The 3 Myths about email : Myth # 1

Myth # 1: Email is stopping us from fostering high-quality work relationships

The truth is that email only reflects, and potentially accentuates, the existing culture of trust. 

Research by the Kingston Business School shows that if a culture of trust is already poor then email use will simply reflect this. Staff will keep ‘back-covering’ audit-trails of email communications, regularly misinterpret email content, display poor email etiquette, and use ‘cc’ to hold others accountable.

When the existing culture of trust is good, email is used to forge new and rewarding relationships, to keep people informed (e.g. via appropriate use of ‘cc’), and allows people to be considerate about others’ time pressures.