Business Communications

Business communications can be very complicated when transferring messages electronically where there is actually no personal interaction taking place. The intent can be misunderstood as well as there can be several different audiences receiving the message. Another issue with electronic transferring of messages can be differences in the senders' and the receiver's knowledge of how electronic messages are reviewed and understood.

In one situation that I experienced in the work place there was two individuals that had vast differences in how electronic emails are used. One employee was an older individual who was actually close to retirement and never completely embraced the use of modern technology as a form of messaging. The other individual was recently out of college and was extremely well educated on the use of modern technology.

The older employee was the sender of the message. She required the younger employee to complete a report in order for her to compile weekly summaries as a part of her responsibilities. This individual had requested to receive a day off at the end of the week, and had received that permission dependent on the completion of those reports. She sent an email to the younger employee requesting to receive her report as soon as she could possibly get it. The sender of the message, not having a good knowledge of how the use of text size can be interpreted by the receiver of a message, typed the message with the cap locks on.

The receiver of the message read the message and immediately acknowledged that all letters was in capital form. She became offended by this fact as she understood this to be a form of raising her voice to her. This is a commonly understood use of capitalization in writing emails and text messages among those who are effluent in modern use of written technology.

No feedback was giving by the receiver. She immediately reported the situation to me and explained that it was unacceptable to her to be addressed in such a manner. My feedback was that I would speak with the other employee and get an understanding of what the situation was.

After speaking with the sender of the message, I understood that she wish to receive the report in order to complete her reports early. She also explained that she had no idea that all capital letters was interpreted as rising of voice. She also knew that the request was not difficult and understood that what the receiver had understood could create a situation.

The receiver was then brought back in and explained that the situation was not intentional. It was explained why she was wanting the report early, and that the capital lock was something that she did and felt like once it was typed it was easier to hit send rather than erase and retype.

Each employee understood the details of what happened after further communication and feedback. Discussions were held about the complete explanation of any unusual situations