As with any form of communication, the meaning of an E-mail is open to interpretation. You may have meant sarcasm but the recipient thought you were serious. You could end up with strained relationships as a result. To discuss sensitive matters when a careful interpersonal touch is important, a telephone or face-to-face discussion is most effective.

Here is an example of a message that was misunderstood because of lack of explanatory detail: a company sent a message saying that this year they have a deficit of $100,000. The recipient took that to mean losses in addition to the already- forecasted deficit / bad news. But in fact the message attempted to communicate the good news that while the predicted deficit was actually closer to $1,000,000, the company got it down to $100,000 for this quarter. Think carefully about how the reader might understand your words.

When you reply to a message, say more than just “O.K., I agree.” State what you’re agreeing to or what the next step that you expect is. For example, instead of just replying “O.K.,” say, “O.K., can you send me a proposal of the cost of this service, please?” Don’t assume that the recipients know what you mean. Spell out what everyone is agreeing to and restate the terms. That's effective communication.