic skill deficiencies, run into the hundreds of millions of dollars because of low productivity, errors and accidents.

How many times companies must face daily written endless debates through e-mail, because poorly written messages?

How many e-mails at workplace everyday are misunderstood because the message was poorly structured or for low levels of reading comprehension?

A research in a british company with 2.850 employees, show that 45% of e-mails were not easy to read or to interpret, by deficiencies of writing or because they were not clear on what the recipient had to do with them.

Does this percentage seem too high? I invite you to verify it with your own emails. I have seen this amount of messages deficiently written in many other businesses, larger and smaller.

The lack of abilities for written communication largely is a consequence of the lack of reading habits. Who has the habit to read thinks more and know himself better. This allows him to reflect on his reality and needs with more references. And this also lets him obtain enough resources to express himself by writing fullness.

We are facing an important quality reduction of written communication, and good part of the remedy has to do with stopping underestimating this situation.

We need to approach this subject at workplace promoting learning spaces where the employers and employees take conscience on the matter. They must assume the responsibility to improve their abilities to communicate better in writing.

If you would like to improve your e-mail efectiveness or to know more about this subject, consult my book at Google Books.

That e-mail could embarrass you?

Before you send out or forward any e-mail message, ask yourself if the contents of that message will become a boomerang for you or your company.

Subjects that are usually discussed in whispers at the office are best kept out of an e-mail.

Rumors, gossip, and other issues not directly related to the organization's business should be kept out of an e-mail.

Before you send out that e-mail, ask yourself "If this email were accidentally sent to everyone in the organization, would I be in some kind of trouble?"

When you send an e-mail to someone outside of the company, keep in mind that you represent the organization and not just yourself, and your company may be held responsible for your actions.

Remember: Any bussines or professional e-mail is a document with 100% of posibilities to be public. Be aware of this risk always.

Don't loose your time and money clarifiying messages. Pick up the phone or go face-to-face.