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How effective is email for communications? Guest Blog from David Grossman

Thursday January 23rd, 2014, 9:02 pm

As part of the 7th International Clean Out Your Inbox Week, I was privileged to work with David Grossman CEO and founder of the Grossman Group leaders in strategic leadership and internal communication. This is the first of three discussions we had by a variety of media (phone, email etc).

Monica: Just how effective do you feel email is as a communications tool?

David: Email can be a highly effective communications tool, if used properly. That’s a big “if.” It’s a vehicle we love to hate, and many of us struggle with e-tiquette. Here are the most common abuses and bad habits that get in the way:

David Grossman CEO The Grossman Group

Selecting email as the wrong method of communication
Poorly written emails
Sending irrelevant information
Engaging in too much back-and-forth when a phone call would solve the issue
Hiding behind email for tough conversations
No call-to-action
Using “reply all” liberally
CC’ing unnecessarily
Saying something in email you wouldn’t want to read in the newspaper

No wonder email gets a bad rap. Very few of us can say that we haven’t committed at least one of the sins above. We’re part of the problem, and also can be part of the solution.

The second interview reviews how we can make our email communications more effective and at the same time reduce the volume of email overload.

David Grossman, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA helps leaders drive productivity and get the results they want through authentic and courageous leadership communication, a sought-after speaker and advisor to Fortune 500 leaders. A two-time author, David is CEO of The Grossman Group, an award-winning Chicago-based strategic leadership development and internal communication consultancy; clients include: DuPont Pioneer, Lockheed Martin, McDonald’s, Motel 6 and Tyco, to name a few.

For more time saving tips and hints why not buy a copy of one of our books or let us run a Smart Email Management workshop for you and your colleagues.

Tags: Clean Inbox Week, clean out your inbox week, David Grossman, email communications, email overload, The Grossman Group

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