Risk Communication and Miscommunication

From:  http://upcolorado.com/about-us/blog/item/3106-how-poorly-written-emails-cause-disasters-and-cost-lives-5-questions-for-carolyn-boiarsky

...Question 2: What was in an engineer’s e-mail that led to the BP Deepwater Horizon blowout in the Gulf of Mexico?

Answer: One of the engineers on the rig wrote an e-mail to his manager, who was on land, basically crying for help in making some controversial decisions about closing off the well. The manager responded to the engineer by indicating that he was going dancing that evening and would be in touch with the engineer the following day. The message from the engineer on the rig rambled, including personal information, so that the tone appeared to be a whine rather than a request for an immediate decision. The writer needed to recognize the reader’s psychological context: he had been receiving e-mails related to problems on the rig for several weeks. This one did not appear different from the others. In addition, the tone and rambling style of the writer’s message was similar to messages found on social media. Thus, the reader’s response was similar to one he might have written in response to a message on social media; he failed to recognize the difference. The engineer on the rig either needed to indicate at the very beginning of the message that this problem was different from the others, that the consequences could be more disastrous, and that the reader’s response was needed immediately or he needed to speak directly to the person via telephone rather than rely on electronic media to convey his message.

Question 3: After analyzing these fatal miscommunications, what’s your advice to scientists, engineers, and other technical experts for communicating effectively?

Answer: All messages need to be reader-based. In other words, think of how the reader will read the message. A good rule of thumb is to start off immediately by (1) stating the purpose for the message, (2) providing a one-sentence summary of what the e-mail is about, and (3) indicating the number of requests to which you need a response.