Women are more inclined to respond immediately to work e-mails as opposed to men, according to a gender communication specialist's research published in a syndicated American City Business Journals column.

Connie Glaser, author of "GenderTalk Works," dissects the differences between men and women in how and what they write in their work e-mails, which can often lead to misunderstandings between the sexes.

For example, she says that women "tend to use language to create rapport, closeness and friendship," because they're concerned about others' feelings. Men, on the other hand, she continues, "tend to use language as a way to establish status or authority among themselves" because they apply a more direct approach in speaking or writing.

In addition, men are succinct in their writing ('he-mail') compared to the tendency of women to be drawn out and detailed with their correspondence ('she-mail'), according to the article.

Glaser provides final thoughts on how each gender can lessen the potential for communication misunderstandings:

For men — "Acknowledge e-mail response with at least one complete sentence. Otherwise, you risk coming across as brusque or too busy to listen."

For women — "Use a professional tone in your e-mail and avoid getting too personal. Tentative language or online lingo ("lol" for instance) can make you appear cute or unsure of yourself."

To read more about other gender differences in the workplace, refer to the previous week's issue of E-Brief.

--Cassandra P. Foster
cfoster@safnow.org

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