November 12th, 2008
If Google had its way, you would never delete e-mail, let alone file it. Google got rid of the old filing cabinet analogy for e-mail when they introduced GMail, which lets you archive everything and easily search for it later. No folders, no files, no trash.
What about confidential e-mail? The “delete immediately” e-mail with jokes about the boss’s son and inside trading tips? Sorry. Confidential e-mail doesn’t exist, and never has. GMail just makes it a bit more clear that every careless e-mail is carved in electronic stone. Even deleted e-mail. In 2006, a judge requested deleted e-mail held on Google’s servers — and got it. If you want to talk about something confidential or offensive, don’t write an e-mail.
Effective E-Mail
October 14th, 2008
From poets to public relations writers, we all get stuck in front of a blank screen from time to time. As Gail Godwin writes in her essay, “The Watcher at the Gate,” most of us have inner critics who throttle our ideas. She calls her critic the “Watcher.” “It is amazing the lengths a Watcher will go to keep you from pursuing the flow of your imagination,” she writes. “Watchers are notorious pencil sharpeners, ribbon changers, plant waterers, home repairers and abhorrers of messy rooms or messy pages.”
She’s got it right: when we name our inner critics, they’re much easier to ignore.
Writing Skills
September 23rd, 2008
Seriosity, a software and consulting company, has an interesting solution to information overload. They’ve adapted the methods of massively-multiplayer online games to the world of business, using invented money and reputation statistics to encourage concise, relevant e-mail, among other things. No matter what your incentive for crafting effective e-mail, Write It Well’s workshops and workshop facilitator guides can give you the necessary tools for clean, clear communication.
Effective E-Mail, Writing Skills