“Typing” Your Emails
posted by ewright
Many of our inboxes are overflowing with emails on a daily basis. Some emails are written clearly and are easy to comprehend, but others sometimes create confusion because they are either unclear, missing pertinent information, or have too much detail. The tone of an email can also cause miscommunication because the email may be construed as rude when it was really intended to “get straight to the point.”
Have you ever thought that type could play a role when writing emails? Could it be that the sender of the email has different type preferences than the reader? This would explain why miscommunication occurs so frequently through email.
In the article “Typing Your Emails,” Patrick Kerwin, MBA, NCC, MCC, explains how type preferences are expressed in emails, and how you can be more effective at writing meaningful emails that avoid miscommunication and confusion. Read on to learn more.
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“Typing” Your Emails
You go to a meeting, grab a bite to eat, or even run to the restroom, and yet it never sleeps: your email inbox. So you sit down with your computer or Blackberry and start hammering out replies rapid-fire. However, those emails can often be misinterpreted by the recipient, leading to confusion and miscommunication between colleagues.
Could some of the confusion and miscommunication relate to psychological type?
According to psychology pioneer Carl Jung, each of us has an underlying psychological type that influences the way we learn, communicate, work, and relate to other human beings, as well as other aspects of our lives.
Psychological type can be explored and understood through the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) instrument, the world’s most widely used personality assessment. The MBTI tool, published exclusively by CPP Inc., was developed in the early 1940s by Katherine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers to make Carl Jung’s theory of human personality understandable and useful in everyday life. It is used by millions of people and organizations to:
- enhance self-understanding,
- identify strengths and potential areas for growth,
- foster an appreciation for others’ differences, and
- practice new behaviors that enable individuals to meaningfully connect with others of different personality types.
The MBTI tool summarizes our underlying personality patterns based on the interaction of four preference pairs - Extraversion/Introversion; Sensing/Intuition; Thinking/Feeling; and Judging/Perceiving. An individual’s type preferences are represented by one of sixteen four-letter types that describe the combinations of preferences, such as “INFP” for Introversion/Intuition/Feeling/Perceiving.
To fully appreciate how the different preferences affect people’s behavior and perceptions, I’ve described each of them here. People who prefer:
Extraversion, like to focus on the outer world of people and activity.
Introversion, like to focus on their own inner world of ideas and experiences.
Sensing, like to take in information that is real and tangible.
Intuition, like to take in information by seeing the big picture, focusing on relationships and connections between facts.
Thinking, like to look at the logical consequences of a choice or action.
Feeling, like to consider what is important to them and to others involved.
Judging, like to live in a planned, orderly way, seeking to manage and regulate their lives.
Perceiving, like to live in a flexible, spontaneous way, seeking to experience and understand life, rather than control it.
One of the most common and valuable uses of type in the workplace lies in improving communication. Many of us apply type in our everyday verbal interactions, modifying what we say or how we say it by trying to speak the “type language” of those with whom we interact - a process called “type flexing.”
But while we tend to be conscious of our type language when we speak, the speed of email communication allows us to be less conscious of how we write, causing our type preferences to flow unfiltered. In other words, while the emails go flying from your fingertips, type flexing often goes flying right out the window.
See if you can identify the unfiltered type preferences expressed in the following emails:
Email #1
Hi again,
Good to see you at yesterday’s meeting, and great job with the programming issues.
Tina called me about 9:00 last night to apologize for missing the meeting; she was dealing with a performance issue with an employee who had only been with them for three weeks. She didn’t have my number to call to let us know she couldn’t make it. It didn’t seem the time to talk about her commitment to the team. I know that conversation will still need to take place, however.
I did speak with her referral about the website but thought it would be awkward to bring that up last night with Jacob there, since he might be offended that we’re looking at other vendors. The software can be set up so anyone or one person can make changes and add updates. He showed me one he is doing for another team and it is pretty cool. How should we proceed with this?
At our next stakeholders meeting I’m happy to do the welcome and recognize new folks and continuing team members. Do you want me to encourage people to join the team?
Thanks again for your help.
Susan
Email #2
Unfortunately I can’t make the meeting.
Ronald
Email #1 was written by someone with preferences for ENFJ (Extraversion/Intuition/Feeling/Judging). Not all of those preferences may be clear from the email, but a few stand out:
- Intuition (N): The email is largely conceptual, with no mention of costs for the new website or any other specifics.
- Feeling (F): This preference comes through the clearest, starting with the first sentence. She also writes about not confronting a team member, the website situation being awkward, and being happy to recognize and welcome people. She also creates a consensus process for decision-making.
- Judging (J): The clue for this one is the structure of the email. J’s will often delineate topics into separate paragraphs.
Email #2, in contrast, was written by someone with preferences for ESTJ (Extraversion/Sensing/Thinking/Judging). A couple of preferences might stand out to you in this one:
- Sensing (S): The email is precise, efficient, and to the point.
- Thinking (T): The email is objective and takes care of business. The focus is on the matter at hand, not on the people involved in the email exchange.
Now imagine ENFJ Susan’s email going to ESTJ Ronald! He may have been frustrated by the personal tone of the email and its lack of detail. Or imagine the reverse - ENFJ Susan may have been offended by ESTJ Ronald’s lack of a personal tone and the directness of his email. These emails, both in their “unfiltered type” form, could have easily created confusion or miscommunication with their recipient.
The next time you send an email, take a few seconds before hitting “Send” to review what you’ve written. Did you write in “unfiltered type,” or did you flex your type language to best reach your audience? Just like talking type, writing type can help your written interactions become more effective and meaningful, and can help you avoid the needless problems that come along with miscommunication.
Patrick Kerwin, MBA, NCC, MCC
Consultant, CPP, Inc.
