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Why Email Starts Fights!

Only 7 percent of what we say is conveyed through words -- tone and visual cues make up the other 93 percent. This is why emails are so often misunderstood. Ed Muzio of Group Harmonics suggests using email only when you should: to convey facts and data, and when no emotion or sensitive issues are involved.

Speaker: Edward Muzio, CEO & President, Group Harmonics

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Tags: Online Communications, whiteboard, email, office, etiquette, nonverbal, business, facts, coworkers

 
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  •  
    1

    luisc9

    10/21/08 | Report as spam

    RE: Why Email Starts Fights!

    EXCELLENT video!
    Sometime ago I was warned about the "tone" of my emails... I didn't realize of the misuse of them: I was using email for sensitive issues... I should use the phone instead...
    And what about websites' comments or blogs' articles? Again, I think that care must be taken there also, since we can't use tones or visual (just underline, or bold fonts)...
    Thanks for the tips and congratulations again,
    Luis

  •  
    2

    gedbuffee

    10/21/08 | Report as spam

    RE: Why Email Starts Fights!

    Hey Dude - It's about ATTITUDE not ATTIDUDE
    ....

  •  
    3

    MarkGreasley

    10/22/08 | Report as spam

    RE: Why Email Starts Fights!

    I agree with comments about email - but you are misquoting the research done by Mehrabian. His work never showed that only 7% of what we say is conveyed through words. (If this was the case we would not be able to understand books!)
    His reseach was all about influencing and having an impact - he showed that only 7% of the impact/influence we have is conveyed through our words - this is completely different to "only 7% of what we say is conveyed by words". Trainers are continually misquoting this research and it does not help people understand how to communicate effectively.

  •  
    4

    GarethKane

    10/22/08 | Report as spam

    RE: Why Email Starts Fights!

    Mark is quite right - if communication was 93% non
    verbal we would never have to learn a foreign language
    and could never communicate by phone.

  •  
    5

    Sicilia

    10/22/08 | Report as spam

    RE: Why Email Starts Fights!

    Ed,
    Good job on your brief but effective points. I always find your videos and topics to add value.
    Thanks,
    Melina

  •  
    6

    Cherches

    02/09/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Why Email Starts Fights!

    He brings up good points... and his email example is excellent (I've seen it used in different forms many times) but he is COMPLETELY WRONG about the interpretation of the Mehrabian study (as noted in comment #3 above... although that comment is not entirely accurate either). The study is about communicating feelings and attitude... and when those three components are incongruent. Obviously emotion can be conveyed very effectively through email (or writing in any form). The take-away is that we need to be more aware of these three components when we're communicating through any medium. For more on the "7%-38%-55% Rule" see:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Mehrabian

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    7

    soaresrob

    02/25/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Why Email Starts Fights!

    Cool. It can prevent a lot of trouble. Excellent as a reminder.

  •  
    8

    BNETComment2

    05/14/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Why Email Starts Fights!

    Question: What's the best way to have co-workers reply verbally when they choose to respond only by email?

  •  
    9

    LvTravel

    08/13/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Why Email Starts Fights!

    Awesome info. I have had a few run in's with emails that I sent out based on what you have mentioned. Your info states clearly why you should follow the general rules on when or when not to send an email vs chatting with the individual in person. Good reminders.

    In regards to the question, What's the best way to have co-workers reply verbally when they choose to respond only by email?--if they send the email, if you chose to respond state that you prefer to discuss the topic in person and go from there.

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Why Email Starts Fights!

Only 7 percent of what we say is conveyed through words -- tone and visual cues make up the other 93 percent. This is why emails are so often misunderstood. Ed Muzio of Group Harmonics suggests using email only when you should: to convey facts and data, and when no emotion or sensitive issues are involved.

Edward Muzio: Hi, I am Edward Muzio, CEO of Group Harmonics. I m going to tell you why email starts fights.
It happens all the time. It starts out as a simple bit of information, turns first into a discussion, then an argument. Finally, our inbox is full of emails back and forth. No one knows what is going on. It is not an accident. In the late 1960s a man named Dr. Albert Mehrabian did a study of how we communicate. He concluded that there are three different areas of communication where information is passed on.
The first is words. These are the words we use. The second is tone or the sound of our voice, and the third is visual--cues like how our face looks and how we are moving our body. Now, Dr. Mehrabian concluded in his research that the distribution of information looked like this.
The visual cues represent 55% of the information that gets transferred. The tone cues represent 38% of the information, and the words represent only 7% of the overall message. Now, since then, other people have argued over those exact percentages, but the message is the same. Think about a presentation you have seen that was memorable and good. You probably remember the overall message. That's the whole pie. You probably remember how the person looked, how they moved, what their energy was like. That's the visual and the tone, but I bet you couldn't write the script of exactly what they said. You don't remember the exact words. It is the smallest part of the information. That's the problem with email. Email is all about the words.
Let's say I sent you this email. The words are: I didn't say you have an attitude problem. What exactly do I mean? Is it I didn't say you have an attitude problem? Somebody else said it. Is it I didn't say YOU had an attitude problem? I meant your co‑worker. Or is it I didn't say you had an ATTITUDE problem? I meant you have a communication problem. The words aren't enough to communicate the message, and that is the problem with email. This is a terrible message to send in an email because it isn't clear what I mean.
What do you do about this? Well, the answer is simple. You use email only when you should. If you are talking about facts, if you are talking about data‑‑ when is the meeting? What are the directions to get there? What's our agenda? What's the new policy? Excellent for email but draw the line there.
When you get into emotional content, when you get into sensitive issues, do not let email be your answer. Stop it here and switch back over to in person or on the phone. Remember, if you get on the phone, you pick up tone again. You pick up 38% of the information. If you can get to the person in person, you get this 55% back as well. Don't make the mistake of using only 7% of the information only email to solve a complex issue. It won't work, and your email will start a fight.