Interpreting Tone in Emails: Why Can it Get So Convoluted?
Awkward email exchanges are a part of the modern workplace. You write an email to a coworker, your tone is misinterpreted, and you then have to write a follow-up email explaining that wasn’t what you meant at all.
Email revolutionized communication and made the exchange of information easier. It also entered into the human consciousness – and workplace – a peculiar and occasionally disastrous new genre of awkward moments between people who would have understood each other perfectly if they had just had a face-to-face conversation.
This guide will help you avoid uncomfortable and avoidable moments at work.
It’s all too easy to misinterpret a seemingly harmless email.
Tone: The Root of Most Evil
The number one reason that perfectly innocent or straightforward emails are misinterpreted as snarky or bossy or suggestive is misinterpretation of tone. Email is great for sending dry information and absolutely abysmal at conveying nuance and feeling.
It would be really difficult to misinterpret an email that reads, “Reminder: Staff meeting today at 3 pm sharp.” It would, however, be very easy to misinterpret an email that reads, “Can’t wait for today’s staff meeting today at 3pm!” Why? You can’t tell if the sender is seriously excited or being sarcastic.
The Sarcasm Trap
If misinterpretation of tone is the crux of cringe-worthy email awkwardness, then sarcasm is at the root of that. In the previous example, two different readers could interpret the email two different ways. Is the sender really that excited for a staff meeting, or were they trying to convey how not excited they were by saying the opposite in a snarky tone that is impossible to convey through email?
In its purest form, sarcasm is the attempt to convey a negative feeling by saying something positive that you obviously don’t mean. In emails, sarcasm is rarely obvious. Avoid it like the electronic plague.
Consider Talking
If you have to convey something other than dry information (i.e.: “The new logon password is: Password”), consider having a conversation. When you talk on the phone, the listener can immediately read your inflection, tone, sentiment, and volume. I know, talking is so 20th century. But people – like the ones who invented email and the Internet – got stuff done in the 1900s.
If you want to go one step further, a – gasp – face-to-face conversation will bring a whole new dimension to your communication game. Non-verbal communication like body language, posture, and eye contact will allow you to read even the most subtle nuances of the person with whom you’re communicating.
The Hybrid
If you’re not ready to have a full conversation with an actual human being just yet, but are willing to try to slowly ease into the shallow end, consider a hybrid email/actual conversation.
The email reads, “Staff meeting today at 3 pm sharp, conference room C, 2nd floor. Mandatory for all clerical personnel.” Then you can pick up the phone, call the head of the clerical department, and actually say with your voice something like, “Hey. I just sent over the info for today’s meeting. I’m looking forward to this one; we should be able to work out the last of the issues we had last quarter.”
Email is a great tool for conveying flat, obvious information.
Email is awesome – until you find yourself in the HR office explaining that the email they’re holding wasn’t meant that way, that you were just kidding or didn’t mean it to come off like that. Email dramatically improves the flow of information, but drastically restricts the exchange of human discourse.
Email when you must, talk when you can.
Andrew Lisa is a freelance writer living in Los Angeles. He writes about workplace etiquette and profiles top legal professionals such as Tim Broas.