Email Like A Boss

Miscommunication is part of life, especially in email where emotion is often misunderstood, misread or misjudged entirely. When this happens between friends or family, a hug, a quick phone call or a joke can repair the situation, however when miscommunication happens in the workplace, the result could be seriously problematic.

Email is a vital feature and often the most commonly used form of communication in workplace connections, and thus is a ripe area for wires to get crossed, all because of the wrong phrasing or the wrong punctuation. Yes – you heard it correctly, the wrong punctuation. A simple exclamation point used in the wrong place to an already sensitive person, can be seen as coming across as aggressive, demanding or dismissive.

So how can we counteract this to prevent workplace miscommunications and to make sure we are being heard correctly?

Fortunately, the designer and illustrator of ADHD webcomics, Dani Donovan, has peeled back the layers on this everyday conundrum and provided us a solution with her brilliant chart that explains how to e-mail like a boss.

The artist states that she was searching for alternatives to overused phrases and from there the idea evolved: “I’d tried to Google “What to write instead of ‘just checking in’” multiple times and had never really come up with any results. So, she started a Twitter thread and it started to really gain traction.

Donovan’s illustration lays out some of the most common errors we probably all have made when trying to craft a professional e-mail and the best alternatives.

Calm, confident and straight to the point marks the future of smart email communication.

So always remember to Email Like A Boss!