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Effective communication in the workplace
Effective communication in the workplace

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3 Writing clear and effective emails

In the workplace not all communication can be oral, especially in large organisations, where employees may be in different parts of the building, the country or even the world. Colleagues may not be available at the same time as you, due to time zones or working patterns. Therefore, significant amounts of information are communicated in writing, much of it by email.

A photograph of an email inbox being displayed on a mobile device.
Figure 2 The importance of emails

The email revolution has led to significant changes in the way people work. It is estimated that by the end of 2019, the number of worldwide email users will increase to over 2.9 billion (Radicati, 2015).

In the workplace, emails are used for numerous reasons, such as to convey or request information, invite you to a meeting, or to distribute a report attached as a separate document.

In 2012, McKinsey published research that suggested 28% of an employee’s working day is spent checking and replying to email messages (Wasserman, 2012).