Scavenger Hunt 2 Flashcards
Define communications
“A process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior.”
What is necessary for a symbol to communicate meaning?
A symbol is something that stands for something else. It is necessary to have a common understanding
Understand how behavior has different meanings in different contexts.
Different cultures assess different meanings to the same behavior.
Ex: sticking out your tongue - Tibetan culture sticking out your tongue is a sign of respect or agreement, in the U.S. it is playful or bratty
Roughly ____% of meaning is transmitted via nonverbal communications.
70-80%
What are the characteristics of email as a communications method? Strengths and weaknesses?
Strengths:
- Cheap ubiquitous - it’s everywhere
- At least everyone has one email account
- We can read email anywhere using almost any device
Weaknesses:
- The volume of work related emails we get can be overwhelming. People get and send about 121 emails a day
- Volume and interruption can reduce productivity. Only a verbal communication you don’t get expression with it
- Nonverbal: pace, tone. Non-verbal provides 70-80% of the message and it can be misinterpreted
What are the consequences of trying to juggle emails and other work?
- It can interrupt the other work you are doing.
- Lose 10 IQ points by trying to work and answer emails at the same time
- Interruption can reduce productivity
- Studies indicate that you can lose as much as 20 minutes when you’re interrupted when you’re in the middle of doing something
Why are email subject lines so important?
Because you have less than 3 seconds to use the subject line to catch someone’s attention
What are the two main reasons people read emails?
- The sender is important (boss)
- The subject line is compelling
___% of emails are deleted in less than ___ seconds.
80% of emails are deleted in less than 3 seconds
Know how to make a good subject line for an email.
Create subjects that are concise and compelling
They need to be short
The majority of email today is read on mobile devices and it provides less room for a subject line to appear
What does TL;DR mean?
Too Long; Didn’t Read
Only ___% of people say they only read ___ of an email.
60%; half
How should the fact that a lot of people don’t read the whole email change how you write emails?
You should instead take the important ideas and put them at the front of the email so people will actually read it.
What best practices were offered for formatting business emails?
- Use greetings and closings
- It’s polite and helps to establish relationships
- Makes it more personal
- May make people feel more connected to you and act more favorably
- Brevity - quick to the point, important info first.
- If you have lists and other info, then provide it as an attachment to keep the email short
What warning did Mr. Roberts give about people perceiving the tone of an email?
- People are no good at interpreting the tone of your email – we only get it right about half of the time and the problem is that we think we get it right about 90% of the time
- Don’t assume you are correctly reading the tone of someone else’s email
- When writing, be cautious that people may misinterpret the tone of your email so be careful when writing an email
- Proofread! Always write professionally. You never know where the email can get forwarded so be professional even with emails to work friends. You always want to be seen in the best possible light
- Be polite. There aren’t nonverbal communications such as a smiley face so stay professional
