Title: Written Communication Quiz: Email Intent vs Impact
Course: PIM: Tricky Communication: Intent vs. Impact > Section: Written Communication

Q: Which email demonstrates a high context approach?
- Should arrive around 7. See you then. (You selected correctly! Both messages convey a key piece of factual information -- the time of arrival -- but the short message relies on the reader to already know the context for conveying that information (that is... who, where, why, and what comes next).)
- Dear Donna, How are you? I hope you had a great weekend. I’m excited about our upcoming work together. I will arrive at the hotel around 7 pm and hope we can have dinner together to catch up before we begin work on the project. I will text when I arrive at the hotel. Warmly, Miguel (High context messages leave out a lot of details that the speaker or writer already expects the receiver to know, so this would not be a good example of high context communication. Try again!)
A: Should arrive around 7. See you then.

Q: Which email demonstrates a task focus?
- Should arrive around 7. See you then. (You are right! This shorter message is all about the task at hand.)
- Dear Donna, How are you? I hope you had a great weekend. I’m excited about our upcoming work together. I will arrive at the hotel around 7 pm and hope we can have dinner together to catch up before we begin work on the project. I will text when I arrive at the hotel. Warmly, Miguel (Hmmmm... this email has several instances of relationship focus in addition to the task-oriented information of the arrival, for example the greeting, the expression of excitement, and the salutation. Go back and try again.)
A: Should arrive around 7. See you then.

Q: Which email demonstrates a more formal tone?
- Dear Donna, How are you? I hope you had a great weekend. I’m excited about our upcoming work together. I will arrive at the hotel around 7 pm and hope we can have dinner together to catch up before we begin work on the project. I will text when I arrive at the hotel. Warmly, Miguel (You got it! Although the use of first names is often more informal, this writer follows more formal writing conventions or patterns such as using a salutation ("Dear Donna") and a closing ("Warmly, Miguel"). This longer message also uses complete sentences that each contain a subject and verb.)
- Should arrive around 7. See you then. (Nope, this one is definitely more informal in tone. Note the incomplete sentences and lack of greeting. Go back and try again!)
A: Dear Donna, How are you? I hope you had a great weekend. I’m excited about our upcoming work together. I will arrive at the hotel around 7 pm and hope we can have dinner together to catch up before we begin work on the project. I will text when I arrive at the hotel. Warmly, Miguel

Q: Choose all that apply for the message below:

Wednesday's lab results off by 10% of target. Unacceptable given protocol. Please plan for revision by Monday.
- High context (Yes, this message leans towards a high context approach. There are a lot of details "between the lines" that the reader is expected to know. There are three correct responses. Did you get all three? If not, go back and choose again.)
- Low context (No, if this message were low context it would include a lot more explicit detail. Go back and try again.)
- Task focus (Correct! This message is all business, with the focus on the action item and deadline. There are three correct responses. Did you get all three? If not, go back and choose again.)
- Relational focus (Not much in the way of relationship building, maintenance, or repair here - just the task at hand. Some people might consider it rude or offensive, in fact. Go back and choose a different response.)
- Informal tone (Absolutely! The incomplete sentences and lack of care to include polite language make it sound informal. It could be between peers or be coming down the chain from higher up in the hierarchy, for example from instructor to student or supervisor to employee, but it is definitely not formal enough to send to an authority figure.)
- Formal tone (Not really. While it is cold rather than warm, cold does not equal formal. Even the addition of the word "please" doesn't make it formal, just slightly less abrupt. Go back and try again.)
A: High context; Task focus; Informal tone

Q: Reflect briefly in response to each of the following prompts about the message below:

Wednesday's lab results off by 10% of target. Unacceptable given protocol. Please plan for revision by Monday.

1. When you read this message, is your first gut reaction to assume positive, neutral, or negative intent by the sender? Why?
2. Can you shift your perspective? For example, if your assumption was neutral, can you imagine a positive intent? If you assumed the intent to be negative, what might be a neutral interpretation?
Feedback: It's possible that the sender and receiver, e.g., a lab director and student or research partners, already have a pattern of communication that means that the message is understood as factual and has no negative impact. Maybe there was already concern that the results were off, and the two are just conferring about next steps. This could also be a response to a query, and the concise format could be due to a number of factors, such as what time of day the message was sent, what the sender was doing at the time, and what platform or device was used to send it.

Q: Write a short paragraph to explain your reactions to this email, responding to each of the prompts below:

From my observations of last week's meeting, you may not be much of a team player. Results are good.

Fatima

1. How would you feel if you received this email? Why?
2. How would you respond?
3. What could be positive intent of the sender?
4. Would that positive intent change how you responded?
Feedback: Most people feel that this message can only have negative intent and say they would feel angry, bad, or ashamed to receive it. The fact that the results are good seems to contradict the comment about not being much of a team player and makes the message all the more confusing. But think about how it would sound to say "you may not be much of a team player" with a teasing tone. Suddenly, the phrase can become a compliment. Or maybe the receiver of the message doesn't like teams and talked to Fatima (the sender) about it, and Fatima is simply confirming that fact but still pointing to the positive results of the meeting. Or maybe the receiver dominated the meeting instead of being a team player, and the message is meant to be congratulatory -- "The team can't get anything done, but since you took over, results were good." Some people are very literal in how they process speech, and others focus as much on tone as the words that are said. Either way, tone is especially hard to pick up in writing. (That's what emojis are for, right? :-) )

Q: How would you rewrite this email to make positive intent more clear?

From my observations of last week's meeting, you may not be much of a team player. Results are good.

Fatima
Feedback: There's not one way to rewrite this email to have a more positive impact, but it would be important to keep in mind the context (you probably noted by now that Fatima has used a high context approach) and the challenge of communicating tone. Did you lead with the positive message rather than the (assumed) criticism? Did you add any language or emojis to soften and warm the tone? Did you add any details that perform relational work? Did you provide a caring reason giving for your feedback? These would have all been good strategies to make your positive intent more clear.