E-mail – A powerful tool

E-mail is not just a communication tool but a very powerful management and leadership tool and it can be used very effectively to motivate employees, to get things done, to be assertive etc., 

In this blog posting, I’ve just thought of sharing how to deal with few common workplace scenarios using e-mail. You could have done it or you could have certainly come across these things. Yet, I guess it should help reinforce what you already know in terms of how to use email as an effective tool at workplace.

# Let say you have a Boss who listens very less which means you get to listen most of the time and very less opportunity to share your views and perspectives.

Nothing can be more demotivating than finding yourself in a communication that’s just one way from your boss.  Absence of opportunity is not the end of the world. Do send an assertive mail to your Boss with your perspectives. 

There can be two possible outcomes – 1) you are successful in convincing your boss or 2) successful in conveying your perspectives effectively to your boss. Both are fine than being a victim of one sided communication and accepting things without any attempts.

# Your team member has done a good job.  One of the easiest and known method – do send out an appreciation mail to the employee concerned and copy the team. If it’s a company-wide initiative or the contribution is at company’s level, do copy all the employees. A simple yet very effective motivation tool.

# Your team member or someone in other team has messed up something:  It’s easy to copy everyone and kill one’s motivation. If you think the person is genuine, it’s happening for the first time and it’s not such a big mistake, but you want to take it up firmly, do send a mail without coping his L1. The other person would be sure to appreciate your good intention. If it’s getting repeated, do copy his L1/L2. End of the day, the Business interest comes first and it should be affected at any cost.

# You are misunderstood and you were not listened to - A mail with all the details can clear the differences for sure.

# A reactive Boss who mismanages you.  If you don’t want to be a victim to a bully boss and if you want to define the boundary and convey the message, do send out mail expressing your views. Yes. A written and a well drafted mail without hurting one’s ego will certainly help in conveying your point very effectively, at least in most of the situations.

# You are not a quick thinker – Not many of us can think on the feet when we are part of a discussion. Better late than never. We can still recollect all our points and send it across to all and make our points heard.

I am sure there are many more scenarios wherein e-mails be used as an effective problem solving / motivation tool.  Do share your experiences.

Remember, what gets communicated through an e-mail carries more weightage than what we communicate orally.

diD yOU enJOY ReADinG ThIS ArTIcLE? 

                                  If yES, 

yOU maY sHAre it wiTH Your FriENds tOO