I was lecturing on Information Overload at a hi-tech company and when I got to the part about “write succinct, terse, clear mails” an attendee raised his hand to ask me, how would that be perceived by recipients in the United Kingdom? Turns out that they had a workshop on global cultural gaps and it included the notion that the British like to start with small talk and only get to the point later; so they ought to find very short emails rude!

Good point, that. Having also worked in a global corporation, I am very much aware of the importance of local culture differences. We too had classes on how to interface with colleagues from distant lands; good thing too, considering my nation’s no-nonsense approach to conversation (to put it mildly). On the other hand, with email loads out of control, who can afford to spend time on polite chit-chat?

I don’t know of any research that looks at correlations of culture and email style or verbosity. If you know of some, let us all know in the comments. I did ask a British colleague, and he tells me that although a polite opening was common in traditional emails, with the growth of smartphones, this nicety is being dropped (often along with any salutation) and the norms in the UK are becoming aligned ever more closely with the US.

What do you think? Do people in your culture welcome excessive brevity in communications – or is it perceived as too abrupt and uncivilized?

Do share!