How simple email hacks can contribute to workplace psychological safety and digital well-being.
Authentic digital communication can go a long way to contributing positively to workplace well-being, promoting trust among teams, and strengthening connections. But authentic digital communication is not easy. It requires digital emotional intelligence (DEI) or “virtual EI” which, quite simply, is the ability to be aware of and manage the emotions of one’s self, and others, in a digital environment. Not unlike Daniel Goleman’s model of emotional intelligence (EI), virtual emotional intelligence emphasizes the role of self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills to guide actions, decision-making, and behaviour. Let’s look at how we can improve email communication by adopting an emotional intelligence perspective and how it contributes to psychological safety and digital well-being.
With the absence of body language and tone-of-voice, messages in text can be easily misconstrued. Think for a minute how quickly we pick-up on a person’s tone of voice when we speak to them on the phone. A co-worker calls and says “hey” and with one spoken word we instinctively know when something is up. But that same single word over text does not convey the same message. In fact, text largely removes the human aspect of communication altogether which makes communicating authentically much harder to do. So given that the average worker sends 150 emails per day, how do we ensure that our communication is humane?
HOW DO WE ENSURE THAT OUR COMMUNICATION IS HUMANE?
➡️First, the beginning and end of your emails should convey a personable tone. Jumping right into the content of the email without a “hello” or “how are you?” is the equivalent of walking up to a co-worker in the hallway and doing the same. Without the niceties, we risk being perceived as curt. And we all know that it’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it. So make sure you communicate by email with the same level of authenticity that you would in ‘real life’. A genuine email tone should convey personality.
➡️When it comes to receiving e-mails, reading is the new listening. How many times has a person sent you an email reply asking a question that you already addressed in the previous message? It can be frustrating for the sender and creates unnecessary levels of distrust between co-workers. Not to mention, it’s inefficient when emails go back and forth in the hopes of achieving clarification. Reading carefully is a sign of respect. Which brings me to the next point…
➡️Strive for clarity. Take your time when composing e-mails and ensure your message is clear. Ambiguity can lead to errors and further miscommunication. Messages should be composed in a way your reader understands and outlines what the next steps (or follow-up) will be. This will save time and countless back-and-forth email chains. It also conveys the message that the receiver’s time is valuable to them.
➡️Know when an e-mail should be a phone call (or a meeting). Emails that have too much detailed content can alternatively be delivered as a video message (which is also great for accessibility) or saved for a meeting. In addition, if you think there is even a small chance that your e-mail will be misinterpreted by the receiver, follow up with a phone call instead.This allows for instant clarification on both ends.
➡️Lastly, respect personal boundaries. With the conversation surrounding the ‘Right to Disconnect’ legislation in the mainstream media, there is more awareness on how 24-7 connectedness contributes to burnout and employee disengagement. And despite what company policies state, if team leaders don’t practice digital disconnect (such as no emails after work hours), their employees will feel compelled to do the same. Remember, your sent email becomes someone else’s to-do list. Even if you state explicitly that you are not expecting a reply until the next day, it is still a potential interruption on the other person’s end and puts work on someone else’s proverbial plate (and mind).
So you may have noticed that all of these situations require elements of emotional intelligence…being proactive, navigating emotions, and problem solving. Some may argue that digital emotional intelligence is harder to achieve than emotional intelligence due to the lack of visual cues, body language, expression, tone of voice, and all the other elements we rely on to read and interpret messages when we are in person. But with a bit of DEI training, we can cultivate an awareness of how communication changes in a digital sphere and work toward a new era of digital communication that is authentic, humane. . . and contributes to overall digital wellness.
If you think your team would benefit from digital emotional intelligence workplace training, please reach out to: [email protected]
