Women risk not being taken seriously at work because their e-mail style is not businesslike enough. Or so suggests research conducted by Drs Monica Seeley and Niki Panteli and compiled for Gender and Communication at Work , a new book that reveals that men and women adopt radically different styles in e-mail messages.

Marilyn Davidson, professor of work psychology at Manchester Business School, who produced the book with Professor Mary Barrett, of Woll-ongong University in New South Wales, says: “Women commonly use flowery speech and create personal e-mails;, men tend to be precise and to the point. Mirroring their usual speech and communication patterns, women’s e-mails may ask how you are and how your holiday or weekend was, before dealing with the real point of the message. They also often use confirmation tag questions, such as ‘Don’t you agree?’ or ‘Isn’t that right?’”

Researchers found that women tend to overuse self-disclosure and “I” statements, and take time to tailor e-mails to recipients. Men often ignore the socio-emotional aspects of communication and rarely include social niceties. Their keyboard communication is quick, sharp, and can border on the aggressive. Differences were so transparent, that during a “blind” gender test of anonymous e-mails, “she-mails” and “he-mails” were identified with amazing accuracy.

Professor Davidson sees danger lurking for some “she-mailers”. She says: “Long chatty e-mails can be seen as time-wasting. But worse, you risk not being taken seriously. If you are writing about technical reports or important business issues, you will lose credibility if the message is not clear and succinct.”

E-mail is perfect for rapidly distributing nuggets of information, say researchers, and the removal of normal social cues allows for pared-down, more efficient communication, a model that accords with male tendencies. But from this perspective it is easy to see how a long, chatty e-mail from a female colleague may not always be viewed positively.

So the message to fluffy she-mailers out there is: sharpen your style if you want to get ahead. Professor Davidson says: “Think about how the message will be perceived by the recipient — ask yourself what impression it gives of you.” Gender and Communication at Work (Ashgate).

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