Effective Communications In Our Digital World

According to a Pitney Bowes study, the averageimportant communications, I suggest a break between
corporate executive receives upwards of 375 calls,drafting and this final read. Sometimes a trip away
voicemails, e-mails, faxes and letters each day. Withfrom your PC to get a drink or use the facilities will
such a deluge of information, is it any surprise thatmake you "fresh" for the final review and help you
survey after survey indicates the time available tocatch those typos or grammatical errors even spell
capture anyone's attention is only a fewcheckers miss!- Formatting Counts. Formatting does
seconds?Let's face it, who has time to listen to a fivecount and every e-mail message should contain proper
minute rambling voicemail full of umms and ahhs orformatting, punctuation and grammar. Think back to
scroll through a six page e-mail? Along with annoyingthose grade school days of essay writing and give
the recipient, long winded messages that are noteach message a greeting/opening, middle, closing and
deleted are usually flagged for review at a later time,signature too. Remember, every message should
slowing the process and in some instances removingcontain enough information for the recipient to
the productivity of digital communications altogether.Sounderstand what you need or what they need to do in
how do you effectively use the digital communicationresponse to your communication. As a courtesy, it
tools of today? Here's a few tips I've learned duringshould also include copies of any documents or
my five years of working virtually:- Slow Down. Justprevious communications referenced, if not overly
because you can shoot off an e-mail within secondslarge.- Ask and Ye Shall Receive. Receive permission
of having a thought or leave a voicemail immediatelybefore sending any large attachments (movies,
following a question entering consciousness, does notpictures and sound files are notoriously large). Sending
necessarily mean you should! All messages should belarge attachments may cause some inboxes to reach
short and to the point and respectful of the recipient'stheir size limit. If this happens, the recipient must log in
time. By taking a few moments to mull over yourand download or delete your message in order to
message, you may stumble across a resolution orreceive any further e-mails from any source - almost
additional points which need to be addressed mayguaranteeing they will not think kindly of you from that
come to light.- Be Professional At All Times. Yes, thatpoint forward.- Be Considerate. Make sure to say
joke your buddy sent you last night was a hoot, but"grab a pen" or to repeat your return telephone
you should never forward such communications tonumber twice when leaving a voicemail. Of course,
business contacts. To protect against spam, you alsospeak up, speak at a reasonable rate and articulate.
should not disclose your recipient's e-mail addressesYou can even stand up or smile right before speaking,
when sending to a group. Using the "bcc" (blind carbonwhich has an enormous effect on the tone of your
copy) field for multiple addresses and placing your ownvoice and message. Also, when using a cell phone,
e-mail address in the "To" field shows you arewalk away from your PC or any other equipment
respectful of your contacts' privacy. It also provideswhich may cause interference with the signal and
you with a "proof" copy of what you sent to checktherefore gaps in your message.- Be Polite. In e-mails,
formatting or other issues which can affect thedo not use all CAPITALS as it is considered shouting.-
message by transmission through the Internet.-Be Clear. Do not use acronyms or cryptic shorthand in
Carefully Use "Forward to All" and "Reply to All"your messages. Not only will the recipient not
Functions. I have witnessed embarrassing moments ofunderstand your message, in many times they will feel
others (and recall my own painful "oops" in this regard)"stupid" for not being able to figure it out!- Keep The
when messages intended only for the original sender,Subject Line Intact. When replying to messages,
are, in fact, sent to everyone who may have beenespecially to groups and list servs, do not change the
cc'd or even bcc'd on the original message or post.subject line. Many e-mail applications allow a sort by
Best not to use either button at all. If you wish tosubject, giving subscribers the ability to follow a
respond to a message, hit "Forward" and fill in theparticular discussion "thread" provided the subject line is
addressee(s) as any other e-mail.- Consider Yournot altered.No matter what your life circumstances, it is
Voicemail Message Before Dialing. In today's world, 9hard to escape the need to use some form digital
times out of 10 a caller is transferred to voicemail, socommunication. I hope these pointers are helpful to you.
why not prepare something intelligent to say inComments and feedback always appreciated: Andrea
advance? This is never a waste of time since taking aCannavina, Master Virtual Assistant and President
few minutes to think about what you want to conveyCEO of LegalTypist, Inc., helps sole practitioners, law
in a voicemail, can also be used as an outline for whatfirms and companies which service the legal industry
you need to cover in the call, should you actually getupgrade their dictation processes to digital in order to
through to your intended party.- Do A Full Read Ofget more done with less (less employees, less
Each E-mail - With each e-mail, always read throughequipment and less stress). To learn more visit: While
your message from start to finish before hitting "Send".there, subscribe to The Legal Connection, a quarterly
This last reading is crucial in catching any missingnewsletter, full of how to's, reviews and insights to
information or attachments and allows you to get a fullworking virtually.
understanding of the "tone" of your message. On