Which of the following is true about using the various compositional modes for electronic media?

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7 Digital Media LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After studying this chapter, you will be able to

1 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p700101245100000000000000000307f#P7001012451000000000000000003083) Identify the major digital media formats available for business messages, and list nine compositional modes used in digital media.

2 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000030fa#P70010124510000000000000000030FE) Describe the evolving role of email in business communication, and explain how to adapt the three-step writing process to email messages.

3 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000031ce#P70010124510000000000000000031D2) Identify the advantages and disadvantages of business messaging systems.

4 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003235#P7001012451000000000000000003239) Explain why organizing website content is so challenging, and explain the concept of information architecture.

5 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000032bd#P70010124510000000000000000032C1) Explain how to adapt the three-step writing process to podcasting.

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COMMUNICATION CLOSE-UP AT Slack

slack.com (http://slack.com)

If there’s a business award for accidental success, Stewart Butterfield would surely be a leading contender for it. He has the unusual distinction of being the cofounder of two different video game companies that didn’t succeed at their original missions but wound up spinning off secondary software features that became massive business successes on their own. The first turned into the photo-sharing web service Flickr, which was once just a feature inside an online role- playing game.

After selling Flickr to Yahoo! for a tidy sum, Butterfield cofounded another video game company. Again, the game business didn’t work out, but he and his partners commercialized an instant messaging function the company had developed for internal use. That capability was expanded and became the Slack messaging system, and it is leading an upheaval in the world of business communication.

Slack cofounder and CEO Stewart Butterfield guides the development of a workplace messaging system that thousands of companies are using to improve team communication.

REUTERS/Mike Blake/Files

Slack offers several communication and information-management tools, but at its heart it is a workplace messaging system. Teams can set up a variety of channels to manage communication on specific topics, and individuals can configure alerts to make sure they get the messages they need without getting flooded by messages they don’t (one of the banes of email). All communication is automatically archived, so it’s easy for everyone on a team to find information. A key feature that Butterfield promotes with Slack is transparency, in that communication threads are no longer lost or hidden in private email exchanges but out in the open for everyone on a team to see and share.

To understand the appeal of Slack, one needs to understand the love/hate relationship many business professionals have with email. Email is so ubiquitous that it’s easy to forget what a revolutionary and disruptive medium it once was. In a world where internal memos could take hours to deliver and external letters could take days, nearly instantaneous email changed business communication forever, and it remains a vital communication tool.

However, email has long suffered from a serious case of too-much-of-a-good-thing. Many professionals complain of drowning in a flood of messages, with some getting dozens or hundreds of messages a day—even as they miss vital information when colleagues neglect to include them in message threads. Moreover, email is poorly suited to some of the tasks people use it for, such as project management, collaboration, information management, and other processes that require group communication and shared information access.

A variety of technologies that aim to overcome the disadvantages of email have recently entered the market, from basic instant messaging to full-featured collaboration systems. But few have caught on as quickly as Slack. Within a year of its 2013 launch, Slack had a half million daily users in 60,000 teams around the world and laid claim to being the fastest-growing business app in history. Within two years, the service had more than 2 million active users. Some describe it as more than a mere communication tool, calling it a radical way to transform how they work.

For many business communicators, Slack is clearly filling an unmet need. A majority of customers report greater productivity, more transparency, improved team culture, easier access to information, and a reduced need for meetings. On average, users say it has cut email use in their organizations almost in half, and many say it has nearly eliminated email entirely. By enabling communication and collaboration in ways that support how today’s professionals want and need to work,

Slack and other corporate messaging systems might finally be taming the dreaded email monster.1

(http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P7001012451000000000000000003433)

7.1 Digital Media for Business Communication

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

1 Identify the major digital media formats available for business messages, and list nine compositional modes used in digital media. The runaway success of Slack (profiled in the chapter-opening Communication Close-Up) highlights two important considerations in using digital media: choosing the best tools for the task at hand and using each tool wisely. This chapter offers advice on using tools you’re likely to encounter in any profession: email, messaging, websites, and podcasting. (Digital media with a social component are covered in Chapter 8 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003454#P7001012451000000000000000003454) .)

DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA OPTIONS

The considerable range of digital media available for business messages continues to grow as communication technologies evolve:

Business communicators use the full range of digital media options, from conventional email and messaging to social networking tools.

• Email. Conventional email has long been a vital medium for business communication, although in many instances it is being replaced by other tools that provide better support for instant communication and real-time collaboration.

• Messaging. From basic text messaging on mobile devices to multifunction group systems such as those offered by Slack, messaging in various forms now rivals or exceeds email in many companies.

• Web content. Websites are one of the most important digital media types, from small-business sites with a few pages to large corporate sites with hundreds or thousands of pages.

• Podcasting. Businesses use podcasts to replace or supplement some conference calls, newsletters, training courses, and other communication activities. • Social networks. Social networks have evolved into a major business communication technology, from well-known public networks to the private,

internal networks that many companies now use. • Information- and content-sharing sites. In addition to social networks, a variety of systems have been designed specifically for sharing content,

including user-generated content sites, media curation sites, and community Q&A sites. • Wikis. The collaborative nature of wikis—websites that can be expanded and edited by teams, user communities, or the public at large—make them a

natural fit for aggregating the knowledge of groups ranging from individual departments to the public at large. • Blogging and microblogging. The ability to update content quickly and easily makes blogs and microblogs (such as Twitter) a natural medium when

communicators want to get messages out in a hurry. • Online video. Digital and online video have transformed what used to be a fairly specialized tool into a mainstream business communication medium.

The first four of these—email, messaging, web content, and podcasting—are covered in this chapter. Digital media with a strong social element, from social networks to microblogs, are addressed in Chapter 8 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003454#P7001012451000000000000000003454) . Online video, along with other visual media, is covered in Chapter 9 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003806#P7001012451000000000000000003806) .

Note that the lines between these media often get blurred as systems expand their capabilities or people use them in new ways. Moreover, the mobile variants of all these technologies add another layer of challenges and opportunities for business communicators. For example, the ability to scan coded labels such as barcodes or the similar Quick Response (QR) codes attached to printed materials, products, or store windows (or the ability to pick up radio signals from near-field communication tags) gives smartphone users a way to get more information—from companies themselves and from other consumers providing reviews on social websites.

Most of your business communication is likely to be via digital means, but don’t overlook the benefits of printed messages. (For more on formatting printed letters and memos, see Chapter 6 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000002ade#P7001012451000000000000000002ADE) and Appendix A (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000070ad#P70010124510000000000000000070AD) .) Here are several situations in which you should consider using a printed message rather than digital alternatives:

Even with the widespread use of digital media, printed memos and letters still play an important role in business communication.

• When you want to make a formal impression. For special messages, such as sending congratulations or condolences, the formality of printed documents usually makes them a much better choice than digital messages.

• When you are legally required to provide information in printed form. Business contracts and government regulations sometimes require that information be provided on paper.

• When you want to stand out from the flood of digital messages. If your audience’s computers are overflowing with Twitter updates, email messages, and messaging notifications, sometimes a printed message can stand out enough to get noticed.

• When you need a permanent, unchangeable, or secure record. Letters and memos are reliable. Once printed, they can’t be erased with a single keystroke or surreptitiously modified the way some digital messages can be. Printed documents also require more effort to copy and forward.

REAL-TIME UPDATES

LEARN MORE BY READING THIS ARTICLE

Should you email, text, or pick up the phone?

These tips will help you make the best choice in various business situations. Go to real-timeupdates.com/bct14 (http://real-timeupdates.com/bct14) and select Learn More in the Students section.

COMPOSITIONAL MODES FOR DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA

As you practice using various media and channels in this course, it’s best to focus on the fundamentals of planning, writing, and completing messages, rather than

on the specific details of any one medium or system.2

(http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P7001012451000000000000000003435) Fortunately, the basic communication skills required usually transfer from one system to another. You can succeed with written communication in virtually all digital media by using one of nine compositional modes:

Communicating successfully with digital media requires a wide range of writing approaches.

• Conversations. Messaging is a great example of a written medium that mimics spoken conversation. And just as you wouldn’t read a report to someone sitting in your office, you wouldn’t use conversational modes to exchange large volumes of information or to communicate with more than a few people at once.

• Comments and critiques. One of the most powerful aspects of social media is the opportunity for interested parties to express opinions and provide feedback, whether by leaving comments on a blog post or reviewing products on an e-commerce site. Sharing helpful tips and insightful commentary is also a great way to build your personal brand. To be an effective commenter, focus on short chunks of information that a broad spectrum of other site visitors will find helpful. Rants, insults, jokes, and blatant self-promotion are of little benefit to others.

• Orientations. The ability to help people find their way through an unfamiliar system or subject is a valuable writing skill and a talent that readers greatly appreciate. Unlike summaries (see the next item), orientations don’t give away the key points in the collection of information but rather tell readers where to find those points. Writing effective orientations can be a delicate balancing act because you need to know the material well enough to guide others through it while being able to step back and view it from the inexperienced perspective of a “newbie.”

• Summaries. At the beginning of an article or webpage, a summary functions as a miniature version of the document, giving readers all the key points while skipping over details. At the end of an article or webpage, a summary functions as a review, reminding readers of the key points they’ve just read. A series of key points extracted from an article or webpage can also serve as a summary.

• Reference material. One of the greatest benefits of the Internet is the access it can provide to vast quantities of reference materials—numerical or textual information that people typically don’t read in a linear way but rather search through to find particular data points, trends, or other details. One of the challenges of writing reference material is that you can’t always know how readers will want to access it. Making the information accessible via search engines is an important step. However, readers don’t always know which search terms will yield the best results, so consider an orientation and organize the material in logical ways with clear headings that promote skimming.

• Narratives. The storytelling techniques covered in Chapter 4 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000001f59#P7001012451000000000000000001F59) can be effective in a wide variety of situations. Narratives work best when they have an intriguing beginning that ignites readers’ curiosity, a middle section that moves quickly through the challenges that an individual or company faced, and an inspiring or instructive ending that gives readers information they can apply in their own lives and jobs.

• Teasers. Teasers intentionally withhold key pieces of information as a way to pull readers or listeners into a story or other document. Teasers are widely used in marketing and sales messages, such as a bit of copy on the outside of an envelope that promises important information on the inside. In digital media, the space limitations and URL linking capabilities of Twitter and other microblogging systems make them a natural tool for the teaser approach. Although they can certainly be effective, teasers need to be used with respect for readers’ time and information needs. Be sure that the payoff, the information a teaser links to, is valuable and legitimate. You’ll quickly lose credibility if readers think they are being tricked into clicking through to information they don’t really want. (Tweetables are Twitter-ready bites of information extracted from a blog post or other messages. They often serve as teasers, although a series of them can make an effective summary as well.)

• Status updates and announcements. If you use social media frequently, much of your writing will involve status updates and announcements (see Figure 7.1 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p700101245100000000000000000307f#P70010124510000000000000000030CA) ). However, don’t post trivial information that only you are likely to find interesting. Post only those updates that readers will find useful, and include only the information they need.

• Tutorials. Given the community nature of social media, the purpose of many messages is to share how-to advice. Becoming known as a reliable expert is a great way to build customer loyalty for your company while enhancing your own personal value.

REAL-TIME UPDATES

LEARN MORE BY READING THIS ARTICLE

Telling compelling stories on social media

Storytelling is an effective business communication strategy, and social media can be the ideal platform for it. Go to real-timeupdates.com/bct14 (http://real-timeupdates.com/bct14) and select Learn More in the Students section.

As you approach a new communication task using digital media, ask yourself what kind of information audience members are likely to need, then choose the appropriate compositional mode. Of course, many of these modes are also used in written media, but over time, you may find yourself using all of them in various digital and social media contexts.

Figure 7.1 Compositional Modes: Status Updates and Announcements

Contests, such as this one featuring Fender musical equipment, are a popular message form on Facebook and other social media.

Courtesy Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.

OPTIMIZING CONTENT FOR MOBILE DEVICES

Chapters 5 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000002445#P7001012451000000000000000002445) and 6 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000002ade#P7001012451000000000000000002ADE) offer tips on writing and formatting messages for mobile devices. While keeping the limitations of the small screens of mobile devices and alternative input methods in mind, look for opportunities to take advantage of mobile-specific capabilities via apps and mobile-friendly websites. Mobile expands your options as a content creator, and it gives your audience members a wider range of engaging ways to consume your content:

Mobile offers a range of exciting ways to enhance the audience experience.

• Location-based services. Location-based social networking links the virtual world of online social networking with the physical world of retail stores and other locations. As mobile web use in general continues to grow, location-based networking promises to become an important business communication medium because mobile consumers are a significant economic force—through the purchases they make directly and through their

ability to influence other consumers.3

(http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P7001012451000000000000000003437)

• Gamification. The addition of game-playing aspects to apps and web services, known as gamification, can increase audience engagement and encourage repeat use. The highlight box on page 27 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000001390#page_27) has more on this intriguing business tool.

• Augmented reality. Superimposing data on live camera images can enrich experiences for consumers and supply useful information to business users (see Figure 7.2 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p700101245100000000000000000307f#P70010124510000000000000000030E9) on the next page). The Future of Communication (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003235#P7001012451000000000000000003243) box on page 213 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p700101245100000000000000000353f#page_213) has more on augmented reality and virtual reality.

• Wearable technology. From virtual-reality goggles to smartwatches to body-movement sensors, wearable technology pushes the radical connectivity of mobile to the next level. Some of these items work as auxiliary screens and controls for other mobile devices, but others are meant for independent

use. One of the key promises of wearable technology is simplifying and enhancing everyday tasks for consumers and employees alike.4

(http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P7001012451000000000000000003439)

• Mobile blogging. Smartphones and tablets are ideal for mobile blogs, sometimes known as moblogs. The mobile capability is great for workers whose jobs keep them on the move and for special-event coverage such as live-blogging trade shows and industry conventions.

Figure 7.2 Augmented Reality

The Maintenance Augmented Reality feature in Panasonic’s computer-integrated manufacturing software is a great example of using augmented reality for business communication. By simply pointing a mobile device at a machine, technicians can get detailed information needed for maintenance and repair.

Panasonic Corporation of North America

• Mobile podcasting. Similarly, smartphone-based podcasting tools make it easy to record audio on the go and post finished podcasts to your blog or website.

• Cloud-based services. Mobile communication is ideal for cloud-based services—digital services that rely on resources stored in the cloud.

7.2 Email

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

2 Describe the evolving role of email in business communication, and explain how to adapt the three-step writing process to email messages. Email has been a primary medium for many companies for several decades, and in the beginning it offered a huge advantage in speed and efficiency over the media it frequently replaced (printed and faxed messages). Over the years, email began to be used for many communication tasks simply because it was the only widely available digital medium for written messages and millions of users were comfortable with it. However, as Slack’s growth illustrates, other tools are taking over specific tasks for which they are better suited.

Overuse is one of the major complaints about email.

In addition to the widespread availability of better alternatives for many communication purposes, the indiscriminate use of email has lowered its appeal in the eyes of many professionals. In a sense, email is too easy to use—it’s too easy to send low-value messages to multiple recipients and to trigger long message chains that become impossible to follow as people chime in along the way. And because it is such a general-purpose tool, email gets used for everything from critically important messages to automated updates and confirmations with little or no value.

Email also suffers from an enormous problem with spam (unsolicited bulk email) and security risks such as computer viruses and phishing (fraudulent messages that prompt unwary users to divulge sensitivity information or grant access to protected networks). Spam accounts for roughly half of all email and requires great

effort to keep it from flooding users’ inboxes.5

(http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P700101245100000000000000000343D) Most systems use spam and threat filters, but these filters are never 100 percent accurate and can also reject messages that are legitimate.

In spite of its shortcomings, email remains a major business communication medium.

Even with these drawbacks, email still has compelling advantages that will keep it in steady use in many companies. First, email is universal. Anybody with an email address can reach anybody else with an email address, no matter which systems the senders and receivers are on. Second, email is still the best medium for many private, short- to medium-length messages, particularly when the exchange is limited to two people. Unlike with microblogs or messaging, for instance, midsize messages are easy to compose and easy to read on email. Third, email’s noninstantaneous nature is an advantage when used properly. Email lets senders compose substantial messages in private and on their own schedule, and it lets recipients read those messages at their leisure.

PLANNING EMAIL MESSAGES

The solution to email overload starts in the planning step, by making sure every message has a valid, business-related purpose. Also, be aware that many companies now have formal email policies that specify how employees can use email, including restrictions against using the company email service for personal messages, sending confidential information, or sending material that might be deemed objectionable. In addition, many employers now monitor email, either automatically with software programmed to look for sensitive content or manually via security staff actually reading selected email messages. Regardless of formal policies, every email user has a responsibility to avoid actions that could cause trouble, from downloading virus-infected software to sending inappropriate photographs.

Cut down on message overload by making sure every email message you send has a valid business purpose.

Even with fairly short messages, spend a moment or two on the message planning tasks described in Chapter 4 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000001f59#P7001012451000000000000000001F59) : analyzing the situation, gathering necessary information for your readers, and organizing your message. You’ll save time in the long run because you will craft a more effective message on the first attempt. Your readers will get the information they need and won’t have to generate follow-up messages asking for clarification or additional information.

WRITING EMAIL MESSAGES

Business email messages are more formal than the email messages you send to family and friends.

Figure 7.3 Email for Business Communication

In this response to an email query from a colleague, Elaine Burgman takes advantage of her email system’s features to create an efficient and effective message.

MS Outlook 2013, © Microsoft.

Business email is a more formal medium than you are probably accustomed to with email for personal communication (see Figure 7.3 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000030fa#P7001012451000000000000000003116) ). The expectations of writing quality for business email are higher than for personal email, and the consequences of bad writing or poor judgment can be much more serious. For example, email messages and other digital documents have the same legal weight as printed documents, and they are often used as evidence in lawsuits and

criminal investigations.6

(http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P700101245100000000000000000343B)

The subject line is often the most important part of an email message because it can determine whether the message gets read.

The email subject line might seem like a small detail, but it is actually one of the most important parts of an email message because it helps recipients decide which messages to read and when to read them. To capture your audience’s attention, make your subject lines informative and compelling. Go beyond simply

describing or classifying your message; use the opportunity to build interest with keywords, quotations, directions, or questions.7

(http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P700101245100000000000000000343F) For example, “July sales results” accurately describes the content of the message, but “July sales results: good news and bad news” is more intriguing. Readers will want to know why some news is good and some is bad.

In addition, many email programs display the first few words or lines of incoming messages, even before the recipient opens them. As noted by the social media public relations expert Steve Rubel, you can “tweetify” the opening lines of your email messages to make them stand out. In other words, choose the first few

words carefully to grab your reader’s attention.8

(http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P7001012451000000000000000003441) Think of the first sentence as an extension of your subject line.

Attitudes about emoticons in business communication are changing; you’ll have to use your best judgment in every case.

As a lean medium, email can present challenges when you need to express emotional nuances, whether positive or negative. For years, users of email (as well as messaging and text messaging) have used a variety of emoticons to express emotions in casual communication. For example, to express sympathy as a way to take some of the sting out of negative news, one might use a “frowny face,” either the :( character string or a graphical emoticon such as or one of the colorful and

sometimes animated characters available in some systems.

DIGITAL + SOCIAL + MOBILE: TODAY’S COMMUNICATION ENVIRONMENT

Will Emoticons Give Your Career a Frowny Face?

Your project team has just been reprimanded by the boss for missing a deadline. Your colleagues left the meeting grumbling about being criticized in public after working nights and weekends, and you fear that morale will slip.

You could craft an inspirational message to soothe the bruised egos and get the team’s energy turned around in a positive direction. However, writing such a message could be risky because world-weary teammates might just brush it off as “happytalk” and resent you for trying to be a cheerleader.

Alternatively, you could suggest that your colleagues lighten up and stay focused on the ultimate goal of the project. However, you already know that telling grumpy people to cheer up is a surefire way to make most of them even grumpier.

Instead, you opt for a quick bit of gentle sarcasm, designed to help release the negative emotions in a collegial way. When you get back to your desk, you write the following instant message:

Well, let’s pick up the pieces of our shattered lives and move on ;-)

The over-the-top phrasing is a subtle way to remind everyone that the criticism wasn’t all that traumatic, and that winking emoticon tells everyone to lighten up without actually saying so. The apparent sarcasm connects with people who are marinating in their negative emotions, but it’s really a pep talk disguised as sarcasm.

Then you worry that the emoticon will seem unprofessional, so you replace it with a simple period:

Well, let’s pick up the pieces of our shattered lives and move on.

Oops. That one minor change to make the message more professional turned it into a statement of resigned sadness. You search your keyboard for any acceptable symbol that might help:

Well, let’s pick up the pieces of our shattered lives and move on!

Great, now you’ve managed to sound bitter and demanding at the same time.

Given the difficulty of communicating emotional nuance in lean media such as messaging and email, are emoticons really all that bad? The answer depends on the situation, your relationship with your audience, and the company culture. Until emoticons become more widely accepted in business communication, it’s wise to err on the side of caution.

CAREER APPLICATIONS

1. As a manager, what reaction would you have to job applicants who use emoticons in their email messages? 2. Are emoticons just a generational difference in perspective, or is there more to the issue? Explain your answer.

In past years, the use of emoticons was widely regarded as unprofessional and therefore advised against in business communication. Recently, though, an increasing number of professionals seem to be using them, particularly for communication with close colleagues, even as other professionals continue to view

them as evidence of lazy or immature writing.9

(http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P7001012451000000000000000003443) In the face of these conflicting perspectives, the best advice is to use caution. Avoid emoticons for all types of external communication and for formal internal communication, and avoid those bright yellow graphical emoticons (and particularly animated emoticons) in all business communication.

COMPLETING EMAIL MESSAGES

Particularly for important messages, taking a few moments to revise and proofread might save you hours of headaches and damage control. The more important the message, the more carefully you need to proofread. Also, favor simplicity when it comes to producing your email messages. A clean, easily readable font, in black on a white background, is sufficient for nearly all email messages. Take advantage of your email system’s ability to include an email signature (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P700101245100000000000000000330A) , a small file that automatically includes such items as your full name, title, company, and contact information at the end of your messages.

Think twice before hitting “Send.” A simple mistake in your content or distribution can cause major headaches.

When you’re ready to distribute your message, pause to verify what you’re doing before you click “Send.” Make sure you’ve included everyone necessary—and no one else. Don’t click “Reply All” when you mean to select “Reply.” The difference could be embarrassing or even career threatening. Don’t include people in the cc (courtesy copy or “carbon copy,” historically) or bcc (blind courtesy copy) fields unless you know how these features work. (Everyone who receives the message can see who is on the cc line but not who is on the bcc line.) Also, don’t set the message priority to “high” or “urgent” unless your message is truly urgent. And if you intend to include an attachment, be sure that it is indeed attached.

To review the tips and techniques for successful email, see Table 7.1 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000030fa#P7001012451000000000000000003164) and “Checklist: Creating Effective Email Messages (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000030fa#P70010124510000000000000000031A0) ,” or select Chapter 7 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003055#P7001012451000000000000000003055) at real- timeupdates.com/bct14 (http://real-timeupdates.com/bct14) .

TABLE 7.1 Tips for Effective Email Messages

Tip Why It’s Important

When you request information or action, make it clear what you’re asking for, why it’s important, and how soon you need it; don’t make your reader write back for details.

People will be tempted to ignore your messages if they’re not clear about what you want or how soon you want it.

When responding to a request, either paraphrase the request or include enough of the original message to remind the reader what you’re replying to.

Some businesspeople get hundreds of email messages a day and may need to be reminded what your specific response is about.

If possible, avoid sending long, complex messages via email. Long messages are easier to read as attached reports or web content.

Adjust the level of formality to the message and the audience. Overly formal messages to colleagues can be perceived as stuffy and distant; overly informal messages to customers or top executives can be perceived as disrespectful.

Activate a signature file, which automatically pastes your contact information into every message you create.

A signature saves you the trouble of retyping vital information and ensures that recipients know how to reach you through other means.

Don’t let unread messages pile up in your inbox. You’ll miss important information and create the impression that you’re ignoring other people.

Never type in all caps. ALL CAPS ARE INTERPRETED AS SCREAMING.

Don’t overformat your messages with background colors, multicolored type, unusual fonts, and so on.

Such messages can be difficult and annoying to read on screen.

Remember that messages can be forwarded anywhere and saved forever. Don’t let a moment of anger or poor judgment haunt you for the rest of your career.

Use the “return receipt requested” feature only for the most critical messages.

This feature triggers a message back to you whenever someone receives or opens your message; many consider this an invasion of privacy.

Make sure your computer has up-to-date virus protection. One of the worst breaches of “netiquette” is infecting other computers because you haven’t bothered to protect your own system.

Pay attention to grammar, spelling, and capitalization. Some people don’t think email needs formal rules, but careless messages make you look unprofessional and can annoy readers.

Use acronyms sparingly. Shorthand such as IMHO (in my humble opinion) and LOL (laughing out loud) can be useful in informal correspondence with colleagues, but avoid using them in more formal messages.

CHECKLIST Creating Effective Email Messages

A. Planning email messages • Make sure every email message you send is necessary. • Don’t cc or bcc anyone who doesn’t really need to see the message. • Follow company email policy; understand the restrictions your company places on email usage. • Practice good email hygiene by not opening suspicious messages, keeping virus protection up to date, and following other company

guidelines. • Follow the chain of command.

B. Writing email messages • Remember that business email is more formal than personal email. • Recognize that email messages carry the same legal weight as other business documents. • Pay attention to the quality of your writing and use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. • Make your subject lines informative by clearly identifying the purpose of your message. • Make your subject lines compelling by wording them in a way that intrigues your audiences. • Use the first few words of the email body to catch the reader’s attention.

C. Completing email messages • Revise and proofread carefully to avoid embarrassing mistakes. • Keep the layout of your messages simple and clean, particularly for mobile recipients. • Use an email signature file to give recipients your contact information. • Double-check your recipient list before sending. • Don’t mark messages as “urgent” unless they truly are urgent.

7.3 Messaging

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

3 Identify the advantages and disadvantages of business messaging systems. The Slack profile at the beginning of the chapter highlights the rapid growth of messaging (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P7001012451000000000000000003310) , a category of communication tools whose core focus is conversational exchanges. In contrast to email, which is a digital alternative to printed memos and letters, messaging is best thought of as a digital alternative to live voice conversation. Messaging technologies include text messaging on mobile phones, conventional instant messaging (IM) systems, online chat systems (such as those used by many companies for customer support), and workplace messaging systems such as Slack and its competitors.

A variety of digital messaging solutions are now available, from text messaging on mobile devices to private group messaging systems.

Messaging is a diverse category, and various systems offer a range of capabilities. They range from semipublic systems such as standard text messaging on mobile phones, in which anyone with your phone number can send you a message, to private systems that are closed to anyone other than invited members. Slack and other enterprise messaging systems are catching on with many businesses because they do a better job of enabling and capturing the communication flows that teams, departments, and other groups need in order to work together successfully. Messaging is also a function available on many collaboration platforms and social networks. And messaging isn’t strictly limited to human-to-human exchanges. As the Future of Communication box on page 278 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003f7a#page_278) in Chapter 10 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003e00#P7001012451000000000000000003E00) points out, automated messaging bots can participate in simple conversational exchanges and assist users with various business tasks.

MOBILE APP

Telegram is a free messaging app that offers one-on-one and group chat capabilities.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF MESSAGING

Messaging offers several key benefits over email:

• The ability to mimic live conversation • Improved security • Instantaneous delivery

Messaging offers several key benefits over email for specific communication purposes, so it’s not surprising that it has been steadily replacing email in many applications in recent years. First, because it mimics voice conversation to a high degree, it is better suited to back-and-forth exchanges than email and other digital formats. If you’ve ever tried to carry on a conversation via email or Facebook comments, you know how agonizingly slow it can be to wait for the other person to respond. Second, with closed systems such as Slack, administrators can choose who is allowed to participate, which means they can block out all outside

distractions and threats.10

(http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P7001012451000000000000000003445) Unlike email, which has no centralized control mechanism on the Internet, these private messaging systems spare users from many of the overload problems and security threats that plague mail. Third, the instantaneous nature of messaging makes it the best choice when senders want messages to be seen and acted on immediately. (Email systems can be set up with alerts to tell receivers about incoming messages, but the email messages still need to be opened before they can be read.)

REAL-TIME UPDATES

LEARN MORE BY READING THIS ARTICLE

The security worries behind the surge in business messaging

Find out why mobile messaging apps can be security risks. Go to real-timeupdates.com/bct14 (http://real-timeupdates.com/bct14) and select Learn More in the Students section.

Messaging does have several potential drawbacks. First, for real-time conversational exchange, users of all systems are at the mercy of other users’ typing speed and accuracy, which can make messaging annoyingly slow in some cases. Second, messaging systems vary widely in their levels of security and privacy, and public IM systems aren’t as secure as private, enterprise-level systems. But even closed messaging systems such as Slack are at risk from security attacks. Third, like

email, messaging is a lean medium with little opportunity to convey nonverbal signals, which increases the chances of misinterpretation.11

(http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P7001012451000000000000000003447)

Messaging is vulnerable to other people’s typing skills, systems are vulnerable to security attacks (although generally less vulnerable than email), and it is a lean medium with potential for miscommunication.

GUIDELINES FOR SUCCESSFUL MESSAGING

Although messages are often conceived, written, and sent within a matter of seconds, you can still apply key principles of the three-step process:

Although you don’t plan individual instant messages in the usual way, view important messaging exchanges as conversations with specific goals.

• Planning instant messages. View every exchange as a conversation; while you may not deliberately plan every individual statement you make or question you pose, take a moment to plan the overall exchange. If you’re requesting something, think through exactly what you need and the most effective way to ask for it. If someone is asking you for something, consider his or her needs and your ability to meet them before you respond. And although you rarely need to organize instant messages in the sense of creating an outline, try to deliver information in a coherent, complete way that minimizes the number of individual messages required.

• Writing instant messages. As with email, the appropriate writing style for business messaging is more formal than the style you may be accustomed to with personal IM or text messaging. You should generally avoid acronyms (such as FWIW for “for what it’s worth” or HTH for “hope that helps”) except when communicating with close colleagues. In the exchange in Figure 7.4 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000031ce#P70010124510000000000000000031FC) , notice how the participants communicate quickly and rather informally but still maintain good etiquette and a professional tone. This style is even more important if you or your staff use messaging to communicate with customers and other outside audiences.

Figure 7.4 Instant Messaging for Business Communication

Instant messaging is widely used in business, but in most cases you should not use the same informal style of communication you probably use for messaging with your friends and family.

• Completing instant messages. One of the biggest attractions of messaging is that the completing step is so easy. You don’t have to produce the message in the usual sense, and distribution is as simple as hitting “Enter” or clicking a “Send” button. However, don’t skip over the revising and proofreading tasks. Quickly scan each message before you send it, to make sure you don’t have any missing or misspelled words and that your message is clear and complete. Keep in mind that many corporate messaging systems store every message, and systems such as Slack make them easily searchable, too, so even brief messages that you send in a hurry become part of a permanent record.

Regardless of the system you’re using, you can make messaging more efficient and effective by following these tips:12

(http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P7001012451000000000000000003449)

Successful messaging starts with being thoughtful and courteous.