Using Type to 'get' email

It’s difficult to remember a time before email; for most of us, it is an essential part of our lives, both inside and outside work. But email isn’t always straightforward. We all use it in different ways, have different likes and dislikes, and find different aspects of email more or less irritating, or even stressful.

Many of the differences in our attitudes to email, and the ways in which we use it, could be linked to differences in personality, and in particular to differences in MBTI Type. Do Extraverts send more emails than Introverts? Are those with a Thinking and Judging preference irritated when emails don’t get to the point? Are people with a Feeling preference hurt when pleasantries are omitted? To find out the answers to these and other questions, we carried out a survey with a large number of people who know their Type (if you took part, thank you for your help).

Some of the results were presented at OPP’s recent MBTI Users’ Conference in June; here’s a video clip from the conference:

Of course, we found out a whole lot more than we could include in this short clip, including useful hints and tips for every Type. If you’d like to know more about how personality affects how you use email, sign up for our free webcast You’ve got mail – but do you really ‘get’ it? 

In the webcast I'll talk about how to enhance email communication with people of every Type, and give you some straightforward guidelines. There will also be a Quick Guide to Type and email released in October. Sign up to the newsletter or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook to find out when the Quick Guide is made available. 

What doyou feel are the worse and best things about email? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.