While most of us live in an electronic world, we still get formal letters in the mail. Most often they are legal in nature or confirming an electronic transaction. Several eCommerce leaders actually send physical copies of their transactions to you by mail. To some, this is reassuring. The FTC regulations regarding backorders still require a physically mailed notification. But times, they are changing.
I received my last job offer in 2000, by email. Not by formal letter. Sure, after I started I got a confirmatory letter. But today while I was on my local news station website, Click10, I was interested to read their headline story of ‘Memo vs. Email.’
When I did, I had to second guess the writing ability of the author, after realizing that her point of view was that of a teenage girl in corporate america, not a serious business professional.
The question was posed by a reader explaining that the company she works for seemingly never uses physical paper documents for much, it’s all done by email. But in the face of this company trend, she turns to iVillage for advice regarding her professional conduct.
The answer provided rocks me. Why? First of all, corporate America has taken great steps to ensure that internally their data is well shielded from the outside, including any possibility of attack or access. Although access does happen, there is no way for us to circumvent the potential intelligence of every individual on the face of the earth. It’s just not possible.
I invite you read the full response, from iVillage’s seemingly daff writer, the link for which is included at the end of this article.
My advice: “Follow the company’s lead.”
If your company has seemingly made a conscious decision to utilize email to it’s fullest potential, they should be rewarded for embracing this age of electronic communication. While I fully agree that there are few reasons to send a fax these days, and why are ‘internet faxes’ just a fancy way to get you to pay to send something over a phone line, when it really, truly could be sent by email? But I digress…
Email is the primary vehicle for business communication today. While formal presentations, demands for payment, final contracts and legal documents may still exist in their physical form, those days are coming to and end as well. An increasing percentage of Court systems are fully electronic. Filing is done electronically by the attorney offices themselves, no need to present at a Clerk of Court’s office. PDF copies of everything are required by the court – so ensure you have a scanner ready if you don’t have everything in electronic form (but I really doubt that you have someone who is sitting in a room with a non-electronic system generating reams of documentation that is necessary to something very important.).
Finally, digital signatures, like those provided even for Free from Adobe and other companies, allow individuals to embrace the era of digital communications. A digital signature, with proper credentials, is more secure than a signature by fax (those are easily created).
No, no, a thousand times no! Such communications are highly confidential. There is much turmoil over the fact that corporate emails are not considered private. The theory is that when one is on company time, the products of all one’s efforts do, indeed, belong to the company. In addition, there is usually a place where deleted mail is kept that is dangerously locatable by the industrious (or litigious) individuals who search for it. (Have you seen the IBM commercial where hackers break into a company’s personal records and email the entire company about pay inequalities between executives? Trust me, the scenario isn’t so far-fetched.)
A broader issue is that we are very much influenced by symbols. A sheet of formal company letterhead commands respect and adds a dimension of ceremony. Faxes and email, on the other hand, are missives usually sent in haste. And with faxes, again, there is little if any guarantee that no one will read it other than the person it’s intended for.
If you can be assured of only the right person seeing a fax, then go ahead and send a formal letter that way. However, the hard copy of the document should also be sent by snail mail or overnight delivery.
iVillage - take a long hard look at the perspective of your writers. It may not be right.
Full story:
Local10.com – My Life – Memo Vs. Email: Choosing The Appropriate One
