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Effective communication in the workplace
Effective communication in the workplace

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3.1 Email errors

This next activity encourages you to think about how you use email, and some of the common mistakes that can be made.

An image of a person typing on a laptop.
Figure 3 Sending out emails without errors

Activity 3 Reviewing your communication

Timing: Allow 10 minutes for this activity

Read through the following statements and make a note of the ones that refer to you.

  • You sometimes wish you could backtrack after sending a message, but it’s too late.
  • You sometimes forget to add an attachment that you promised in the message.
  • You have sometimes sent messages via email when you knew a telephone call would have been better.
  • You haven’t tidied your inbox or deleted any messages for a long time.
  • You have sent private or confidential messages via email, which you have later regretted.
  • You sometimes send messages off quickly without a greeting or sign-off.
  • You often send messages without checking through for good grammar, spelling and punctuation.
  • You accidentally communicated more widely than you intended by using Reply All.
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Discussion

This is an opportunity to highlight some of the communication mistakes that you may be making when you email. You might want to think about how often this has happened in the past and take steps to ensure it doesn’t happen in the future. (Although if you have ever sent a private email to a wider audience than you intended, you probably won’t ever do it again!)