Email may be one of the most effective and efficient forms of communication since the telephone. And, it can be one of the leading causes of workplace problems since the rumor mill. When used correctly, email is a truly wonderful tool, but it is also a way of sending impersonal, and unnecessarily harsh communiques that, at a minimum can hurt someone’s feeling, and at its worst, be cause for termination My way or the highway An email is a monologue. It is a one-sided litany of streaming thought that does not allow for point by point discourse or debate. Emails should be used in the same way as paper memos were in their day When used at their best, emails can impart news, updates, reports, and general information. They are also used to ask “Want to have lunch?” or “How about that game last night?” Those uses are generally innocuous, and cause no harm. But sometimes, emails can take on a more sinister meaning. You can’t see me! I have seen emails that are used to criticize others. Words that could never be said face to face, or even over the phone are hurled at the recipient at the speed of light. In many cases, the response is just as or even
