Express Your Emotions Clearly in Work Letters to Avoid Misunderstandings
You can avoid misinterpreting the tone of your emails by your coworkers by directly stating what you think about their work. Don’t be shy, but be respectful. After all, being straightforward is one of the key ways to communicate better at work .
Andrew Brodsky provides a great example of how expressing your emotions directly makes email clearer and ultimately more productive. An initial example of an email from a manager to his co-worker with feedback on a recent project:
The splash screen of the commercial needs to be redesigned. I’m sure the client does it and you can handle it :). Regards, [manager’s name] .
In the message of the manager, an attempt was made to bypass, insulting the feelings of the employee because of the poor quality of the project, blaming the client. Despite the smiley face, the employee interpreted the message as condescending, as the manager knew they had made the introduction and not the client.
Instead, the manager had to tell him what he thinks about the employee’s work in general, and then ask for a revision of the introduction, for example:
I am very pleased with your work. I think, however, that the introduction could be improved; could you give it another chance?
Thanks to the rewritten message, the employee knows that their work is appreciated and is ready to answer questions from their project manager. You can also use this technique to share feedback with colleagues, even if they are not your control. Keep this approach in mind so that your own messages are not misunderstood (and stressful).
Email Policies: From Emojis to Typos | Harvard Business Review