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| Authors: David Shipley, Will Schwalbe
Publisher: Knopf
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $13.57
You Save: $6.38 (32%)
Rating:  46 reviews
Sales Rank: 222885
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 247
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.2 x 5 x 1.1
ISBN: 0307263649
Dewey Decimal Number: 658.054692
EAN: 9780307263643
Publication Date: April 10, 2007
Availability: In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Every businessperson needs to read this book April 16, 2007
21 out of 26 found this review helpful
The typical office worker deals with approximately 100 non-spam e-mails per day -- it is every bit as much a part of our communication mix as the phone and face-to-face, and yet it is considered by many to be the weakest. The thing is, many of the shortcomings and problems of e-mail can be addressed/alleviated with a few very simple practices, but most people receive NO training whatsoever in how to write and use e-mail effectively.
That's where this book is so important and valuable. It can easily be read in a day or two, but the practices within it, if followed, can change the rest of your career.
The book has a good mix of specific how-tos combined with real-world anecdotes. The anecdotes are hysterical and sometimes strike very close to home. I'm amazed they got so many people to open up so much with their e-mail horror stories. Also, the examples they use of various bad e-mail practices are very funny and keep the book light while still delivering a serious message.
For a little added fun, go check out the video on YouTube of the interviews they did walking the streets and offices of New York.
The one shortcoming of the book? There's not really anything in it about how to keep your e-mail well organized, especially when you have huge volumes of it to contend with, and that typically does have an impact on things like making timely responses to people, doing appropriate follow-ups, etc. For that, I recommend David Allen's Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity or my book, The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors And Closing Deals Online.
Hey, before you send another email, read this book! May 5, 2007
20 out of 27 found this review helpful
So, which is it: Is the "hey" in the column title just a friendly attention-getter, or am I chiding you, Gentle Reader, to be more careful with what you send? It's hard to tell without some context. Imagine the title appearing as the subject line in an e-mail sent by your boss. Without further clarification, it's hard to tell whether it's a friendly note from a fellow book lover or whether your next employee evaluation will pretty much tank.
E-mail is ubiquitous. Besides that, it's everywhere. Fortunately, David Shipley (the Op-Ed page editor of the New York Times) and Will Schwalbe (editor-in-chief of Hyperion Books) have gone to bat for those adrift in a sea of electronic communications. Or something like that. The authors are most concerned about keeping e-mail simple -- not too simple since you may come across as terse -- but easily understandable. And that means avoiding angry words, attempts at sarcasm, and just plain lying. If you're going to lie, do it face to face.
"Send: The Essential Guide to e-mail for Office and Home" ($19.95 in hardcover from Knopf) is not about managing the abundance of e-mail (there are other guides for that) but about composing just the right e-mail for the occasion. Someone who missed the boat on that -- who proved in the end to be a little dinghy -- was one Michael Brown, the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. During the height of the Katrina disaster, Brown sent the following e-mail to his staff: "If you'll look at my lovely FEMA attire you'll really vomit. I am a fashion god."
Shipley and Schwalbe point out that in just about a decade e-mail has changed the way the world communicates and has led to all kinds of (unreasonable) expectations. The authors note that "a 2006 survey asked office workers if they would consider it rude not to receive a response to an e-mail within three hours. Fifty percent said they would. What's more, one in 20 expected to hear back within five minutes."
"Send" is a thoughtful, practical and witty guide to leveraging e-mail's strengths while minimizing its weaknesses. There are lots of reasons to love e-mail; it's great for conveying "essential information"; it has an amazing reach. It creates a record that can be searched (good news for us if we're looking for notes to that last phone conversation; not so good for Enron executives). It gives us time to choose our words carefully.
Often we don't, though; we are seduced by the ease of e-mail and assume the recipients will get the "tone" of what we write. Yet, "if you don't consciously insert tone into an e-mail, a kind of universal default tone won't automatically be conveyed. Instead, the message written without regard to tone becomes a blank screen onto which the reader projects his own fears, prejudices and anxieties." For instance, if your boss writes with the question "Will you be late for the meeting?" it's hard to "hear" the tone.
On the other hand, though, save overt emotional expressions for the phone or in-person conversations. Because e-mail can be forwarded in an instant, the world now knows that an executive of a certain big company forgot his keys and got upset at his secretary. The secretary forwarded the note to the press and the executive resigned.
The bottom line: "Think before you send; send e-mail you would like to receive." Hey, that's good advice!
Copyright 2007 Chico Enterprise-Record. Used by permission.
 I should send it back May 2, 2007
16 out of 24 found this review helpful
Most of the useful advice in this book could have fit into a magazine article. They go on far too long about the pitfalls of flame wars, misused "reply to all" responses and similar horrors and hilarities of email.
Lighthearted Take on Important Topic May 4, 2007
15 out of 19 found this review helpful
I enjoyed this book immensely. It covers the important topic of better business communication through email, in a light hearted and humorous manner, drawing on real world examples. The two authors are experienced communicators, and their review of the most common errors, and suggested remedies, has the ring of truth. As writers and editors they have either committed these gaffs themselves or know someone who has.
Well told, with useful information. Problem is, will those needing the help the most read the book? The millions of emails sent every day could benefit from the simple rules they set out. I hope every major corporation sends a copy to each of their managers and communicators!
Read before you SEND April 23, 2007
13 out of 17 found this review helpful
Any person who uses e-mail in the workplace has to read "SEND". This book offers the best look at how we can be efficient, less offensive, and more wise in our e-mail use. The guide is not elementary or dull. On the contrary, it offers constructive and entertaining examples of the potential minefields that lay ahead when we send before we think. In addition to illustrating bad habits, the book provides straightforward suggestions as to how we can become better e-mailers and as a result, more productive communicators. I have already adopted some of the rules from "SEND" and am encouraging my employees to do the same. I am pleased to say that I now approach my e-mails differently and the results have been noticeably positive.
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