Effective Communication

I recently attended a workshop called Effective Communication, which focused on teaching employees what it means to communicate effectively and how to write e-mails. If someone had mentioned this idea to me years ago, I would have laughed and said who doesn't know how to write a simple e-mail? But being part of the professional business world for the last three years, was I ever surprised seeing how some of my co-workers and even managers communicate with employees and clients. Having a degree in Communication Studies and knowing the importance of it, effective communication for me is one of the key aspects of success in any organization. Ineffective communication will result in a poor delivery of the intended message and a possibility of a misinterpreted message. Through my work experience I came across many 'bad' emails, and to demonstrate what a bad e-mail is, I will show an example that is very similar to an email that I saw recently.

Subject: 4th attempt...

Hello,

This is my 4th attempt to reach someone in your department. I have emailed previously to notify that the client has requested for the funds to be transferred directly to his personal account. I believe you have the clients bank information. Please let me know when this transfer will be complete, as the client is waiting for these funds to be transferred.

Thanks,

Tom

Discussion: This email was sent to my departments shared in-box. The fact that this is a fourth attempt to reach someone, shows that this is a very unclear e-mail and a very ineffective way of communicating a message. What client are they referring to? Who looks after this client? It is not a very effective e-mail and not a good way to reach the intended person. Perhaps they should be more specific and use clients name or account number. Or even picking up the phone and having a real conversation.