Portfolio 1 - COIT20249: Evaluating Email Communication

This portfolio assignment evaluates the role of email in business communication, focusing on its advantages and disadvantages compared to scheduled meetings and mobile text messages. Task 1 identifies and describes two advantages of email communication over both scheduled meetings and mobile text messages, highlighting aspects such as reach, speed, and the ability to send attachments, and the convenience for those who are not comfortable in group settings. Task 2 presents two scenarios where email is not the most effective communication channel. The first scenario describes a situation where a "reply all" error led to the sharing of private information, suggesting face-to-face communication as a more confidential alternative. The second scenario involves a misinterpretation of sarcasm in an email, with mobile phone communication proposed as a better option to convey emotions and prevent misunderstandings. The assignment emphasizes the importance of choosing the right communication method based on the context and sensitivity of the information being conveyed.

COIT20249
Name
Institution

Task 1
Communication is an important aspect in day to day activities of every organization.
Email is mostly used in different levels of an organization as a medium of communication
compared to other methods of communication. This is because email communication allows the
sender to reach many people at once, unlike mobile phone communication. Emails are fast and
allow the sender to send attachments that contain significant documents to assist in the
clarification of messages. On the contrary, in such a case phone calls take a long time before the
receiver encodes the message. In cases where the sender has to elaborate a lot of staff to the
receiver, it may cause confusion and misinterpretation of content hence resulting in mistakes.
Emails are better than scheduled meetings since they may allow an employer who is not
confident enough to air their opinions. Sometimes people find it hard to air their grievances in
the presence of many people. Another advantage is that emails act as a reference and they can be
retrieved in the future.
Task 2
Scenario 1
Sometimes back, I was having a private conversation via email and instead of pressing
“reply” I pressed “reply all”. I was frustrated since I had to share private information with people
I had no intentions sharing with. I had to compose a message apologizing to them which was
quite time-consuming. I came to learn that email is not suitable for sending private
conversations. Some people take advantage of such situations and start blackmailing the sender
and they keep the information as bait. Therefore, in such a scenario, the best method of
communication would have been face to face communication. This method of communication is
suitable than email since it is more confidential. On the other hand, it would have been easy to
clarify information. Another advantage of face to face communication is addressing sensitive
information. For instance, if the conversation was sensitive it would have landed into an
unauthorized hands. In a scenario where the conversation contains financial information, this
may prompt security issues.
Scenario 2

Egocentrism has been a major source of miscommunication especially in organizations. I
had a friend who was employed in a certain company as a front office manager. One day she sent
an email to a colleague and she decided to use a little sarcasm. The receiver did not interpret the
message as intended which brought about miscommunication. This forced her to look for the
employee to explain to her what the mail meant. Miscommunication can result in stress since the
employee has to find time out his or her busy schedule to correct the mess before it gets out a
hand. The best method of communication in this scenario would have been the use of a mobile
phone. If she had called her colleague, the sarcasm would not have sounded offensive. Mobile
phone communication enables the receiver to know the emotions of another party. For example,
is a person is sad or happy, it easy is to tell from their tone.