English 420Y - Business Writing Online

In response to the article about the CEO who sent out an "angry" email to all of his employees accusing them of not working to their full potential, I felt that this was a ludicrous method in trying to motivate his workers. First off, why would a man of his power send out an email of that nature to everyone in the company?

I honestly didnt know that there were so many rules and etiquette (netiquette) about sending emails. But after doing the reading, I can defintely see how people may break some of the standards by accident. I know I like emails that are straight and to the point. And it does bother me when people take ridiculous amounts of time to respond to my emails. Also, since most of the time I use my home (parent's) computer, large attachments or pictures are just annoying.

In the resume readings I thought it was interesting how often it was noted that employers do not spend hardly any time at all going over resumes. The times that they said were just around thirty seconds. This does not seem like a lot of time for an employer to evaluate someone, so it just shows how important it is to do a good job on your resume. You must make sure that you get to the point and also use keywords that they will be looking for. It is also important to make sure that it is presentable and looks well developed.

Emailing has certainly become one of the largest means of communication in my life, both personal and professional. The reading from the text was extremely helpful to me. Most importantly the sections about the subject line, the greeting, and the signature. The hardest parts of an email for me have always been the subject and the greeting. Usually my subjects end up too vague and I never know how formal to make my greeting, although I usually play it safe and go more conservative rather than less. So I was relieved when I read that is the proper thing to do.

I think the CEO had good intentions but a very poor choice of delivery. E-mail is best used to share information and facts very quickly among one and other in a work place. It is not the best place to try to correct what you feel is a growing problem in your company. It is especially not a good idea to use such a harsh tone in your e-mal for many reasons. One as the CEO found out is that it leaves a firm trail that can be traced back to you. Another reason is that it is very hard to judge a persons tone and demeanor from an e-mail message.

Just a few weeks ago at my internship, a friend that works at the bank told me a funny story about accidentally sending an email. Sometimes during the week my friend and his coworkers joke around sending emails mocking everybody at work to make the day go faster. It kind of has turned into a routine, everybody at work always gets a laugh. My friend, called Luis, has this other friend called Lalo, which is also part of the funny emails. It turns out that Luis sent out a message to Lalo (with everybody else included in the email) just saying: Lalo is a homosexual.

My favorite of the Ten Habits of Successful Emailers is number 3, "Take some time to edit and revise your message before sending it". I rarely remember to do this and it can and probably will cause some negative results if I don't start revising my emails before I send them. I don't know if anyone else thinks like this but I feel since I'm just emailing a professor and not talking to them face to face I don't have to write in a certain manner.

When I was assistant manager, my boss had contact with one of the accountants in one of the most important supplier companies they had. They got along perfectly every time he came to Ecuador to visit. The problem started when he sent his first e-mail. My boss read it and he got really mad, it was a very rude and insulting e-mail. The second time a problem with work arose, he did the same thing and every time my boss would call him to ask what did he meant with those e-mails he would answer so nicely and explain everything in a polite way.

With email, text messaging, and instant messaging programs all gaining popularity in the last ten years, I have had my fair share of misunderstandings. For example, I have had friends email and IM me with long strings of letters that are supposed to stand for something. I have sat staring at the computer filled with acronyms ttyl, tmi, lmao, gtg, brb, a/s/l, lol, and even the classic such as AWGTHTGTTA (are we going to have to go through this again).

Emailing can be a very quick and easy way to contact people but can also lead to embarrassment if the writer is not careful. I personally have not sent out enough emails in formal situations where I would have had the opportunity to make a fool of myself. I have however, witnessed a huge mistake in an email. This email was sent to the entire club I was involved in by the president of the club. The email was suppose to have an attachment of the sign-up times for Spring fest and instead was an email from a vet school that had a ton of personal information.