The lessons that can be learned from the recent global e-mail fracas at top law firm Minter Ellison are there for everyone in large corporations to see.
There is no need to relitigate the innards of that particular saga that has dominated media coverage over the past fortnight. You can find a truckload of copy on any news site that includes the various e-mails that somehow snuck their way out of the law firm in question.
What ought to happen in the light of this particular circumstance is an examination of the omnipresence of communication via devices in our lives and, of course, what people should avoid doing.
Avoid global e-mails to staff like the plague wherever possible.
Why? A story is in order.
This past fortnight has led me to reflect on some advice I was given by a sage mentor many years ago before he regrettably passed away.
There was a person with whom I had a difference of opinion on the way I covered an issue and I rabbited on to my mentor at the time that is was a situation that was getting difficult.
He listened intently and then advised me to make sure I didn’t write anything in an e-mail as things in writing can be misunderstood and further inflame a situation.
What about the phone?
The phone should really only be used to set up a meeting if at all possible and for nothing else.
It is at the meeting where you need to sit and share perspectives and come to a resolution on a problem.
We all to readily communicate online today given the many platforms that exist. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, for example, as social media platforms where a great amount of damage can be done if people are not careful with the manner in which they engage with people.
Consider the private conversation, which can be had via video communications these days as well, as a way of two parties connecting, talking through a problem and doing so in a way that means neither side has to lose face over an issue.
This is the benefit of the one-on-one or even mediated discussion where there are more than two people involved by necessity.
Global e-mails pose another risk and that is you cannot really control what happens if something that appears rather juicy makes it out of the walls of the company, partnership or other entity.
There is little point initiating a leak inquiry a la Yes Minister once the e-mails are out in the wild. It is always best to write, cool the jets and then read again to ensure that you remain committed to the message you are wanting to send.
The old media management rule applies here if you are thinking of sending the office communications equivalent of a Tomahawk missile anywhere.
Do you really want what it is you have on the screen in front of you on a news organisation’s web site within minutes?