Please find pasted below Econnect Communication’s April 2002 newsletter. This edition provides some tips on electronic communication. Your feedback is welcome. If you’ve missed previous newsletters, you can check them out on our website.

With regards

The team at Econnect Communication (Jenni Metcalfe, Lin Martin, Louise Ralph, Michelle Riedlinger)

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CONTACT ECONNECT COMMUNICATION – phone 07 3846 7111; EMAIL admin@econnect.com.au; website: http://www.econnect.com.au. Econnect is committed to planning and delivering innovative and effective communication in the natural resource and environmental fields to ensure a sustainable future. We work with clients and their partners in an open, respectful and cooperative manner fulfilling our commitment to conservation and social justice.

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NEWSLETTER 10, 22 April 2002

Feel free to reproduce any of the following articles as long as you acknowledge Econnect as the source; and feel free to send this newsletter to anyone else who might be interested and/or put onto our newsletter contact list. Past copies of newsletters can be found on our website.

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EMAILS AND CONSULTATION By Lin Martin

We are currently developing two walking trails strategies that require extensive community consultation. We have found that using databases with partners’ emails addresses has greatly streamlined consultation communication and data gathering. Jenni first pioneered this method with the Murray-Darling Basin Commission’s (MDBC) communication strategy, and the resulting database allowed us to then deliver a very successful email survey to MDBC partners.

 

Most people in the community (we have found) now have email, those that don’t still have to be reached by fax and postal service, but now there are far less newsletters to be printed, folded and mailed. Jenni has turned us on to email mail merge, and now personalised newsletter pdfs, invitations, or workshop notes are sent directly to individuals in the community. The response is fast – usually overnight or in the next day or two. In validating data we’ve found that a fast turn around means more accurate data, as issues and associations are fresh in partners minds.

 

As our email signature has our website address on it, some community members have told me that on receiving an email from us, they have clicked onto our website and been reassured by our environmental credentials. And they can imagine who they are talking to – they have seen our photos (mine not so recently updated)  – so a seeming impersonal media actually can deliver that personal touch.

 

We are about to go to public comment on one of the strategies and all who have participated will be personally emailed a draft strategy and will also be able to download it from the agency website – saving the agency big $$ in sending out large documents complete with maps. Some will still want hard copies, but far less than before.

 

So while we may now have to enter in all the details in the databases (not my favourite pastime) – the efficiency created in future communication well and truly pays off.

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THINK BEFORE YOU CLICK – ONLINE ETIQUETTE by Louise Ralph

Most of us probably feel we can’t survive without our email – but it is the most abused form of communication ever invented. While it can be an effective way of communicating we need to remember there are no vocal clues, no body language – and anything you say in an email is sent in the click of a mouse.

 

Following some basic rules of email etiquette can make our electronic communication more relevant:

1.        Avoid using exclamation marks in the subject line. Junk mail filters often knock these messages out.

2.        Use meaningful subject lines

3.        Using capital letters is e-shouting – avoid it where possible

4.        Always address the person by name and sign off with your own name

5.        Include at least one meaningful sentence

6.        Avoid short answer replies, which come across as impersonal and snappy

7.        Making jokes can be easily misunderstood on email. Use the cyber-wink ;), or add (joking) in brackets

8.        Avoid unnecessary cc’s – unless everyone absolutely has to be in the loop you can risk desensitising people to important information

9.        Use the “blind cc” option when sending to long lists or recipients who prefer to remain anonymous – to set the bcc option up, open a new message, select “view”, then click on “all headers”

10.     Beware of writing or passing on offensive or confidential emails

11.     Don’t automatically send on virus warnings – they can give people the runaround unnecessarily (they are often fake and designed to waste people’s time)

12.     Think twice before signing up for email lists – what may seem a great idea at the time can quickly become annoying, especially if there is no unsubscribe option

13.     Put a dot point summary at the beginning of longer emails so readers can see if it’s relevant to them without scrolling down

14.     Never flame (abuse or defame) people on email lists – phone or email the person directly

15.     Think before you send that angry email. Give yourself time to cool down, save it to your draft box or better still, delete it.

 

Finally, remember the phone? Making a call can be faster and more effective than the email roundabout. And face-to-face communication is even better. Use email as a tool for communication but don’t let cyber-space be the only place you do business.

 

PS. If you have any more email etiquette tips to share, let us know. We’re all ears ;)

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RESEARCH INTO EMAIL COMMUNICATION By Michelle Riedlinger

Results of studies looking at the differences between face-to-face (FTF) and email communication are often conflicting and contradictory but a summary of the some of the latest research may shed light on email’s more practical uses.

 

The lack of social context in email communication has been blamed for creating feelings of anonymity with members. This has been linked with a perceived increase in offensive communication through email. Adrianson and Hjelmquist, 1991 found that participants rated giving and receiving orders as being performed equally well by FTF and email communication but believed that email communication was extremely poor at resolving disagreements compared to FTF.

 

No surprises there, but there are also advantages to email communication. Besides the increased networking opportunities that the medium supplies, members can experience less pressure on them to conform to the opinion of others. When looking for diversity in response, email communication can offer more accurate feedback from members. It can also offer more equality of participation, less social pressure and a higher incidence of uninhibited behaviours that may reduce social barriers in organisations (Bordia, 1997).

 

Other researchers have challenged these notions. Weisband et al. 1995, demonstrate that high-status members participate more frequently in group discussions in both FTF and email communication. They attribute this to member awareness of the status of those participating in discussion. When the status of others is known and the group is small, email communication offers no advantages over FTF for canvassing opinions. If there is a recognised difference in status between members in group discussions, this difference will be transferred over to email communication. This increases awareness of the social context, which is good for interaction. Social context gives members the ability to interpret situations correctly and interact with others in an appropriate manner.

 

So what is email communication good for? If you take note of current research, its role in developing and maintaining relationships and supporting a cooperative environment is pretty ambiguous. However, as a mode of information exchange we’ve got to the point where we probably would feel lost without it.

 

References:

Adrianson, L.  and Hjelmquist, E. (1991). Group processes in face-to-face and computer-mediated communication. Behaviour and Information Technology, 10:281.

Bordia, P. (1997). Face-to-face versus computer-mediate communication : a synthesis of the experimental literature. The Journal of Business Communication,  34: 99.

Riva, G. and Glaimberti, C. (1998). Computer-mediate communication: Identity and social interaction in an electronic environment.  Genetic, Social and General Psychological Monographs,  124: 434.

Weisband, S., Schneider, S. and Connolly, T. (1995). Computer-mediated communication social information: status salience and status differences.  Academy of Management Journal,  38: 1124.

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USING VISUAL AIDS in presentations By Jenni Metcalfe

Too many presenters hide behind their visual aids, whether they be slick Powerpoint productions or good old overheads. In the presentation skills training workshops we have run for various scientific organisations over the past 8 years, I have developed my 5 golden rules for using visual aids:

1. You, the presenter, are the most important visual aid – if you’re enthusiastic you won’t need to hide behind visual aids as your personal style will draw the audience in
2. Less is more – try not to use visual aids throughout your entire presentation… then the ones you do use will have more visual impact - and try to cover just one idea in each visual aid you use
3. A picture tells a 1000 words – if all your visuals are text they are probably just your speech notes – designed to help you get through the presentation rather than adding impact for the audience or helping you to explain something
4. Three dimensions are better than two – the use of actual objects is much more real for the audience than boring two-dimensional images that trip incomprehensibly across the screen
5. Variety is the spice of life – try to do different things throughout your presentation – use visuals in one part of your talk then not in another part; use different colours and fonts… BUT remember don’t overdo the variety  - incorporate just enough to add to the audience’s interest without confusing them.

 

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