In your business communication courses, do you ever wonder how much emphasis you should be placing on writing emails? In “The Snowball of Emails We Deal With’: CCing in Multinational Companies,” Ifigeneia Machili of University of Macedonia, Greece; Jo Angouri of Warwick University, UK; and Nigel Harwood of University of Sheffield, UK confirm that email is the current most dominant business communication genre.
 
Emails are not, however, alone on center stage. They interweave with video conferences, phone calls, texts, webinars, and more. Also, they function interdependently with previous and subsequent emails, reports, face-to-face conversations, social media, local and remote meetings, and phone calls. Further, emails must be fluid and flexible as they develop credibility, build/maintain social and organizational relationships, and be sensitive to formality, politeness, credibility, accountability, self-projection, and multiple audiences.
 
The Research
In their analysis of email chains in an international organization, the researchers found that emails play a pivotal role in managing interpersonal relations and operational matters. Through discourse-based interviews, the researchers learned how employees strategically highlighted their professional achievements and owned or denied responsibility for decisions throughout the email chains. In addition to transmitting information, emails employed CCing (carbon copying) and formality to help (1) establish accountability, (2) contribute to decision-making, and (3) enable self-projection.
 
The Implications
The results validate the need for business communication instructors to include intensive email instruction. Students must realize that emails are not simple one-and-done messages, but rather critical communication exchanges that must be sensitive to a host of subtle contextual factors. Showing real-world email chains can help students become aware of the contextual twists and turns they will encounter on the job. Using scenarios and simulations, instructors can require students to write emails at different points in an email chain, developing appropriate strategy and content and deciding whom to CC.
 
You can read their entire article here. Learn other tips about creating effective emails in Chapter 3 of our textbook Writing and Speaking for Business.

-Bill Baker
 
Source: Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
 
Image by William Iven  

​The current election contest between Trump and Clinton serves to remind us of the importance of developing trust in our relationships. Public-opinion polls show that both Clinton’s and Trump’s trust ratings are below 50 percent. News media report that some voters are feeling compelled to choose the lesser of two evils, rather than the better of two good options.
 
The causes of this erosion of trust highlight the importance of one of Aristotle’s three time-proven modes of rhetoric—ethos. Ethos reminds us that the message content intertwines with who and what the speakers are themselves. Ethos requires that the audience must trust not just the speakers’ knowledge, skills, and abilities, but also the speakers’ genuineness, integrity, and honesty.
 
Examine your own ethos within your organization and between you and your clients. What can you do to earn and build other people’s level of trust in you? Here are a few suggestions.

1. Tell the truth, even when the truth is unpopular. Avoid exaggerating and embellishing the facts.
2. Fulfill your work responsibilities and complete what you say you’ll do.
3. Do high-quality work. Mark your work with excellence.
4. Work for the good of your team or organization, not for your own selfish interests.
5. Make sound decisions based on careful thinking.
6. Act in a socially appropriate manner, regardless of the setting, and always keep your emotions under control.
7. Be sensitive to the feelings of others.

 
Consider three additional ideas that can help build trust when you use social media:

1. Assist others in your network. Don’t just “take” from others in your network—you must also give assistance to others. Add substantive comments whenever you have useful content to contribute.
2. As you give assistance to others, ask nothing in return. Be genuine in your giving. Give to give, not to get.
3. When responding to social media, do more than simply “like.” While “liking” may be the best strategy for some situations, consider engaging more fully by adding a thoughtful comment or sending a direct message that shows you really took notice. Further, don’t be afraid to move offline and give the individual a personal phone call.

 
According to George MacDonald, “To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved.” Therefore, always seek to develop high trust in your relationships. Further, seek never to lose the trust you have earned, because trust is much easier to gain than to regain once it is lost.
 
Apply these suggestions in your own workplace and personal life. You’ll find that the resulting increased ethos will give you additional persuasive power as you seek to influence others.

​-Bill Baker