E-mail: For and Against

COMMUNICATION

E-MAIL: FOR AND AGAINST

I. Read the article and answer these questions:

E-mail might just be responsible for the productivity increases that economists tell us are the key to rising prosperity. But it could also be sending us all mad.

The truth is that business is generally best done face to face, and if that is impossible, then speaking via the phone. But too many of us now hide behind silent, typed communications. The trouble is that the recipient of an e-mail does not hear a tone of voice or see a facial expression; nor can the sender modify their message halfway through, sensing that it is causing offence. When you read an e-mail you cannot tell the mood of the e-mailer.

A permanent written form is deadly if you are feeling impetuous and emotional. Too often I have made the mistake of sending an irritable response, which will have festered and angered the other end much more than a difficult telephone exchange. Spoken words fade; but e-mail is forever. I have learned that if I receive a really nasty e-mail – as I do occasionally about Channel 4 programmes, or a bad meal in one of my restaurants – then the best policy is simply to delete it immediately.

It is a rare week that I do not witness or participate in some foolish misunderstanding triggered by wrong interpretations of e-mail. Every so often, I vow to always call or meet people rather than send them electronic monologues (or perhaps diatribes). But convenience and laziness seize me, and I lapse.

It is so much easier to be tough via e-mail, or to get away with weak excuses, or to make things up, or to say no. Almost invariably, it is more human and serious to have a real discussion rather than a bizarre online conversation. I know employees who have been fired for sending abusive e-mails, or who have faced severe legal consequences for writing something they should have just said verbally.

Most of us are running our working lives like Richard Nixon ran the Oval Office – forgetting that the tapes are running. I recently had to chair a meeting and discovered monstrous microphones in the middle of the room, recording every word, which had apparently been the previous custom because of disputes about minutes. I insisted they were switched off, and the atmosphere lightened right away and became more conducive to open debate. I do not want to spend my time in a corporate version of the Big Brother house.

And, of course, everyone in business finds their inbox is almost swamped every day with spam. I notice I spend longer and longer sorting out the e-mails that matter from all the junk. It has become, I’m afraid, a dangerously corrupted medium. Large companies suffer chronic overuse of “reply to all”.

Moreover, e-mail can be a terrible distraction, especially if you use a BlackBerry. I was recently reprimanded for peeking at mine during a board meeting – a gross form of hypocrisy on my part, because I once threatened to sling out of the window any PDA-type devices being used in meetings I chaired. I have now vowed to switch off both BlackBerry and mobile in all meetings – anything less is uncivil.

It must be admitted that e-mail is hard to beat as a transmitter of documents and data. It forces the sender to carefully think through their arguments and express themselves logically. It allows you to reply swiftly to a host of different questions when time is short. You don’t have to worry about journey times or travel costs, unreliable postage or engaged phones or voicemail.

E-mail is a marvellously economical tool for keeping in touch with far-flung commercial contacts; you can send them a note at your leisure, 24 hours a day.

It is also is a terrific method of discreetly and directly pitching to someone powerful. It certainly beats trying to get a meeting or even reach them on the phone.

Like it or not, I could not do my job without e-mail. Meanwhile, I know a senior financier, an ex-chair of a FTSE company, who still has his secretary print out his e-mails for him to read so he can then dictate replies for her to e-mail back. Now that really is mad.

1. Find expressions in the article which mean the following:

a. looking at another person	Face to face
b. upsetting or embarrassing someone by being rude or tactless	Causing offence
c. not be caught or punished when you have done something wrong	Get away with
d. pretend something is true in order to deceive people	Make things up
e. keeping writing or talking to someone, even though you do not see them often	Keeping in touch with
f. aiming an idea or product at someone	Pitching to someone

2. Complete this text with the expressions above in the correct form:

I don't have a problem with him keeping in touch with1 his family whilst he's posted overseas and sending e-mails in office time. That's not the main issue. However, if he thinks he can get away with2 sending such abusive e-mails to colleagues, he is sadly mistaken and he'll have to face the consequences of his actions later. He is clearly making things up3 about his colleagues and spreading nasty rumours. He'd be better off speaking to colleagues face to face11 if he has problems with them. He's slightly better when speaking with customers, but he needs to think about who he's speaking to when he's pitching5 our products to them. And he just doesn't know how to say no to people without causing offence6.

II. Words for today

Bizarre	Very strange and unusual: - a bizarre situation - bizarre behaviour
Chronic	(especially of a disease or something bad) continuing for a long time: - chronic diseases/conditions - chronic arthritis/pain - a chronic invalid - There is a chronic shortage of teachers.
Deceive	To persuade someone that something false is the truth, or to keep the truth hidden from someone for your own advantage: - The company deceived customers by selling old computers as new ones. - The sound of the door closing deceived me into thinking they had gone out.
Dictate	To give orders, or tell someone exactly what they must do, with total authority: - The UN will dictate the terms of troop withdrawal from the region.    [ + question word ] He disagrees with the government dictating what children are taught in schools.    [ + that ] The rules dictate that only running shoes must be worn on the track. To influence something or make it necessary: - The party's change of policy has been dictated by its need to win back younger voters.     [ + that ] I wanted to take a year off, but my financial situation dictated that I got a job.
Discreet	Careful not to cause embarrassment or attract too much attention, especially by keeping something secret: - The family made discreet enquiries about his background. - They are very good assistants, very discreet - they wouldn't go talking to the press
Distraction	The state of being very bored or annoyed: - His lessons bore me to distraction. - That dreadful noise is driving me to distraction. Something that prevents someone from giving their attention to something else: - I can turn the television off if you find it a distraction. An activity that you do for pleasure: - one of the distractions of city life
Fester	If a cut or other injury festers, it becomes infected and produces pus: - a festering sore
Hypocrisy	A situation in which someone pretends to believe something that they do not really believe, or that is the opposite of what they do or say at another time: - There's one rule for her and another rule for everyone else and it's sheer hypocrisy.
Impetuous	Likely to do something suddenly, without considering the results of your actions: - He's so impetuous - why can't he think things over before he rushes into them? Said or done suddenly, without considering the likely results: - The governor may now be regretting her impetuous promise to reduce unemployment by half.
Reprimand	To express to someone your strong official disapproval of them: - She was reprimanded by her teacher for biting another girl.
Uncivil	Not polite: - He was most uncivil to your father - called him an old fool.

III. Idioms

1 to fail to understand anything	Can’t make head nor tail of it è This document from our subsidiary makes no sense at all. I can’t make head nor tail of it.
2 to share similar opinions and ideas	To be on the same wave length è Paola and I agree on most things. We seem to be on the same wave length.
3 to give the main facts in a short, clear way	To put it in a nutshell è The new organogram is very complicated, but to put it in a nutshell, we still report to the same manager.
4 to not understand something	To get the wrong end of the stick è I’m afraid that isn’t right. If you think our biggest problem is communication, then you have got the wrong end of the stick.
5 to delay talking about something	To beat about the bush è He never gives you a straight answer. He’s always beating about the bush.
6 to give the latest information	To put someone in the picture è A lot happened while you were on holiday. Let me put you in the picture.
7 to talk about the most important thing	To get straight to the point è Ok, I’ll get straight to the point I’m afraid it’s the last time we’re going to miss a deadline.
8 to hear about something because the information has been passed from one person to another in conversation	To hear it on the grapevine è I heard it on the grapevine that he’s been fired. Is it true?
9 to be told something by someone who has direct knowledge of it	To get it straight from the horse’s mouth è The company is going bankrupt. The CEO told me himself. I heard it from the horse’s mouth.
10 to try to communicate with an unresponsive person	To be like talking to a brick wall è I’ve tried to get my supplier to give us a discount several times, but they just won’t. It’s like talking to a brick wall.
11to include someone in group communication	To keep someone in the loop è I’ll need regular updates about the progress of the project. I’ll also need to know what’s going on when I’m away. Please keep me in the loop.
12 to not understand someone	To talk at cross-purposes è I think we’re talking at cross-purposes. I mean next week, not this week.